Something’s Brewin’
A guide to Baton Rouge’s intimate, but vibrant, brewery scene
Since Tin Roof fired up its fermenters almost twelve years ago, craft beer has slowly eked its way into Baton Rouge’s once-one-dimensional drinking culture. With the number of breweries growing to four over the course of the past three years, the Capitol City’s small but vibrant cadre of commercial breweries represents a collaborative community of beer makers and drinkers, with each new establishment adding its own sense of nuance and creativity to the way we think about craft brewing.
Tin Roof Brewing Co.
1624 Wyoming St.
History: A banker and a lawyer walk into a brewery, or a few—in places far, far away from their homes in Natchez and Baton Rouge. Back in the Bud Light lovin’ South, they couldn’t stop thinking about it. And that’s how the dream for Baton Rouge’s very first craft brewery was born.
Charles Caldwell and William McGehee produced their first batch of commercial brews in 2010, in the very same location Tin Roof has claimed for the past decade. Introducing Baton Rouge to the joys of craft beer sip by sip, Tin Roof ultimately helped to usher the Gulf South as a whole into the craft beer boom making its way across the country. In 2014, new laws allowing brewers to sell beer onsite allowed Tin Roof to open a taproom—establishing for Baton Rouge the now-inherent culture of sharing and exploring the world of craft beer within a distinguished and designated space.
Tap Room: When Caldwell and McGehee discovered the former Sears distribution building destined to be Tin Roof’s home, they did so with full knowledge that there was plenty of room to grow. And grow it has. Over the past twelve years, the space has accommodated an expansion of the brew house and the introduction of its taproom, as well as its popular back porch and yard. Embracing Tin Roof’s nomenclature as a rustic accent, which contrasts smart wood details, the taproom is warm and welcoming, casual and cool—and even boasts a sweet brew cat or two. The outdoor space, though, is what makes Tin Roof not only a wonderful place to drink beer, but also a lovely place to spend time.
“We’re more of a day place,” said Marketing and Special Events Coordinator Mandy Underwood. “We of course love to have people in the evenings and at night, too, but it’s such a great place to spend an afternoon. It’s chill, laid back, just a nice place to be. Bring your dog out, bring some people, bring a book and lay on the lawn with a blanket and a beer.”
[Read Chris Turner-Neal's article about the craft breweries along the Mississippi Gulf Coast here.]
The Beer: “We fall somewhere in between really traditional breweries and the really experimental ones,” said Underwood. “Sometimes we do stuff that only huge brewer people are going to appreciate, with all this nuanced stuff, and sometimes we’ll just do an explosion of flavors, and we’ll just put it out there to see what happens.” This has been an evolution, she explained, as Baton Rouge in general has become more attuned to the world of craft beer, and more open to trying new things. With its current team, Underwood describes Tin Roof’s brewing approach most concretely as “collaborative”: “Making decisions all together like we do, we often hit on things that, if one person was making all of the decisions all of the time, we wouldn’t.”
"...it’s such a great place to spend an afternoon. It’s chill, laid back, just a nice place to be. Bring your dog out, bring some people, bring a book and lay on the lawn with a blanket and a beer.” —Mandy Underwood
While Tin Roof is dedicated to its classic, flagship beers (Voodoo, Blonde Ale, Paloma Gose, and the recently-released Roadhouse), recent additions to the brewing team invite a new era of ideas for experimentation. “Our approach generally starts with what we would really like to drink,” said brewer Taylor Matherne. “It’s a bit of what we like personally, what we haven’t seen before, what we would like to see out on the market.”
Cultivating Community: One of the most identifiable and popular programs at Tin Roof is its Yoga on the Lawn classes, offered on Wednesdays by a local yoga instructor. “When it comes to beer, as well as events, we really like to source as locally as possible,” said Underwood. For Family Fridays, for instance, Tin Roof will invite parents to bring the whole crew to the yard, where local balloon artists, bounce houses, musical performances, and more await. Sundays bring area musicians to the stage for a weekly showcase. And twice a month on Thursdays, New Orleans musician Evan Fiore hosts an open mic. All of this is in addition to regular disc golf competitions, Bingo nights, trivia, and more—events for which Taproom Manager and trained chef Jimi Hubbard often whips out his skills via his pop-up Boyo’s. Tin Roof is also known as a popular venue for local fundraisers and events held by organizations throughout the region. “We get people from the community coming to us all the time like, ‘Hey, we had this idea,’” said Underwood. “These are great causes and events bringing people out here, and we’ve gotten to collaborate with some great people. And the venue is always the place people will remember.”
Recommendations: Soon to replace the Juke Joint as a Tin Roof flagship, the Road House is a decidedly unhazy West Coast-style IPA, “for those who have been asking where the bitterness went,” and comes highly recommended by every member of the Tin Roof staff, along with another newcomer, the Ambrosia. In contrast, this IPA is almost a cocktail—inspired by your grandma’s sweet and fruity ambrosia salad, flavored by coconut, tangerines, sweet cherries, pineapples, and—yes—marshmallows. As for me, I found myself enamored by the crisp lightness of both the Japanese Rice Lager—a winner created for Tin Roof’s “Lagers Around the World” series—and the Lemon Lavender Open Air, a wheat, aromatic ale that took me straight back to much warmer, sun-soaked days. Owner Operator Cammy McGehee also said to keep an eye out for new releases, including the Orange Jubilee IPA set to make its debut early this year, as well as an oyster stout and a hibiscus sour—both of which were brewing when I visited.
Cypress Coast Brewing Co.
5643 Government Street
History: It all began at Target, so the story goes. On work breaks at the retail corporation, Justin Meyers and Caleb Schlamp fostered their emerging friendship with discussions of their mutual love: craft beer. The two started homebrewing out of Schlamp’s garage, and—after taking home the gold at a series of homebrew competitions around the state—discovered they were pretty good at it. In September 2020, the duo opened Cypress Coast Brewing in the same Government Street complex that now hosts Gov’t Taco—situating the brewery to fill a gap in the ever-blossoming Mid City neighborhood. After navigating a first year of pandemic regulations and barriers, Meyers and Schlamp are excited about the growing opportunities to more actively engage with the Government Street community.
Tap Room: Under a series of floodlights and atop industrial-chic concrete floors, Cypress Coast’s taproom is minimalist and sleek—its crown jewel being the long cypress bartop looking out over the machinations of production on the other half of the brewery. The outdoor seating area is just close enough to Gov’t Taco that you can double the fix. Oh, and the facility is dog-friendly!
The Beer: “What differentiates us a bit is that, when it comes to creating beers, we don’t really head in one direction,” said Schlamp. “We kind of like to brew everything.” The experimental, try-everything philosophy at Cypress Coast is, of course, a direct consequence of its owners’ history as homebrewers. “You almost never want to brew the same thing twice,” he said. “So, when someone comes in, they can expect that they’re going to have something that potentially they’ve never had before—whether that’s a classic style that’s not brewed anymore, or some experimental new IPA with a new hop no one’s ever heard of.” For instance, in response to the onslaught of heavy pumpkin beers being produced by local breweries each fall—Cypress Coast put out the Pumpkin Puff Girls, a subtly-sweet pumpkin sour beer. “We like to put our twist on things like that,” said Meyers.
“What differentiates us a bit is that, when it comes to creating beers, we don’t really head in one direction,” said Schlamp. “We kind of like to brew everything.”
Cultivating Community: On a big chalkboard near the bar, Cypress Coast lists their in-house events for the week—which range from live music and local food pop-ups, to trivia and animal adoption events. “With COVID restrictions, we hadn’t done a lot over that first year,” said Schlamp. “I think a lot more of that is on the horizon, just getting a new customer base, letting people know that we are here.”
[Read our article from 2012 about Louisiana's first big craft beer boom here.]
Recommendations: A lover of all things dark—along with Meyers, it turns out—I quickly found a friend in Cypress Coast’s “Just A Stout”: a simple, toasty, oatmeal stout. The Mid City Blonde was equally pure—crisp and hoppy and great for easy drinking. Schlamp recommended the consistent bestseller, the Bikini Bottom Hazy IPA—which he described as “super tropical, with coconut vibes.”
Rally Cap Brewing Co.
11212 Pennywood Avenue
History: When founder Kevin Whalen landed on the name “Rally Cap” for his new Baton Rouge Brewery, he did so in appreciation for the baseball term’s evocations of community and teamwork. He had no idea the hurdles his new business, opened at the end of 2019, had yet to face in the wake of a global pandemic.
Whalen’s vision for a community gathering place that was both a craft brewery and sports bar was forced to take a year-long backseat when gathering was no longer an option. The brand-new business shifted its efforts to the canning line, pushing product out the garage door and accelerating the brand’s distribution process. People were able to find Rally Cap beers in stores long before they were able to visit where they are made. Still, in true rally fashion, the business persevered as it built a community of folks who discovered some of the highest quality beer in the region.
Throughout 2021, that community has slowly made its way into the brick and mortar brewery—now a recognized and esteemed brand throughout Louisiana—in the Siegen Lane Industriplex Park.
“That’s what we, from the beginning, put our focus on,” Whalen said. “Using quality ingredients, no skimping, lots of hops. Our cost of goods is pretty expensive because we’re using the best. It’s important to us, that we maintain that reputation.”
Tap Room: Decked out in sleek blues, reds, whites, and chromes—the Rally Cap Tap Room boasts all the class and thrill of the sport from which it was inspired. Red detail across the ceiling is reminiscent of baseball stitching, and widescreen televisions make for an ideal sports-viewing experience. The brewery is visible past the bar behind a glass wall, churning out new beers every Friday.
The Beer: Quality: that’s what it comes down to at Rally Cap, said Whalen. “That’s what we, from the beginning, put our focus on,” he said. “Using quality ingredients, no skimping, lots of hops. Our cost of goods is pretty expensive because we’re using the best. It’s important to us, that we maintain that reputation.” Releasing at least one new beer every Friday, Rally Cap is also all about staying on trend. “We want to make what people want to drink right now: our best sellers are the hazy IPAs and the sours, so we try to stay on top of that in innovative ways.”
Cultivating Community: “The community we’ve created is not exactly what we expected it to be based on our sports theme,” said Whalen. “We had this grand scheme where if there was a big game on, this place would be packed. Turns out, that’s not what brings people in. What we’ve found is that it’s really driven by the beer. Our customers are not neighborhood people looking for a place to hang out. They’re craft beer drinkers.”
That said, Whalen was also proud to mention that he’s garnered a crowd of regulars from the Industriplex workforce. “These are Bud Light drinkers, many of whom had never had craft beer before. And now, they’re drinking double IPAs.”
As for programming, Rally Cap hosts trivia every Tuesday, live music on the weekends, the occasional local vendor market, and more. “We plan on doing a lot of theme dates in the coming months,” said Whalen, pointing to a luau event highlighting tropical sour beers (with fire dancers!) in the early spring. And then, of course, the brewery will host an all-out bash for baseball’s opening day.
“These are Bud Light drinkers, many of whom had never had craft beer before. And now, they’re drinking double IPAs.” —Kevil Whalen
Recommendations: At the top of the lineup at Rally Cap is the brewery’s core beer, the First Pitch hazy pale ale. Whalen particularly loves the twist he and his brewers put on that beer, though: the Coconut First Pitch, which is the same beer recirculated through coconut paste. Debuting as the new core beer in 2022 is the Wendy Peffercorn, a golden stout. “It’s a stout, tastes very roasty, but it looks like a golden ale, like a blonde. People look at it, taste it, and are just kind of blown away. It’s almost a summer stout. It just really took off.” As for me, I adored the Christmas Winter Ale—a seasonal specialty brewed with orange peel, cinnamon, and vanilla—and a truly indulgent way to finish off a long, chilly day.
Agile Brewing
14141 Airline Highway Suite 4J
History: Baton Rouge’s newest brewery is heralded by one of craft beer’s most-recognized champions in Louisiana. Keith Primeaux, the founder of homebrewing shop LA Homebrew, has been serving hobby brewers in the region for almost a decade. It was all leading up to this, he said: “I really opened LA Homebrew as preparation for opening a brewery someday.” After a long search for the perfect location, Southern Craft Co.’s closing earlier this year offered Primeaux the opportunity to stake his claim at the heart of Baton Rouge’s urban professional demographic off of Airline Highway (The location isn’t “perfect,” Primeaux allowed—it being a bit off of the main thoroughfare, but “The area is.”). With plans to open the taproom in early 2022, Primeaux said that Baton Rouge can soon look forward to finding Agile beers on tap in local bars, and eventually for sale in cans at regional retailers.
Tap Room: With his LA Homebrew shop right next door, Primeaux has expanded the brewery to incorporate a larger taproom and outdoor patio, which will be accessible via a glass garage door lending natural light to the space. In early December, construction was still deeply underway, but twenty empty outlets behind the massive bar offered a glimpse of the tech-savvy design Primeaux’s got planned. A software developer by trade, he named his brewery for the development term describing “small teams, quick iterations”. “I thought it was the perfect name for a brewery, because craft beer is all about changes. Small, fast, changing—that’s what wins the race.” The brewery’s interior décor will reflect its technical inspirations, featuring twenty thirty-two-inch televisions displaying graphics and descriptions of every beer on tap—which will be named accordingly: keep a look out for the Backspace Blonde.
“I thought it was the perfect name for a brewery, because craft beer is all about changes. Small, fast, changing—that’s what wins the race.” —Keith Primeaux
The Beer: The taproom will serve twenty beers on tap, along with specialties like sparkling lemonade, cold brew coffee on nitro, and kombucha. “The point is just to have something for everyone: light lagers, sour beers, stouts, hoppy beers, just a little bit of everything.” Agile’s beers are derived, Primeaux said, directly from recipes fine-tuned from his experience at LA Homebrew. “A lot of the research and development is on the LA Homebrew side, and this will be more the production side of things,” he said.
While offering a variety of traditional styles, Primeaux said that Agile will also indulge in some creative twists in its brews. “We brew a double oatmeal stout instead of just a regular oatmeal stout,” he said. “We just brewed a Mexican Malt Liquor. Mexican lagers are trending nationwide, so we thought we’d do a malt version. People will have access to our regulars, but we’ll also do some one-offs and try to have some fun.”
Cultivating Community: In addition to its beer offerings, Agile will also serve a small menu of hearty bar food. “We’re gonna serve a typical brewery menu: burgers, chicken sliders,” said Primeaux. “And we want to incorporate as many share-ables as we can.” He’ll also offer a few unique beer-infused food items that customers will only find at Agile—“You’ve got to do a pretzel, with IPA cheese,”—as well as weekend brunches. Live music is part of the vision, too—with future plans for a stage at the center of the taproom.
Recommendations: Still nameless, Agile’s first releases will include a Hazy IPA and a sour—“We’re still trying to decide if we want to make a dessert type of sour or a refreshing sour,” said Primeaux. When I visited, he let me taste from a pilot batch of the brewery’s New England IPA, which I—decidedly not an IPA drinker—found delightfully accessible: hoppy, fruity, and lacking in IPAs’ typical bitterness. “There is a combination of three hops that we used in this one,” he said. “One of the hops is kind of on the newer side, so we didn’t know what to expect, but this turned out pretty good.”
Visit lahomebrew.com and LAHomebrew on social media for details on homebrewing products and upcoming classes, including monthly “How to Make Beer” workshops.