Tin Roof is expanding

From The Advocate
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Tin Roof Brewing Co. has purchased an 0.89-acre piece of property at the intersection of Oklahoma Street and River Road that could serve as the eventual new home for Baton Rouge’s only craft brewery.

Charles Caldwell, one of the co-founders of Tin Roof, said the brewery wants to be prepared for when it needs to open a larger facility. Tin Roof paid $115,000 for the property at 635 Oklahoma St. in a deal that was filed with the clerk of court’s office on Friday. That land is around the corner from Tin Roof’s current home at 1624 Wyoming St.

“We would like to stay in this area,” Caldwell said. “But there’s nothing on the front right now about opening a new brewery.”

Instead, Tin Roof has been expanding and upgrading its current location. The brewery recently added 6,000 square feet of space to bring it up to 15,000 square feet. That will provide more room for Tin Roof’s cans of Blonde Ale, Perfect Tin Amber Ale and Voodoo Bengal Pale Ale.

By December or January, a new brewhouse and fermentation vessels should be installed. This will boost Tin Roof’s current brewing capacity from 5,000 barrels a year to 10,000 barrels. One barrel is 31 gallons of beer.

“This will open us up to canning all of our seasonal beers and allow us to add other brands,” Caldwell said.

Tin Roof also plans to start selling 22-ounce “bomber”-sized bottles of beer, produced in smaller batches than the canned beverages. The first beer to be sold in the new bottles, a black double India Pale Ale, hopefully will be released by the end of the year, Caldwell said.

The 22-ounce bottle is a popular size for craft brewers because it allows two or three drinkers to share a beer.

Tin Roof also plans to open a tasting room at the brewery. A state law that was passed in 2012 opened the door for breweries to sell pints and growlers to-go directly to consumers. Several Louisiana craft brewers, such as Parish Brewing in Broussard and NOLA Brewing and Bayou Teche Brewing in Arnaudville either have opened or are set to open tap rooms.

Caldwell said the brewery is working with city-parish officials to change the local law to allow Tin Roof to get onboard the trend.