USA, LA: Gilla Brewing Company to sign lease for its first facility in Gonzales

Ascension Parish is getting its first craft brewery next summer, in a 2,400-square-foot space off Highway 44 in Gonzales, the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report said on November 29.

Within the next week, Gilla Brewing Company plans to sign a four-year lease for two suites in the Cannon Crossing shopping center, also home to Sun Nails Gonzales and Elle Hair Studio.

Owners Derek Stewart, Bradley Andersen and Alex Shillings will brew everything from New England-style IPAs to fruited sours in one suite, using the other as a tap room.

“We’ve been together for about a year, brewing out of my garage,” says Stewart, a chemical refinery instrument technician who also worked at Tiger Tavern in Gonzales. “But between all of us—Brad’s been brewing nine years, I’ve been brewing eight, and Alex has for 10.”

Stewart—along with Andersen, a senior global logistics specialist, and Shillings, a process operator at a local chemical plant—will offer 12-oz. glasses, costing between $5 and $8 depending on the type of beer, as well as both standard and rotating flagship IPAs and stouts. Prices for 4- and 5-oz. flights will vary, he says.

The brewery’s closest competitors will be Tin Roof and Southern Craft, both located in Baton Rouge, with another three new operators—Cypress Coast, Rally Brewing Co., and Le Chien Brewing Co.—slated to also open here in the future.

Other than being Ascension’s first craft brewery, what distinguishes Gilla from the slowly but steadily growing Baton Rouge craft beer industry is its specialty in small batches. Gilla will brew 30 to 50 gallons at a time, Stewart says, making its business model more responsive to what parish residents want.

“It’s a lot easier for us to make a small batch and see how it does in the tap room,” he says. “It’s a lot of work for us to create six to eight beers at once.”

03 December, 2018