The Brooklyn Brewery Mash experience and extravaganza continued on last night, with several prominent members of the local and national beer industry sitting down at NOLA Brewing to discuss the direction that industry is heading.
Dylan Lintern of NOLA Brewing, David Blossman from Abita, Andrew Godley of both Parish Brewing and the Louisiana Craft Brewers Guild, Steve Hindy from Brooklyn Brewery, and All About Beer editor John Holl all came together and hashed out the various challenges and opportunities facing this rapidly growing industry.
Takeovers from AB-InBev, excise tax reform, and market growth analysis may not sound like much fun, but when you're drinking it becomes much more exciting. Each brewery brought some beers to share with ticketed attendees - Parish's popular Ghost in the Machine double IPA, two of NOLA Brewing's sours including the last keg of its anniversary beer, a new Brettanomyces-fermented porter from Brooklyn called Wild Horse, and Abita's new Wrought Iron IPA.
It was obvious that the panelists knew their stuff, and were all very passionate about the beer biz. The five also had an easy chemistry and didn't take anything too seriously. After the discussion and Q&A, the audience retired for more beer or a hot dog from the Dat Dog cart set up in NOLA's parking lot.
