Despite rumors to the contrary, Terrapin Beer Co. has not yet inked an agreement with Crescent Crown Distributing to bring the Athens, Ga.-based brewery’s beer to Louisiana. Keyword, yet.
“We’re in contract talks with them now, but nothing’s been officially signed,” said Dustin Watts, the vice president of sales and marketing at Terrapin. “We don’t like to put any of that stuff out there until we’ve put pen to paper.”
Watts added, however, that an announcement of that kind is expected next week.
If all goes well and pen is put to paper, Watts explained, the beer drinkers of Louisiana can look forward to finding Terrapin in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas by mid-January, with the brewery’s full lineup slated to be available more widely by March or April.
“We want to do great and build our name there before we start to expand more into Lafayette and (elsewhere in Louisiana),” added Watts.
Watts said that the company is also eyeing additional expansion opportunities for 2014, including Washington D.C. and West Virginia, among others.
“As 2014 moves on a little bit, we’ll be starting the conversations with Kentucky distributors and Ohio distributors,” he said.
Terrapin is on pace to brew 33,000 barrels this, up about 42 percent from last year, said Watts. The company is also in talks to obtain financing for another expansion, as the brewery is hoping to add six 200-barrel fermenters and a canning line.
According to Watts, funding for the company’s expansion “originated through the financial community, including banks and leasing companies,” adding that it would not come from MillerCoors via the company’s Tenth and Blake division, which is a minority shareholder of the brewery.
“I feel like we’re going to blow this entire building up,” Watts said.