As a longtime homebrewer, Jacob Talley spent a good part of the past five years tinkering with recipes and thinking: “If only a brewery would brew a beer like this.”
Since joining Tin Roof Brewing Co. this fall as the seven-year-old brewery’s first CEO, Talley tells Business Report in its new Executive Spotlight feature that he’s now fortunate to be in a position “to act on those instincts and react to the demands of our craft beer drinkers.”
Talley joined Tin Roof after spending four years at Mockler Beverage as the distributor’s first craft brand manager. In the short-term, he’d like to see Tin Roof introduce a few new brews in coming the year.
“Long-term, we need to further establish our lace as one of the leading craft breweries in Louisiana,” he says, because the “competition is becoming increasingly difficult and ‘noisy.’”
Read the full Executive Spotlight Q&A with Talley. Here’s a sample of what you’ll find:
The craft brewery scene in Baton Rouge and Louisiana has been growing steadily in recent years. Do you think there’s room for further growth or has the market reached a saturation point?
“I think we are approaching a saturation point. I saw it during my time on the distribution side. Way back in 2013, I wanted to take on any brand and bring them to market. That strategy worked for a couple of years, but it has since cooled off. Nowadays, I see a relatively big craft brand try to come in from out of state to make some noise, but most of those brands barely make a splash. For what it’s worth, I strongly believe that local beer that focuses on quality will continue to be the winners.”
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