Beer And Brandy - Out to Lunch - It's Baton Rouge

In a state that claims as its motto "Laissez les Bon Temps Roulez,"
it s not surprising that what today are euphemistically called
adult beverages factor prominently in the culture. What is
surprising is the growing number of distilleries and breweries
based in south Louisiana including right here in Baton Rouge that
are emerging on the local scene and making a name for themselves.
Ricci Hull is one such distiller. He is the owner of Baton Rouge
Distilling, a distillery that opened in April 2016 and has begun
producing a line of fruit brandies, with plans on the way for a
flagship bourbon and a rye whiskey. Ricci didn t set out to be a
craft distiller; he s an electrical engineer by training, but a
couple of years ago he and his wife, Natasha Krzesaj, realized
after sampling craft whiskeys while traveling that they had the
know how to get into the business. A distillery, after all, as
Ricci will tell you, is really just a small scale refinery, where
molecules are manipulated until they morph into something new.
Sounds simple, right Joseph Picou is a craft brewer, who with his
partner, Wes Hedges, owns Southern Craft Brewing Company. Joseph
and Wes got into brewing long before they thought about turning it
into a business. They were engineers by day and home brewers by
night, who realized they had potential when they entered a national
homebrewers competition in 2011 and came in 2nd out of 7000 brewers
with their Red Stick Rye. Today, they have a brewery here in baton
rouge that produces four craft beers sourced with local ingredients
and their brews are served in restauratns and bars throughotut the
Capital Region. Photos at Mansurs On The Boulevard by Ken Stewart.

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