Red River Brewing Co.
Marsala Beverage Welcomes New Brewing Company from Shreveport
How long have you been in business? Red River actually incorporated and started the licensure process in 2012, but we’ve been home brewing beer since 2009. After ten months of regulatory hurdles, the company became officially licensed to sell beer in Louisiana in mid-October of 2013.
Are you originally from the Shreveport area? Beau Raines, who is one of the three managing partners and co-founders, is from Shreveport and is married to a Monroe native. Jared Beville is from Winnfield, LA originally, and our third co-founder and managing partner is Robert McGuire, who has been in Louisiana for ten plus years but was born and raised in Orange County, CA.
Why did you get into the beer business? The love for craft beer, the creation of our own unique beers, and the identification of a market opportunity in our local area is what really drove us to start Red River Brewing Company. Robert and Jared met through their church, ironically enough, in 2009, and they began home brewing in Jared's garage. Robert has several science degrees and really understands the process and science. Living and growing up in California, Robert had done some wine and mead making years back and had an interest in trying his hand at beer. He and Jared started talking one day, and the topic of home brewing came up. About two weeks later he called Jared and said he had all of the equipment and ingredients and was 14 JULY 2014 | WW W. B AY OU LI FE MAG . CO M
ready to make a batch of beer. Immediately after the first batch or two, they both fell in love with the process of creating beer from four simple ingredients. Jared has a business background and there were no breweries within 150 miles of Shreveport/Bossier, so they felt like there was a market opportunity for a local brewery. Beau, who is originally from Shreveport, returned to town after living in Mobile, AL for five years, where he began enjoying craft beer. Beau and Jared are fraternity brothers from Louisiana Tech. Beau was very interested in the project when he moved back to town, so he got involved with Robert and Jared early on. It got serious in 2012, when funds were put together, and they started working on the transition from home brewers to professionals.
What brews do you offer? Currently Red River offers Hay Ryed, which is the flagship Hybrid American Wheat Ale. It was created to be enjoyed alongside a crawfish boil, due to its light, refreshing wheat character and spicy rye finish. It is a perfect beer for the Louisiana climate of 10 months of Summer. We've offered several special releases such as IPAs, pale ales, and they'll soon be releasing another offering regularly. Red River hasn't decided if it will be a rotating offering between several beers or another flagship type staple. Stay tuned... How big is your staff? Red River's "staff" is three part-time indebted business owners...although Robert
will be starting full-time in July to give Beau and Jared the ability to focus on growing the business to the next level. The partners all have full-time day jobs, wives, and two small kids. They intentionally started small to get accustomed to the beer business before diving in head first. Currently, they brew every other Saturday. Over the next 12 months, Red River's focus will be to grow to a self-sustaining business with three to four full-time employees by May of 2015.
Do you have a facility available for touring? Red River currently doesn't offer tours, but they do allow people to drop by when they're working. People can contact Red River through the website and Facebook. They would love to see you if you're in the area.
What makes your brewery unique? Red River is the first licensed brewery in the area since before Prohibition, and they strive to craft creative and innovative beers that go well with Louisiana cuisine and culture. They're just three local guys who love craft beer, and they wanted to bring a brewery to Shreveport/Bossier, and so they did. There was no blueprint for them to use to start a brewery in Shreveport, and they blazed a trail that was fun, challenging, and rewarding. Red River is a very small operation, and they hand-craft every beer for the love of their customers. Red River is growing in the market and will continue to grow, and they look forward to bringing new and exciting beers to North Louisiana and beyond!