Tin Roof Brewing Co., Southern Craft Brewing Co. and Cane Land Distilling Co. all have something important in common, and it’s not just that they make popular brews and booze.
From the ingredients they use in their products to the area organizations and charities they endorse, “going local” is an integral part of everything these companies do.
Increasingly, the three businesses are hosting regular special events and partnering with local small businesses, organizations and charities—in part to attract visitors to their facilities, but also to give back the community.
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Tin Roof Brewing Co. establishes brewery as a local events space
From the very beginning, Tin Roof has always included community involvement as a company goal.
“There’s something about being a brewery and being a local maker that go hand-in-hand with being a part of the community,” says owner William McGehee.
When the brewery first opened its doors in 2010, Tin Roof wasn’t legally allowed to have a taproom. Instead, brewery tours and charity events were the only ways to get people through the doors of this somewhat out-of-the-way attraction and out in the Baton Rouge community spreading the Tin Roof name. Providing a free event space for organizations that couldn’t afford to rent out a bar, restaurant or venue, Tin Roof was able to partner with a huge variety of charities and small businesses. Today, the brewery has only grown its list of partnerships and now hosts regular events for every demographic and interest group, including yoga sessions, science fairs, poetry readings and church group socials.
With its Nicholson corridor neighborhood seeing plenty of development on the horizon, such as the Water Campus, LSU’s Nicholson Gateway and a potential tram project in the works, Tin Roof will soon be in the center of all that activity. But don’t expect to see community events at the brewery drop off.
“Craft beer is one of those strange businesses, where [the target market] is so diverse,” McGehee says. “I think the events that we host and the people that we see here show that. … We want to be a place to bring people together and let you do whatever you want to do.”
Southern Craft Brewing Co.’s fresh take on community involvement
In its first year alone, Southern Craft has already incorporated a wide variety of events to serve a diverse demographic of craft beer drinkers. The brewery plans to expand its offerings with exciting new additions, including a beer pairing dinner later this summer. For Southern Craft owner Joe Picou, making the newer brewery an inclusive events space is just as important as the beer he serves.
“This is our community, and this is where we plan to be for a long time,” Picou says. “We want to make sure that we have that connection with all the people around here, because they support us and enjoy our beers. So we want to make sure that we’re doing whatever we can to give back to the community, and we try to build our events with that in mind.”
For obvious reasons, making a local impact can be difficult for a new brewery on the other side of town from its biggest competitor, even when the breweries’ brand personalities differ. Southern Craft’s location at the back of a cluster of warehouses off Airline Highway also means it isn’t in a high-visibility area. But local organizations, including Yoglates II and The Overpass Merchant, continually approach Southern Craft to be involved with or host events, ultimately making their community impact goal and public awareness easy to achieve.
“Around August of last year when the big flood hit, [Southern Craft] had an opportunity to go and support the ‘Under the Overpass’ event and raise some money for … the people that were impacted by that flood,” Picou says. “So that was a no-brainer for us to go, help and participate in that.”
Community events coming to new kid on the block Cane Land Distilling Co.
Although it just opened earlier this summer, Cane Land already has plans underway to add a community involvement strategy to its normal operating structure.
“We have our distribution, which is putting our spirits out to the outside world. And we have our tasting room and tours, which helps with the tourist trade and the downtown people,” says marketing and communications director Angie Ray. “But then we have our local market that we want to come and feel like [Cane Land] is a place to come hang out, work on your computer in the afternoon and have a nice cold daiquiri on a hot summer day.”
Particularly, Cane Land is planning to have weekly tiki nights, cocktail classes and social hours as well as a whiskey barrel auction fundraiser later this year. As of just last week, Cane Land now offers residents the chance to be a part of the CLDC Bottling Krewe. Volunteers come to the distillery on a weekday to bottle (and sample) the newest spirits, eat and have a good time. Cane Land will even send volunteers home with a gift or two.
Posted by Cane Land Distilling Company on Wednesday, June 21, 2017
For Cane Land, located on the edge of downtown, the aim of these events goes beyond advertising and brand awareness, a sentiment echoed by Tin Roof and Southern Craft. The truly rewarding part of the company’s community involvement is that the distillery becomes a unique gathering place for all members of the Baton Rouge area.
“Being able to put on events like this and see a diverse group of people come in here, all get together and have a great time is so rewarding,” Ray says. “At our opening, we had over 1,500 people come through here … when you walked through, the crowd was so diverse, and everybody was hanging out together. And that’s the kind of place that I want to go, so it’s nice to be part of that.”
Tin Roof, Southern Craft and Cane Land all have a great variety of events on tap for this summer and beyond. Upcoming events include Jay D’s Backyard Barbecue at Tin Roof Friday, June 30, and Tiki Time at Cane Land Saturday, July 15. Stay tuned to The Best of 225 This Week‘s Weekly Itinerary for more.
