Craft brewery hopping through New Orleans | Uptown

New Orleans has a beer scene that is easier to enjoy when you don’t have to plan every ride between taprooms. This hop-on hop-off bus gives you a choice of brewery routes, with the freedom to join at a brewery and stay as long as you like.

I like the flexibility and the air-conditioned ride: you can choose your stops, and there’s no need to sort out transportation after a tasting. One consideration: the $39 fare covers the bus, not your beer, and the roughly one-to-seven-hour duration means you’ll need to choose how much of the route you want to fit in.

Key points to know before you go

• Two brewery routes: Choose Uptown or Mid City and Bywater.
• Join at a brewery: You don’t have to begin at the French Quarter starting point.
• Seven named brewery stops: The options range from a tiny nano brewery to a large, full-service taproom.
• Your pace sets the length: The experience lasts about one to seven hours.
• Small group, cool ride: The air-conditioned vehicle holds no more than 20 people.
• Bring room in your budget: Bottled water is $2, and snacks and Liquid IV are available for purchase.

A brewery route with room to make your own plans

This is less a fixed tasting tour than a way to connect several brewery visits without arranging every transfer yourself. You can choose the Uptown route or the Mid City and Bywater route, board at a brewery that suits your plans, and hop off where you want to spend time. The overall journey begins in the French Quarter and ends on Frenchmen Street.

That flexibility matters in a city where a brewery visit can mean very different things. One stop may be about trying small-batch beer in a taproom; another may pair beer with a restaurant menu, cocktails, wine, or a broad selection of house-made drinks. With the bus taking care of the rides, you can focus on deciding what kind of stop sounds good next.

The listed brewery stops are Brewery Saint X, Courtyard Brewery, Urban South Brewery, Abita New Orleans, NOLA Brewing Co., Port Orleans Brewing Co., and Ecology Beer Creative. The tour gives each stop about an hour in its itinerary, but the full experience is advertised at roughly one to seven hours. So don’t plan on spending an hour at every brewery in one outing. Think of the stops as a menu, and choose a few that fit your appetite, schedule, and preferred route.

What the $39 fare gets you

At $39 per person, the main value is the ride and the freedom to make a brewery day without piecing together transportation on your own. The air-conditioned vehicle is a welcome practical detail, especially if you’re spending the day moving between taprooms. The bus carries up to 20 people, so this is a small-group experience rather than a large coach outing.

Admission to the listed breweries is free, but that does not mean beer is included. The supplied tour details do not list tastings or food as part of the fare, so budget separately for anything you order at a brewery. The same goes for water and snacks on board. Bottled water costs $2, while Liquid IV and a small selection of snacks are also available for purchase.

The best value comes if you want to visit more than one brewery and prefer not to plan the transport yourself. If you’re interested in just one taproom, the bus may be more structure than you need. And if you expect the $39 to cover a tasting flight at every stop, it won’t. Treat the fare as transportation for your beer outing, then set a separate drink-and-food budget.

Seven stops, seven different reasons to hop off

The brewery list offers more variety than a string of similar tasting rooms. Here’s what to look for at each stop, and how to decide if it belongs on your plan.

Brewery Saint X

Brewery Saint X is a full-service stop, with a state-of-the-art brewery, bar, and restaurant. Alongside craft beer, it offers wine, cocktails, and food, making it a practical choice if your group doesn’t agree on what to drink or if you want a meal with your beer.

It’s also described as a convenient stop before or after an event at the Dome or Smoothie King Center. That could make it useful if your New Orleans plans already include one of those venues. The tradeoff is that a broad menu may make this feel more like a restaurant-and-bar stop than a beer-only visit.

Courtyard Brewery

Courtyard Brewery is a nano brewery, and its beer is available only in its taproom. That makes it a particularly good choice if you want to try beer made on a small scale, rather than sticking to brands you might find elsewhere.

The taproom is described as having indoor and outdoor seating, art, mismatched furniture, and an impressive vinyl collection. It sounds like a stop where the setting is part of the visit, not just a place to order a pint and move on. If small-batch beer is your priority, this is one to consider. Its limited availability also means you’ll need to visit the taproom to try its beer.

Urban South Brewery

Urban South draws on European brewing traditions while making newer American beer styles. Its stated aim is approachable beer suited to the Southern climate, and the brewery describes its work as community-focused.

For you, that suggests a stop with a mix of familiar and contemporary styles, rather than a single narrow approach to brewing. The brewery has won awards, though the tour details don’t specify particular beers or tasting options. If you’re curious about how a Louisiana brewery blends old influences with newer styles, this is a natural stop.

Abita New Orleans

Abita Brewing Company is based about 30 miles north of New Orleans, in the piney woods, and is described as Louisiana’s largest brewery. Its New Orleans stop gives you a chance to explore a familiar local name without having to travel to the main brewery.

Beer is only part of the picture. Abita also makes root beer, sodas, hop water, and other small-batch drinks. That range can be useful if someone in your group wants a non-beer option, or if you’re interested in seeing how a large Louisiana brewery extends beyond ales and lagers. It may be less suited to someone seeking only tiny, taproom-exclusive batches.

NOLA Brewing Co.

NOLA Brewing puts its focus squarely on beer made for the city it calls home. You can visit its taproom for a taste, or look into a brewery tour. The description welcomes beer-curious visitors as well as people who already know what they like.

That open invitation makes it a flexible option if you’re not a serious craft-beer enthusiast but want to learn what a local brewery is making. The available information doesn’t name specific beers or say whether a brewery tour is part of the bus experience, so ask at the taproom if you want more than a drink.

Port Orleans Brewing Co.

Port Orleans joined New Orleans’ newer generation of craft breweries in 2017. Its stated purpose is to move beyond the era of mass-produced beer and make room for innovation.

That gives this stop a useful bit of local context: New Orleans’ brewing scene includes both large established names and younger businesses shaping a different kind of beer culture. You can decide if that contrast interests you, but no specific beer list or taproom features are provided. If you want to compare brewing approaches, put Port Orleans alongside a larger producer such as Abita.

Ecology Beer Creative

Ecology Beer Creative uses the idea of ecology as a way to think about people and place. Its description connects the brewery to local culture, conversation, music, festivals, weather, the river, and traditions.

That broad outlook makes it a different sort of stop from a brewery defined mainly by size or brewing style. It frames beer as part of the life around it, rather than an isolated product. The details don’t name particular beers or describe the taproom, so this is a stop to choose for its local perspective rather than a specific promised tasting.

Picking a route and setting your pace

The two route choices are Uptown and Mid City and Bywater. The bus’s advertised start and finish points are the French Quarter and Frenchmen Street, but you can join at any brewery. That makes it possible to fit the outing around where you are rather than building your whole day around a single departure point.

Before you set your plan, be clear about which route you want. The supplied information names all seven breweries but does not say that every stop is served on both routes. If there’s a particular brewery you care about, check that it’s on your chosen route before you set out.

The duration range is wide: about one to seven hours. That’s a feature if you want an easy one-stop outing or a longer brewery crawl, but it also means there is no single fixed schedule to assume. The itinerary assigns about an hour to each named stop, so a plan to visit several taprooms can take a good part of your day once you allow for travel between them.

You can also board at a brewery rather than starting at the French Quarter. That’s a helpful option if you’re already near one of the stops. A past outing began in the early afternoon and had the bus mostly to itself, but that’s one example, not a guarantee of how busy your ride will be.

The people and practical details

Beer Bus runs the experience, and owner-operator Elizabeth has been praised for being friendly and sharing information about the city. If Elizabeth is operating your trip, you may get local conversation along with the brewery connections. The service is described as running on time during one reported outing, though you should still leave some flexibility in a day built around multiple stops.

The maximum group size is 20. That’s small enough to feel more personal than a large bus tour, while still allowing for a group atmosphere. Most travelers can participate, service animals are allowed, and the bus is air-conditioned. It is also near public transportation.

You receive confirmation when you book, and the ticket is mobile. You can cancel up to 24 hours before the experience for a full refund. The tour is booked, on average, 26 days ahead, which is worth keeping in mind if your dates are fixed.

For the ride, bring water or plan to buy it on board. The $2 bottled water, Liquid IV, and snacks can help you stay comfortable between brewery stops, but your best plan is not to treat those purchases as a substitute for pacing yourself. The bus makes transportation simpler; it doesn’t remove the need to take breaks and drink water during a beer-focused day.

Who will enjoy this brewery bus

This experience suits you if you want to try several New Orleans breweries without arranging each ride, or if your group wants different kinds of stops. The range includes a taproom-only nano brewery, a large Louisiana brewery with non-beer drinks, and places with food, wine, or cocktails. That choice helps when not everyone in your party has the same idea of a good brewery visit.

It’s also a good fit if you enjoy setting your own pace more than following a guide through a fixed sequence. You can pick a route, choose where to get off, and decide how long to stay. The tradeoff is that you’ll need to make some choices yourself. This isn’t a promise of a guided tasting at every brewery, and the bus fare doesn’t include the drinks.

If you’re visiting New Orleans for just a short time, consider how much of a day you want to devote to breweries. The shortest version may work as a quick outing, while a longer ride can fill much of the day. If your main goal is one specific brewery, verify the route before booking. If your goal is to sample the city’s varied beer scene without worrying about every ride, the flexibility is the point.

Should you book it?

Book the Beer Bus if you want the freedom to visit more than one brewery and value easy transport over a tightly guided tasting schedule. The $39 fare buys a practical link between taprooms, an air-conditioned ride, and the choice of two routes, while the brewery visits and drinks remain yours to plan.

Skip it if you only want one brewery, expect beer to be included, or would rather build your own transportation plan. For everyone else, choose a route, pick a few stops that genuinely interest you, and leave time to enjoy them rather than racing to collect all seven.

FAQ

How much does the brewery bus cost?

The price is $39 per person. Beer, food, bottled water, and snacks are not listed as included in that fare.

How long does the experience last?

The approximate duration is one to seven hours. You can hop off at breweries and choose how long to stay.

Which routes can I choose?

You can choose the Uptown route or the Mid City and Bywater route.

Can I join at a brewery instead of starting in the French Quarter?

Yes. You can join the bus and begin your beer outing at any brewery of your choice.

Is water available on the bus?

Bottled water is available for purchase for $2. Liquid IV and a small selection of snacks are also available for purchase.

How many people can join the tour?

The maximum group size is 20 travelers.