Baton Rouge’s fledgling craft alcohol and beer industry has made great strides over the past year, with the arrival of not only a second brewery but two new distilleries.
As Business Report details in a new feature from the current issue, Baton Rouge Distilling—touted as the first operating distillery in the Capital City since Prohibition—launched in May 2016. On its heels came Cane Land Distilling Co., which opened downtown in May. Meanwhile, the local craft beer industry picked up a new player when Southern Craft Brewing debuted its brews in April 2016.
“Baton Rouge is ready for this,” says Ricci Hull, co-founder of Baton Rouge Distilling. “What I’ve seen in the past 20 years is a revolution. People are populating downtown and making it cool again. They’re taking pride in Baton Rouge. They want local products. We have a population here that wants this.”
William McGehee isn’t sure why it took so long for the craft movement to take hold in Baton Rouge. He saw the demand years ago in 2010 when he and Charles Caldwell opened Tin Roof Brewing, the first brewery in the Capital City. Despite Tin Roof’s success, it took six years for another craft beer or booze business to hit the scene.
“Once Tin Roof opened, every day we thought we’d see another brewery open up. I’m shocked it took as long as it did,” McGehee says.
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