The Original Craft Beer of New Orleans
THE NAME IS CHANGING, BUT WE’LL ALWAYS BE YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD BEER.
Dixie Beer, New Orleans' oldest operating brewery, will officially retire our name in early 2021. Since 1907, Dixie has been the neighborhood beer of New Orleans, and we will soon serve our iconic brews under a new name, the Faubourg Brewing Company. “Faubourg” is a unifying name that celebrates every corner of New Orleans. One thing that we can promise is that although our name is changing, we will always be New Orleans’ neighborhood beer.
General Questions
- We decided to retire the name “Dixie” this past June, as the nation undertook critical conversations about social justice issues.
- Additionally, the community is at the heart of why we do what we do, and we thrive on the idea of our beer bringing people together. Our name must speak to the diversity of the city we call home as we encourage unity and inclusivity in New Orleans and across the country.
We took a deliberate, careful and inclusive approach to the name retirement and rebranding process.
Over the past several months, we have engaged with hundreds of New Orleanians, including beer drinkers, hospitality workers, culture bearers, local historians, among others, to participate in the rebranding process.
In September, we enlisted the public’s help, receiving over 5,400 online submissions of names they believed represented the community and culture of New Orleans.
Throughout this project, there were brand name suggestions that kept coming up in conversations with our team as well as the community, and one of them was “Faubourg.”
Since 1907, Dixie has been the neighborhood beer of New Orleans, and our products have always brought people together. Like so many others, we believe that “Faubourg” is a unifying name that celebrates every corner of New Orleans.
The new name is a tribute to the diverse neighborhoods of New Orleans, as faubourg (pronounced Fo-burg) is a French word that is often interchangeably used with “neighborhood” in New Orleans.
Each neighborhood in our great city has its own distinct personality and traditions and we believe faubourg accurately depicts the rich history, culture and traditions that are uniquely New Orleans.
Timing & Transition
As we ramp up the new brand, customers can expect to see our new product on shelves and taps in early 2021.
Until then, products will remain available under the Dixie brand.
We undertook an extensive community discussion in 2017 prior to purchasing the Dixie Beer brand. At that time, the vast majority of feedback we received locally indicated that the public was supportive of the brand’s production restart. As we reflect on this investment, we still contend that bringing commerce and jobs back to our community remains very important to the core philosophy of Mrs. Benson.
The reality is that many of the people who were comfortable with the Dixie name and embraced its return to New Orleans are no longer comfortable with it. Our society, and community, have made a significant change in the way they view the Dixie name. While we know that the Dixie brand has never sought to divide or offend people (or limit growth and expansion opportunities across the country), we have heard growing concern from our customers, our employees, our distributors and those that sell Dixie locally, regionally and nationally that the name Dixie is something they feel has the potential to divide and offend. That is not what this company has sought to do for over 100 years and we want to make sure that is true for the brewery’s next 100 years.
Moreover, while rebranding an iconic beer like Dixie, we determined it was the right decision as we are in a city that celebrates diversity and inclusion. As a result, we cannot continue using a word that is offensive to some of our customers and contrary to our core values.
Our product is meant to bring people together, and unify our community and if we are offending anyone by using this specific word, we are not doing what we set out to do for our community.
Product Attributes & Price
Yes, we will still brew a very limited amount of Dixie Lager each month according to the traditional recipe. The objective of maintaining the Dixie recipe is simply to complement our beer museum to show guests the evolution of New Orleans’ historical beer brands over time.
Our new flagship lager is inspired by the original Dixie recipe to provide a better quality lager through a modernized brewing process to remove adjuncts such as rice while retaining the very best elements of a true German Wurtzburger-style lager (i.e. crisp noble German hops and soft creamy head.)
The addition of adjuncts, specifically rice, were added to many lagers (Budweiser, etc.) during World War 2 and remain part of their recipes. Faubourg Lager’s recipe will be much closer to the original Dixie Lager produced in 1907 when Valentine Mertz opened the brewery and was New Orleans most popular beer.
Our core portfolio will be very similar in price to Dixie. Some of our products, such as the IPA, use ingredients that are more expensive so there will be some changes on a product basis, but in general, the prices will be very similar.
We are a neighborhood beer and understand the need to always deliver the highest quality but always competitively priced and affordable.
You will still see our flagship lager in both cans and glass bottles.
OWNERSHIP, NEGATIVITY, DISTRIBUTION, SPONSORSHIPS, & RETAIL
We are in a city that celebrates diversity and inclusion. As a result, we cannot continue using a word that is offensive to some of our customers and contrary to our core values.
Our product is meant to bring people together, and unify our community and if we are offending anyone by using this specific word, we are not doing what we set out to do for our community.
We have no plans to change wholesalers, and we remain committed to our current partners in eight states including TX, LA, MS, AL, FL, OK, AR, and ME.
Nearly all retailers and distributors support the name change.
At this moment, we expect no changes to our existing sports marketing initiatives and partnerships.
Our ownership structure is staying the same.
We have plans to enhance the existing Dixie Beer Museum into a New Orleans Beer Museum and pay homage to the city’s 300+ year brewing history and the great early New Orleans beers, including Dixie.
We intend to phase out all of the Dixie merchandise and products over the transition occurring in the fourth quarter of 2020, so as we turn to the first quarter of 2021, the Faubourg brand will then stand as the primary brand.
Absolutely YES! Our live music series has been tremendously successful and we are excited to continue expanding the music program. It is more important than ever for us to support and help our local musicians and we’re happy to help. Our expansive outside meadow and beer garden is perfect for year-round events – you’ll see more monthly programming on our digital and social media platforms as we approach the Faubourg product launch in early 2021.
Yes, we are actively engaged in several conversations with local tour companies and private shuttle services to provide transportation to/from the New Orleans East property to the central downtown business district and French Quarter.
For the full statement, please see our Press Release.