LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana — Crying Eagle Brewing Company expects its brewery for hand-crafted beers to open next spring.

Crying Eagle President Eric Avery tells KPLC-TV (http://bit.ly/1L5fmKM ) that they’ve spent two years planning and can’t wait to make their “unique vision a reality that everyone can share.”

The company recently broke ground for a 15,000 square-foot facility on more than 10 acres in Lake Charles.

It will include a two-story tap room, tasting room, bar, indoor and outdoor stages, private event facilities, and an outdoor beer garden. Crying Eagle also will offer tours, beer dinners featuring local chefs, live music performances, and a “brewers’ playground” for experimentation and customer feedback on new brew flavors.

Avery believes the first-of-its-kind facility in the Lake Area will be huge for tourism.

“When you have 500,000 people a month that visit our area, we have to believe that some of those will peel off to go see something new, unique, and original to our area,” he said.

The brewery’s brew master, Bill Mungai, has been crafting beer from home for 10 years and is now creating his own original beers for Crying Eagle.

“We want to really focus on the South Louisiana culture, the outdoors, we want to make beers that go well with hanging out outside, sitting by the fire, fishing, golfing,” Mungai said. “I’ve brewed many, many different styles of beer and just working on different recipes and ingredients to find what really we think will taste well, taste good, and work well in this market.”

Groundbreaking held for Crying Eagle Brewing

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS