A brewery's output is measured in barrels. One barrel of beer is 31 gallons. Initially, the Dixie brewery will produce 1,000 barrels a month. Royal Brewery, a small craft brewery that opened last year nearby in New Orleans East, produces only 1,500 barrels a year. NOLA Brewing puts out 10,500 barrels a year. The fast-growing, 2-and-half-year-old brewery Urban South now makes 12,000 barrels a year. Since opening, Urban South has invested $3 million in its facility, a 10th of what Dixie plans to spend. Once the Dixie brewery is operating at full capacity, however, it will brew 5,000 to 6,000 barrels a month, or up to 72,000 barrels a year. That would make Dixie's production a little under half the output of Abita Brewing, which currently sells 150,000 barrels a year. Abita is the state's largest brewery and 21st largest craft brewer in the country.