Jeff Davis native brewing up success

Published 4:44 am Friday, July 25, 2025

Jacob Landry, founder and president of Urban South Brewery in New Orleans, didn’t care much for beer growing up in rural Jeff Davis Parish.

A 2001 graduate of Hathaway High School, Landry’s journey into brewing began after a year in southern France, where he developed an appreciation for beer.

“I was originally born in Jennings and when I was about five, my dad joined the Navy and we moved around the country, and then we settled back in Hathaway when I entered sixth grade and I finished up school in Hathaway, then went to LSU,” Landry said. “While I was at LSU, I got a chance to spend a year in southern France on a Rotary scholarship, sponsored by the Welsh Rotary Club, and I experienced real beer for the first time.

“Growing up, everyone I knew drank the cheapest beer they could buy, and I thought it was disgusting and didn’t really develop a taste for it.”

The chance to drink German and Belgian beer, combined with his cultural inclinations for creating and sharing with others, sparked his interest in brewing craft beer. Canning, preserving and pickling foods were part of his Cajun heritage, which further resonated with the idea of making and sharing beer.

After college, Landry went to Hawaii to teach as part of the Teach for America program before recruiting teachers in Oregon and Washington, but beer was still on his mind when he saw the craft brewery cultures there.

“I think that’s where the real bug bit to open a brewery, but I had some really cool opportunities in education to keep growing my career in that,” he said.

He returned to Louisiana and worked several years running the state’s charter school office for the Louisiana Department of Education before serving three years as the chief strategy officer for the Jefferson Parish Public Schools.

But his desire to open a brewery grew. After working in education for a decade he decided to pursue his entrepreneurial dream. He enrolled in business school at Tulane University and, in 2016 he opened Urban South, which was one of the few breweries in New Orleans at the time.

Today. he enjoys his own brew developed by a team of experts at his New Orleans-based brewery, Urban South, at 1645 Tchoupitoulas Street.

Choosing the name Urban South was a thoughtful process for Landry. While living in Seattle, he and his wife knew they wanted to return to the South. They were drawn to Southern cities for their relaxed pace of life and rich arts and culture, where people prioritize living over work. Those values became the essence of the Urban South brand, according to Landry.

Since opening, Landry has navigated the challenges of Louisiana’s brewing laws, which he describes as some of the most difficult in the country and running a business.

He also explained that brewing is a capital-intensive business, requiring significant investment in equipment. Raising capital from friends, family and Small Business Administration loans was a major hurdle, he said.

“It’s a battle,” he said. “There’s a lot of beer brands out there and it’s really hard in a place like Louisiana, where people are trying to buy the cheapest beer possible. It’s hard to kind of get them away from Michelob Ultra and some other brands that they seem to want to drink.”

Despite the challenges, Urban South is the second-largest brewery in Louisiana, behind Abita Brewing Company.

Landry’s goal is to continue to encourage people to drink local beers and expand the company.

Urban South beers are available in liquor stores and grocery stores, including Rouses and Walmart, bars and restaurants, and are distributed through the same network as Budweiser. The company has also expanded its reach to Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and the Greater Houston area with the Florida panhandle becoming its second-largest market with its own Perfect Plain brand.

Urban South has been recognized as one of the fastest growing breweries in the country, earning several national and international accolades, including the World Beer Cup and the Great American Beer Fest. Landry was also honored as Louisiana’s Young Business Person of the Year by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry two years ago.

He attributes the success to high-quality beer, a diverse portfolio, and a passionate, hardworking team dedicated to continuous improvements. The company employs about 50 people in Louisiana and 40 in Florida.

Their best-selling beer is Paradise Park, an easy-drinking lager, described as a ‘beer flavored beer,’ which makes up nearly half of the company’s volume. Designed to fit the palette of local beer drinkers, the beer pays homage to a former trailer park in Jennings and features a yard flamingo on the can – an inside joke for those familiar with the area.

“It’s like, if you know you know,” Landry laughed. “I have people who haven’t made the connection, but they’ll tell me there used to be this trailer park in Jennings called Paradise Park and when I tell them that’s what it was named after, they get really excited because it’s one of those inside little Easter eggs that only people from the area might make the connection.”

Urban South is celebrating Paradise Park with its inaugural Trailer Park Bash, a free, family-event from 2-5 p.m. on Saturday, July 26 at its New Orleans brewery. The event will feature exclusive beer releases including Paradise Premium and a dark Mexican lager, live music by Sean Riley and the Water, food, a best-dressed trailer park attire contest and photo opportunities with Neuty the Nutria.

Other popular beers include Holy Roller, a hazy IPA, and the award-winning lime cucumber Gose, a salty, sour beer with key lime and fresh cucumber juice.

Landry said the creative team at Urban South consistently explore new ideas and trends, evident by their diverse offerings like pickle-flavored beer, smoothie-style sour beers, imperial stouts, seasonal brews and special event beers.

Landry said the company’s creative team is always looking at its own lineup and where there are gaps and traveling and looking for what is happening in other parts of the country.

Their New Orleans tasting room also allows for small-batch production, enabling teams to be more flexible and creative, he said.

“During the COVID shutdowns, we were still able to sell beer to go and across all of our brewing facilities we made a new beer every day,” he said.

Their newest category, THC infused seltzers like Driftee and Stratus, derived from hemp, currently account for 20 percent of their sales.