St. Martin brewery tapped for craft beer collaboration

Craft beer pioneer Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has tapped Arnaudville’s Bayou Teche Brewing to be one of just 30 breweries from across the nation to team up on a limited edition beer that will be sold nationwide next summer.
The chosen brewers are divided into six regional teams, and each team will be responsible for crafting a recipe for a beer. A special 12-pack containing two of each teams’ beer will ultimately land in stores nationwide in May, said Sierra Nevada spokesman Ryan Arnold.
The limited edition release is part of Sierra Nevada’s celebration of the art, spirit and flavors of American craft beer that the brewery calls Beer Camp Across America. The celebration includes festivals across the country where the chosen craft brewers can promote their beer. Last year, more than 22,000 people went to Beer Camp Across America festivals in seven cities, Arnold said.
Sierra Nevada’s founder, Ken Grossman, and his son Brian have had their eyes on several breweries to work with this year. Bayou Teche Brewing was selected with four other breweries to create an emblematic beer to celebrate Southern craft brewing.
“The beer we are working on is like nothing you’ve ever tasted,” Bayou Teche president Karlos Knott said. “All I can tell you is that it will definitely be recognized as a Southern beer.”
Knott traveled to Sierra Nevada’s Mills River brewery last week to hash out the details of the recipe with the selected brewmasters, and then a test batch was brewed at nearby Wicked Week Brewery. Two more test batches are to be brewed in the coming months before Karlos travels back to North Carolina to assist in the final production brew.
Bayou Teche Brewing was founded in 2009 in Arnaudville, Louisiana. The brewery and tap room have become a weekend hot spot in South Louisiana attracting people eager to try their line of year round, barrel-aged and experimental beers. Their popular beers include the Ragin’ Cajuns Genuine Louisiana Ale, a German-style Kölsch; LA-31 Biere Pale, a Belgian-style pale ale; and Miel Sauvage, a beer brewed with liberal amounts of locally sourced Bernard’s honey and aged in bourbon barrels.
Bayou Teche is working with four other Southern breweries on this project; Wicked Weed Brewing from North Carolina, Austin Beerworks from Texas, Funky Buddha from Florida, and Creature Comforts Brewing from Georgia. A Sierra Nevada representative is also a part of each team.
“It’s definitely an honor to be selected and chosen to work with Sierra Nevada,” Karlos said. “They’re the founding fathers of craft beer in America, known as perfectionists for quality both in their ingredients and processes, and they’re one of the most successful craft brewers in the country.”
The 12-pack beers will bear Sierra Nevada’s label and reference all of the contributing brewers, Sierra Nevada’s spokesman said. Proceeds from Beer Camp sales will go to brewing nonprofits. Last year, the beers raised $150,000 that went on to support barley and hops research.