E-Malt.com News article: USA, AR: Ozark Beer Co. expands with new equipment additions in Rogers

Ozark Beer Co. is expanding by adding new equipment that will allow it to brew 50 percent more beer, Washington Times reported on July 27.

Ozark Beer Co.’s expansion move is a response to meet the steadily growing demand.

A few weeks ago, Ozark Beer Co., known for its colourful and artsy beer cans featuring scenes of Ozark wildlife, added three giant tanks that each hold 900 gallons. The additional tanks give Ozark Beer Co. the ability to make a little more than 5,000 barrels a year. There are 31 gallons of beer in a barrel.

Lacie Bray, co-owner of Ozark Beer Co., said the plan from the start was for the brewery to take things slowly, with the goal of serving Washington and Benton counties in Northwest Arkansas before eventually moving into other parts of the state. She said the brewery expanded, not to meet a growth target, but simply to keep up with the needs of Ozark Beer Co.’s 100-plus commercial accounts.

“We want to take care of our neighbours first,” Bray said.

Earlier this year, Act 857 removed overlapping classifications in Arkansas’ former law regulating breweries. The new law establishes only two divisions - microbrewery restaurants and small breweries - and allows for some self-distribution of beer.

Under the new law microbrewery restaurants can produce more beer each year, going from 5,000 barrels to 20,000. For small breweries, the production limit increased as well, from 30,000 barrels to 45,000 barrels.

Arkansas brewers produced 14,641 barrels of craft beer in 2014, ranking 50th for gallons of beer produced per person 21 or older, according to the Brewers Association. In 2014, sales of all beer were up 0.5 percent to 197.1 million barrels, while craft beer production was up 17.6 percent to 21.8 billion gallons, according to the Brewers Association.

As the demand for craft beer continues to rise, the northwest Arkansas breweries have developed a variety of tactics and strategies to cash in.

Bart Watson, chief economist for the Brewers Association, said growth like northwest Arkansas is seeing is typical when a brewing community begins to reach critical mass. He said production expansion, new ventures like moving into food service, additional methods of presenting the product, and off-site locations are all trends the industry is seeing nationally.

Watson noted that the nation’s improving economy is also helping northwest Arkansas brewers.

In 2014, the northwest Arkansas metropolitan statistical area - which consists of Benton, Washington and Madison counties, along with McDonald County in Missouri - saw its population grow beyond 500,000. The preliminary unemployment rate for the region in May was 4.3 percent, compared with 5.6 percent for the state overall and 5.5 percent for the U.S. overall. The northwest Arkansas labour force was at 249,504 in May, up nearly 5 percent from the same period last year, according to preliminary data.

Watson said the growing population and low unemployment give northwest Arkansas’ breweries a strong customer base.

Watson, from the Brewers Association, said the growth in the beer industry in northwest Arkansas echoes that seen in much larger markets, like Colorado and California, when craft brewing first started to take hold.

“They are creating their own marketplace,” Watson said.

Marty Shutter, marketing chief at Ozark Beer Co., said the local breweries help one another thrive.

Old attitudes and mass-produced commercial beer are the real competitors, Watson said. Local brewers have to focus on their products’ quality, taste and availability, he said. People want to buy locally if they can, he said, but that only goes so far.

“Beer drinkers will try something because it’s made right here in their backyard, but they won’t buy it again if it’s not any good,” Shutter said.


28 July, 2015