Great Raft Brewing to debut tasting room this week

Great Raft Brewing, Shreveport, La.’s, first local brewery tasting room, will open to the public for the first time on Dec. 20. Following the grand opening, the tasting room will be open on a regular basis on Thursdays and Fridays from 4 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 12 to 8 p.m. Brewery tours will be available beginning in early 2014.

The Great Raft tasting room will initially feature three flagship beers with an additional five taps devoted to a variety of one-off and specialty beers. The 2,500-square-foot tasting room seats up to 75 patrons and is part of Great Raft’s brewing operations located in Shreveport’s Fairfield Historic District.

“The Great Raft tasting room will provide a unique experience for beer lovers, and it gives us the opportunity to engage directly with the community about our beers. We are also excited to use this space as a way to increase the awareness and enjoyment of a variety of beer styles,” said Lindsay Nations, vice president and co-founder of Great Raft Brewing.

To commemorate the grand opening, the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce will perform a ribbon cutting at 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 20. The celebration will also feature local food trucks.

In addition to the brewery’s tasting room, Great Raft beer will be available in wholesale kegs through Eagle Distributing of Shreveport for local restaurants and bars. Beginning Dec. 9, Great Raft will be on tap at area bars and restaurants as the brewery celebrates its launch week.