After falling flat a few years ago, Baton Rouge-based Tin Roof Brewing Co. and LSU have come to an agreement to release an officially licensed beer for the university.
The beer, which will be branded as “an officially licensed product of LSU,” will be made available in time for the kickoff the 2016 football season.
“The founders of Tin Roof have shown a great entrepreneurial spirit and this licensing agreement provides an avenue for LSU to be more entrepreneurial as well,” says Charlie D’Agostino, executive director of LSU Innovation Park, in a statement. “We pursued this type of opportunity a few years ago and it didn’t work out at the time, but in today’s economic climate, it was a great partnership to revisit and see go to market.”
LSU’s flagship campus and Tin Roof Brewing, which was founded by LSU graduates, had previously been in talks to release a licensed beer called Bandit Blonde Ale. But in 2012, the university’s governing body said the plans violated its contract with the Collegiate Licensing Co.
“The time we tried it before it was such a new idea that the powers-that-be that were in place at the time couldn’t agree on whether it was a good idea or not,” William McGehee, Tin Roof Brewing’s co-founder, tells Daily Report.
McGehee says he continued to have discussions with D’Agostino about producing an officially licensed beer for the university, and decided about six months ago to reach out to the University and try again.
And while McGehee says he isn’t entirely sure what made the university agreeable to having an officially licensed beer at this point, he speculates that those in charge at LSU may have been a bit more open to the idea because other universities also are licensing alcoholic beverages. For example, Bayou Teche Brewing in Arnaudville produces the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Ragin’ Cajuns Genuine Louisiana Ale.
The agreement was finalized Thursday, McGehee says. Financial terms were not disclosed.
LSU fans will have a hand in deciding what kind of beer Tin Roof will brew for LSU. In a news release announcing the new product, McGehee says eight to ten test batches have been created for a blind testing panel to sample.
“Each recipe was designed with the types of activities that LSU fans enjoy, such as tailgating and grilling out,” McGehee says. “The panel will be made up of these fans and they will determine the winning style that we’ll brew.”
—Alexandria Burris
