ST. MARTIN PARISH — An early-morning fire Tuesday gutted the kitchen, restaurant and taproom at Bayou Teche Brewing, destroying years of handmade artwork and damaging a newly opened expansion.
No one was injured. The brewery’s production area and brewing equipment were not damaged.
Karlos Knott, co-founder and president of Bayou Teche Brewing, said his family left the business around 9 p.m. Monday. Roughly three hours later, he received a call telling him the brewery was on fire.
“It was a raging fire,” Knott said. “Those guys are super brave. In all that heat, they’re running in, putting out the fire. They were here until about 5 in the morning.”
The fire left a Bayou Teche sign covered in black ash and debris. Inside the public areas, windows were broken, glass was shattered and fans and fixtures had melted from the intense heat.
The kitchen, restaurant and taproom sustained extensive damage. A newly opened expansion, which had been used for only two days, was also damaged.
Knott said a firewall separating the public areas from the brewery protected the production space and its equipment.
“The brewery’s fine. All the brewing equipment’s fine,” Knott said. “It’s really our public space, our kitchen and our dining room and taproom. But we’re hoping to build it back bigger and better.”
Bayou Teche Brewing and Cajun Saucer announced on Facebook that they would be closed Tuesday because much of the public space was heavily damaged.
“No one was injured, which we are so grateful for,” the businesses wrote. “Thank you to all the local firefighters who saved our building.”
For Knott and his family, however, the fire destroyed more than part of a building.
Knott started Bayou Teche Brewing 17 years ago with his two brothers and their wives. Over the years, the family and their employees filled the business with original paintings, carvings, statues and tiki lamps they created themselves.
“The physical loss, but also the loss of all the work that has gone on the last 17 years here, including all the artwork and all the paintings and the carvings and the statues and everything else that was created by our team,” Knott said. “We didn’t go out and buy it, so it’s irreplaceable.”
The family-owned business has become a gathering place for generations of families and a major tourist attraction in St. Martin Parish. Knott said the brewery and restaurant draw visitors from across the country and around the world.
“It’s like losing part of your family,” Knott said. “Our family has worked here together 17 years — my brothers, our wives, our kids — and plus, we’ve got employees that have been here forever. It’s like losing someone important.”
The family plans to rebuild the damaged restaurant and public areas. Knott said they are also considering temporarily serving customers and hosting community events outside in a beer garden while repairs are underway.
The business must obtain the necessary permits and restore electricity and water before brewing operations can resume. Knott said the brewery’s annual German Fest, traditionally held during the last week of September, will continue in some form.
“German Fest will go on,” Knott said. “One way or the other, we’ll have it.”
The fire remains under investigation.
