The fate of Dixie Beer

I am a National Public Radio junkie. I don’t get to listen to it as much as I used to, since my one-and-one-half-hour commute is no longer by car. But, I do tune in on the trip to and from the train station and whenever I’m running about.

The family and I were headed out last night to run a few errands. Marketplace was on, but I was only half listening. My ears perked up when I heard the intro to this story:

Marketplace: Couple keep heady hopes for Dixie Beer

In the interview, Kendra Bruno (who owns the brewery with her husband, Joe) talks about how they are trying to bring their beer back to market. It is currently being contract brewed in Wisconsin and, Kendra admits, isn’t as good as when it was brewed at “home”.

The brewery was pretty much destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and what the floods didn’t get, the looters did. And not just desperate people trying to survive, but well-organized criminals.

This isn’t the first time Dixie has been profiled on NPR. Back in June, 2006, Peter Breslow profiled the Brunos and what they were dealing with.

Couple Vows to Get Beer Flowing Again in ‘Dixie’

I try not to be cynical, but hearing what other human beings did to Dixie’s brewing equipment shakes my faith in humanity. Small brewers have it tough enough, what with rising hops and barley prices, kegs being stolen and sold for scrap, and all the rest of the bad news that’s come out in the last year. But stealing the kettles and pipes? How do you recover from that? (I’ve seen anecdotal evidence that they were underinsured, as well.)

I guess buying some Dixie Beer (if I can find it around here) is one way to help a small, struggling brewer.

Some other coverage of Dixie Beer post-Katrina:

A Good Beer Blog: Dixie Brewing Company, New Orleans, USA (February 26, 2006) – Some of the comments are quite telling

What’s On Tap: A column about New Orleans and Dixie Beer (November 7, 2007)

Associated Press: Brewer Works to Bring Back Dixie Beer (November 18, 2007)