Baton Rouge’s newest brewery, Rally Cap Brewing, is set to open this Saturday.
Located in a converted warehouse off Siegen Lane, Rally Cap has long been a dream for owner and head brewer Kevin Whalen.
He’d been thinking of the concept for around five years before working on the space itself over the last two years. The brewery blends Whalen’s two biggest passions in life: beer and sports. His director of operations, Jeremy Brown, agrees.
“The theme is baseball. A lot of the names of beers are baseball,” Whalen says. “Jeremy and I are both huge sports fanatics. To be able to merge sports and brewing is an exciting thing for us.”
Inside the brewery, In between the rows of curvy beer glasses and cement counters is the bar’s main feature: a row of 16 taps for the brewery’s house-made beer. There are also 10 widescreen TVs around the open-plan main room and enough seating for just under 100 people.
Behind the bar, the brewery is visible through a glass panel, and there are also a few seats inside the brewery itself for those who want a closer look.
Whalen and Brown’s vision is about versatility—they want to be a bar, a brewery, a sports hangout and a community spot where people can unwind after work. There’s even a small stand filled with board games.
For their grand opening event this Saturday, Rally Cap plans to offer five or six brews, including the First Pitch hazy pale and the Innings Eater with light American wheat. Whalen also might brew some of his favorite IPA, Rainbow. The two plan on being flexible when it comes to brewing.
“What Jeremy and I like and what you’ll see at the start is a lot of hazy IPAs, pale ales, just some innovative things,” Whalen says. “But I think over time it’s important to know what the customer wants. If it continues to be hazy IPAs, that’s what I’ll brew. And if people want stouts, I’ll brew stouts.”
Rally Cap is also about bringing more craft beer to Baton Rouge and helping people fully understand and enjoy the brews, the team says.
The grand opening event is set for Dec. 14, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Rally Cap Brewing is at 11212 Pennywood Ave.
This story originally appeared in 225 magazine. Subscribe to the free 225 Dine e-newsletter here to keep up with Baton Rouge food and events.
