Ozark Beer Co. Buys Old Flour Mill in Downtown Rogers

Ozark Beer Co. has outgrown its current location in Rogers and plans to move operations downtown.

OBC principals Andy Coates, Lacie Bray and Jeff Baldwin (through Ozark Beer Ventures LLC) recently paid $970,000 for a vacant 13,726-SF building at 109 N. Arkansas St.

If all goes to plan, the team will be brewing there by the end of the summer, according to a press release from the brewery.

Built in 1886 as Rogers Flour Milling and then rebuilt after a fire in 1914, the OBC principals say the building was not for sale when they contacted the previous owner, but that they recognized it as ideal for their needs.

“We had a map and looked at every building of a certain size,” said Bray, according to the press release. “This building was made to be a brewery.”

The larger facility, with its 10,000-SF warehouse and high ceilings, was a selling point for OBC, as the brewery plans to increase distribution. The brewery’s beer is currently in Benton and Washington counties and Pulaski and Saline counties in central Arkansas, according to the release. 

In addition to the added space, OBC principals are looking forward to being downtown. 

“The purchase of a property in downtown Rogers was a conscious decision to further integrate Ozark Beer Co. into the Northwest Arkansas community, specifically downtown Rogers,” Marty Shutter, chief of marketing and parties, said according to the press release. 

For the time being, until the city approves OBC’s plans for the new building, the company will continue to produce its beer out of its original 8,000-SF brewery on South First Street, about one mile south of downtown.

Founded in 2013, the brewery has gained national attention from Beer Advocate, Men’s Journal, Martha Stewart Living, USA Today, Southern Living, Paste Magazine and Food & Wine magazine.