Baton Rouge’s next brewery, Agile Brewing, to take over Southern Craft space

Another brewery is slated to open this summer in the Airline Highway suite that previously belonged to Southern Craft Brewing Company, which permanently closed last month.

Keith Primeaux, who also owns LaHomebrew in Baton Rouge, applied last week for building and expedited commercial plan review permits for a new business called Agile Brewing to fill the roughly 3,000-square-foot space, which he plans to renovate and expand to 4,500 square feet.

As envisioned, Agile Brewing would offer 20 different rotating taps, from Nitro cold brew coffee and kombucha to low-alcohol seltzers and imperial stout beers, among various other brews.

“A city the size of Baton Rouge could easily handle a dozen breweries, but we only currently have three, technically, in the parish,” says Primeaux, the former president of Redstick Brewmasters. “The timing is right. Craft beer culture has grown here and people are looking for more choices.”

He’s planning some significant renovations for the space, including knocking down the wall of an adjacent 1,500-square-foot unit in order to add a new, larger tap room. Also in the works is a back deck with outdoor seating as well as a food trailer that would be permanently stationed on the property, with food prepared by the brewery’s own crew members.

Expecting a three-month construction timeline, Primeaux hopes to open the brewery in July or August.

Primeaux’s permit application came shortly after he relocated LaHomebrew, where he sells specialty grains and equipment for beer-brewing and winemaking, earlier this month from its Pecue Lane location to Barringer Foreman Tech Park—next door to the space Agile Brewing would occupy.

Though Southern Craft officially announced its closure in mid-January, Primeaux says he’s been working on the deal for the past nine months and is in the process of buying all of Southern Craft’s assets.

“We’re still waiting on permits and other details,” he says, “but I’m trying to move forward as fast as I can.”