In 1964, Bob Dylan wrote, “The Times They Are A changin’.”  Perhaps nothing illustrates that the times are still changing better than the fact that Dylan now has the Nobel Prize in literature for that and other observations.

There are countless Ph.D dissertations and pages of press punditry examining all the various social forces at work that are changing our country. Hopefully among them a social scientist is tackling one of the big questions of our time: What happened to beer and coffee?

Back when Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan was writing about changing times, Americans – even hipster poets – were content to drink Folgers, Maxwell House, Budweiser, and Schlitz. Today, a mere generation or so later, hipsters, and many more of us, demand better tasting and fresher artisanal beers and coffees.

Those tastes are a-changing all across the country. Even here in Acadiana.

In Lake Charles, Nancy Holmes started roasting her own coffee beans as a hobby. Today her artisanal coffee roasting company, Acadian Coffee Roasters, is a wholesaler, supplying 100% organic coffee to casinos, restaurants, farmers markets and stores. And business is booming. It doubled over the past 12 months. Nancy, welcome to Out to Lunch.

Meanwhile, in Broussard, Andrew Godley is brewing beer.

Also starting out as a hobbyist, Andrew has turned his passion into a successful and growing business. Andrew’s Parish Brewing Company has 17 employees and makes around 10,000 gallons of beer a week, including the popular Canebreak and Envie beers. Parish is in the enviable poition of selling as much beer as it can brew.

Photos at Social by Gwen Aucoin.