Cajun Brewing is the state’s 17th brewery and the first based in Lafayette. Other Acadiana-area breweries include Parish Brewing Company in Broussard and Bayou Teche Brewing in Arnaudville.
According to general manager Chad Lege, the idea for Cajun Brewery developed when owner/founder Zeke Bossley fell in love with brewing and became a member of Lafayette’s Dead Yeast Society homebrew club. Bossley met James Lutgring and Gene Nelson in the club, and all three served in leadership positions. The trio began building Lafayette’s first brewery in 2010 when Bossley bought the building that later became the brewery’s home.
Cajun Brewing became licensed in September and brewed the first commercial batch of Cajun Wit on its one-barrel pilot system last week. The brewery’s 30-barrel brewhouse and 60-barrel fermenters will be installed in November, but the pilot system-brewed Cajun Wit will be available at Lafayette locations in a few weeks.
“Our first focus is to capture the Lafayette market,” Lege says. “That’s our home city.”
As soon as normal brewing operations are in place, the team will focus on developing a tasting and tap room, which they expect to open by early 2016. Lege says that the tasting room will serve as a guide to what beers are popular.
“Our first few beers are pretty approachable,” Lege says, noting a brown ale and red ale will follow the release of Cajun Wit.
Nora McGunnigle