Feature Beer Friday: Southern Craft's Three Generation Tripel

By Eric Ducote

Hey everyone!  I hope you have all had a fantastic week... this morning I'm featuring a beer from Southern Craft Brewing, out of Baton Rouge.  Unlike the last two from Tin Roof, this beer should (if you're reading this promptly) still be available on tap at the Southern Craft taproom out on Airline Hwy. near Barringer Foreman.  Southern Craft became Baton Rouge's second active craft brewery back in 2015 and has been brewing several flagship beers plus a few seasonals ever since.

Last night, they debuted a new specialty brew, the Three Generation Tripel which was a collaboration between the Southern Craft brewmasters and local homebrewers Blake and his father Craig Winchell.  Both of them are members of the Brasseurs A La Maison club locally and they named the beer in honor of the two homebrewers plus Blake's son Brennan.  The beer is brewed primarily with pilsner malt spiked with some Belgian candy sugar, with some noble hallertauer hops to balance out the sweetness.  The Belgian yeast gives some traditional esters and leaves the beer with 8% abv.

My first thought was that the color was spot on for the Tripel style, which trends lighter in color than the dubbel and quad Belgian styles.  Traditionally Tripels are of medium strength with lighter color and body and more floral hoppiness than the other Belgian styles.  The appearance is spot on, and so is the aroma, with some sweet notes combined with earthy and flowery hop notes.

The taste is a solid follow through on the aroma, with the sweet candy sugar notes taking a little more of a starring role along with the sweet bubble gum esters from the Belgian yeast.  All of the flavors balance together well and leave a slight lingering sugary sweetness with hints of flowers.  In my opinion, this is one of the best Southern Craft beers to date, so if you are free Friday afternoon, go check out the taproom from 5-9 and you should be able to find some of this still on tap. While you're there, be sure to check out their other current seasonal beers, the Citeaux Oatmeal Coffee Stout, and the Hyla IPA.

Beers with Chuck: Southern Craft Brewing Co.

by Chuck P

For the past 5 years the Tin Roof Brewing Company has been the only craft brewery in Baton Rouge. With the ever-rising popularity of craft beer it was only a matter of time before there was some friendly competition in the capital city. Welcome the new kid on the block, Southern Craft Brewery.

Owners Wes Hedges and Joe Picou started brewing beer as a hobby after their long days of working as engineers. Quickly, the hobby became a passion and as their homebrewing skills grew so did their desire to create unique recipes using local ingredients. After honing their craft (haha) they entered their first National Homebrew Competition back in 2011 and won 2nd place out of 7,000 brewers for their Red Stick Rye. This beer has a nice malt and hop balance with a clean crisp finish. It features Carolina Rye malts which have grown in the south for over 200 years.

Doing some quality control at Southern Craft Brewing in Baton Rouge, LA

They continued entering more competitions locally and nationwide and eventually developed what would be their second flagship beer, the Pompous Pelican Double IPA. This is a really easy drinking Double IPA with a nice hop profile that doesn’t kill your pallet, but comes through nicely. It’s made with raw Louisiana cane sugar from the oldest sugar plantation in the country and Cascade hops giving it that floral aroma with hints of citrus and bit of spice. It may seem light, but don’t let that fool you. At 8%ABV this one is NOT made to pound back on a warm Louisiana day.

Southern Craft's Pompous Pelican Double IPA

Now, after years of homebrewing, the guys have finally realized their dream of opening their own brewery located at the Barringer Foreman Technology Park on Airline Highway (the last building in the back). Complete with a very nice taproom that’s small in size, but very open and inviting the doors open every Friday at 5pm and tours are at 6 and 7pm.

The taproom at Southern Craft located in the Barringer Foreman Technology Park on Airline Hwy.

Both flagships are on tap as well as their first seasonal, the Swamp Sting Honey Ale along with other experimental brews. If you’re lucky you may get a chance to try their oatmeal stout collaboration brew with Cafeciteaux Coffee Roasters. Trust me, it’s delicious.

I’m happy to see that Baton Rouge is embracing another craft brewery and hopefully this will be the beginning of many more to follow. Cheers!

Beers with Chuck: Southern Craft Brewery, New Kid on the Block

by Chuck P

For the past five years, Tin Roof Brewing Company has enjoyed being the only craft brewery based out of Baton Rouge. But now, the capital city welcomes a new addition, Southern Craft Brewing Company.

I always found it odd Baton Rouge didn’t have more craft breweries popping up after the success of Tin Roof. The Lafayette area has Parish, Bayou Teche and the upcoming Cajun Brewing Company. New Orleans has NOLA, Courtyard, Second Line and the recently opened Urban South. 

Hopefully this is the beginning of a long-awaited trend in Baton Rouge.

This week Southern Craft did a massive rollout at the usual craft beer spots in town, but I decided new beers called for a new atmosphere, and I wound up trying their flagship beers at the newly opened Overpass Merchant.

Southern Craft Brewing's Red Stick Rye IPA

I started with the Red Stick Rye, a 5.4 percent ABV IPA. This is the one that started it all for 

Southern Craft brewers Joe Picou and Wes Hedges. The original recipe placed second at the National Homebrew Competition in San Diego in 2011. This brew has a nice dark amber color, an approachable dry finish and a really strong malty backbone. The overall hoppiness is very subtle, with the IBU (International Bitterness Units) coming in at 24.

Pompous Pelican Double IPA

Their other release, the Pompous Pelican, is an ambitious 8.4 percent ABV Double IPA. The hoppiness definitely shines through on this one, with 80 IBU that dance on the tongue. Southern Craft uses local raw cane sugar in this brew, and the Cascade hops give the beer a great balance of citrus and floral notes with a great spicy aroma.

I had to admit, both beers impressed me, and I’m very eager to see what Southern Craft comes out with next. Visit them online and grab a pint of each on your next visit to your favorite craft beer spot.