Local Brewers Get Crafty

Something’s brewing in Northwest Arkansas.

Specifically, three craft beer brewing operations are poised to join a sprouting market in the coming weeks and months. If all three ventures open as planned, the total number of Washington County-based craft beer entities will rise to seven, a jump of 600 percent since October.

“I think our area has been lagging behind a little bit, and the demand has just now hit here,” said Steve Rehbock, who plans to begin production at Saddlebock Brewery in Springdale as soon as this week.

“Northwest Arkansas is a perfect place for craft beer because we have so many transplants and transients who work for the big companies like Wal-Mart [Stores Inc.] and their suppliers, and those people kind of expect it to be available.”

The data show craft beer is increasingly in demand nationwide, and the local players are trying to tap into an industry that saw retail dollar value of its product climb 9.1 percent — from $7.6 billion in 2010 to an estimated $8.7 billion — in 2011. Those numbers come from the Brewers Association, a trade group with more than 31,000 members.

The association claims the majority of Americans live within 10 miles of a craft brewer, and that might soon be the case for anyone within 10 miles of the Fayetteville-Springdale area, which many of the local brewers believe could become a beer destination for suds-minded tourists. If that sounds like pie-in-the-sky thinking, consider that while overall beer sales in the United States were down about 1.3 percent in 2011, craft brewers sold 13.23 percent more barrels in 2011 (11.47 million barrels) than 2010 (10.13 million).

From North Carolina to Colorado and California, a number of cities are cashing in on beer tourism.

“Hell, yeah, it can happen here,” said Jesse Core, whose 5,000-SF Core Brewing and Distilling Co. facility in Springdale could be up and running by mid-September. Core Brewing features a 20-barrel brewing system and a canning line.

“The reason why I know is because I’ve lived in places like Boulder. I know what they look like,” Core said. “The demographics here are very similar — lots of white-collar jobs, a university town, and big companies like Walmart and Tyson who bring in transient employees.”

 

Beer Money           

While Rehbock and Core said they’ve invested about $500,000 and $1 million, respectively, J.T. Wampler opened Tanglewood Branch Beer Co. in south Fayetteville on less than $50,000, though he’s quick to add he benefited from having “a troop of volunteers.”

The range in investment amounts reflects the different market entry points. A brewpub like Tanglewood, for example, is defined as a restaurant-brewery that sells 25 percent or more of its beer on site.

Brewpubs generally have smaller brewing systems than microbreweries, which produce fewer than 15,000 barrels of beer per year with 75 percent or more sold off-site. A barrel equals 31 gallons, or enough to fill two kegs.

Regional breweries, meanwhile, produce between 15,000 and 6 million barrels annually. A brewery producing more than that would be considered a large brewery.

Until the opening of Tanglewood — which opened Sept. 27, but didn’t offer its own beer until May 7 — and West Mountain Brewing Co. — which began selling its brews Oct. 1 and is run in conjunction with Tiny Tim’s Pizza on Fayetteville’s downtown square — Dickson Street’s Hog Haus Brewing Co. was for years the only craft beer destination in Northwest Arkansas.

Wampler and West Mountain owner John Schmuecker said the response to their beers has been overwhelming. Wampler uses a one-barrel system, but hopes to expand to three by December.

“That would give us the capacity to do growler sales and outside sales to other restaurants and bars,” Wampler said. “That should bring us the income we need to, a year later, be the seven-barrel system we’re designed for.”

Tanglewood’s early sales indicate those are feasible plans. The brewpub did more than $170,000 in revenue from December-May, according to tax figures available via the Fayetteville Advertising & Promotion Commission.

Wampler said Tanglewood beer, available now for about two months, has accounted for 9 percent of the pub’s total sales.

“If I wasn’t selling my beer, I would be concerned,” he said. “Right now, I just can’t make enough.”

Likewise, Schmuecker said West Mountain currently has 14 beers on tap, generally including two or three house products brewed by Andy Coates. Those beers regularly account for 38 percent to 40 percent of beer sales, Schmuecker said, and that number jumps to 60 percent to 70 percent when six or seven West Mountain varieties are offered simultaneously. West Mountain uses a 3 ½-barrel system.

 

Friendly Competition

Schmuecker said West Mountain’s IPA is its most popular brew, and Coates regularly produces other ales and stouts. Wampler also currently concentrates on an IPA and a pale ale, in addition to a porter and a weizen, or wheat beer.

Despite the similarities in products, though, there is a palpable sense of community among the local brewers. Schmuecker compared the craft beer industry to pizza restaurants, of which he said there are 67 in Fayetteville and Springdale.

“There’s enough beer to go around,” he said. “You just figure out what you do best and work hard on that.”

“Once you wrap your head around the style of a beer, then it’s all open to interpretation,” Wampler added. “You could take the same recipe and let four different brewers work with that same recipe and the same ingredients, and you’ll get four different beers. So much of brewing is in the brewer.

“We’re obviously competitors, but it’s a friendly competition. I don’t want to sell more beer because they do badly. I want to sell more beer because mine’s better. If theirs is better, then good for them.”

Ben Mills, who opened Fossil Cove Brewing Co. in Fayetteville, said local brewers regularly sample each other’s beer. Mills uses a four-barrel system and brews beer currently available at Mellow Mushroom, Brewski’s and Grub’s.

Fossil Cove also has a small tasting room, but Mills’ aim is to brew for commercial distribution. He spent eight months working at Silverton Brewing Co. in Colorado, then went through a six-month program at the University of California-Davis before opening Fossil Cove on June 2.

A group that includes the owners of Dickson Street’s Smoke and Barrel Tavern hopes to begin build-out of a brew pub in north Fayetteville within six months. The group will operate as Apple Blossom Brewing Co., and hopes to implement a 10- to 15-barrel system, with an eye on adding commercial production and distribution.

Then there are Rehbock and Core, who have the largest-scale plans. After acquiring a piece of property near the White River last year, Rehbock oversaw construction of a three-story, 4,100-SF barn-style brewing facility.

He said he plans to produce as much as 600 kegs of German ales and lagers per month initially, and up that number to 3,000 within a year using a 15-barrel system. Rehbock said he has agreements with Foghorn’s Wings and Kingfish, among other bars and restaurants, and will offer kegs at Liquor World and Macadoodles.

“I’ve gotten to the point where I need to start brewing before I take any more commitments,” he said. “There are no cans or bottles yet, but they’re coming soon.”

Core, who also brews all of Hog Haus’ beers, is itching to get started, and said he’s simply waiting on equipment. Core said his company will offer tours and have a small patio, “but our focus is on becoming the regional brewing company.”

To that end, he has ordered 175,000 cans.

“We need to fill up those cans,” Core said with a laugh.

Core’s ESB beer currently is available at Kingfish and Tusk & Trotter in Bentonville, among other locations, and said his other staples will be a Kolsch-style ale and an oatmeal stout.

“My microbiology professor was able to boost my attendance by telling me I could learn how to make beer,” Core said, “and I’ve been hooked ever since.”

It looks like the rest of Northwest Arkansas now is along for the ride, too.