E-Malt.com News article: USA, MO: White River Brewing Co. to open in Springfield

White River Brewing Co. expects to be licensed and selling beer by the end of October or early November, joining breweries like Mother’s Brewing Co. and Springfield Brewing Co., owner John Hosfield was quoted as saying by news-leader.com on September, 10.

“We just don’t want to be another brewery,” he said. The brewery has hired veteran brewmaster David Lamb, who has been working to select styles and perfect recipes. Talk about opening the brewery began in May and really got going in June, Hosfield said.

The exact styles of beer are still being determined, but one thing is certain: the final product will be high quality, Lamb said.

“We really want to present our beers as high-end beers,” he said. One way Lamb is looking to differentiate White River’s beers is to use quality ingredients, even if it’s something as seemingly minor to the non-brewmaster as a different strain of yeast. Hosfield said he could really tell the difference between test batches made with different strands.

“They give the beer a totally different aroma, flavor, finish,” Hosfield said. “Sometimes it’s a subtle difference, and sometimes it’s a big difference.”

Lamb has been brewing test batches of the beers to try and perfect the recipes.

“There’s always a lot of tweaking,” he said. “I’m not easily satisfied with my beer, or anybody else’s for that matter.”

White River’s brand names still aren’t finalized — they’ve been working to find just the right wording — but will likely incorporate themes of the White River and the Ozarks.

One market the brewery is aiming to target are tourists who come and want to find a different type of beer from what they can get at home, Hosfield said.

Distribution of the beer will extend throughout Springfield and southern Missouri as well as part of Arkansas. The beers will be available in bars on draft or in stores throughout the area. The brewery is hoping to distribute its products in larger 750-milliliter bottles in stores.

Right now the brewery is aiming for four beers and one or two seasonal brews, Lamb said. Only one style will be a duplicate of what other breweries are doing.

“It’ll be a different beer,” Hosfield said of the flavor.


11 September, 2012