Arkansas Times Craft Beer Festival 2012

ue

ss

of

r

in

ka 24 the ns , as 2 Ti 0 m 12 es

Ar

se e en

As

ob

O c i t

BR YA N

MO AT S

CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

BEER LOVERS’ DREAM COME TRUE The Arkansas Times Craft Beer Festival.

BY ROBERT BELL, SAM EIFLING, DAVID KOON, LINDSEY MILLAR AND MICHAEL ROBERTS

20

OCTOBER 24, 2012

ARKANSAS TIMES

C

lear your calendar, beer lovers. On Nov. 2, the Arkansas Times and the Argenta Arts District present the Arkansas Times Craft Beer Festival. It will run 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Argenta Farmer’s Market lot at Sixth and Main streets in North Little Rock (or at Dickey-Stephens if it’s raining). Tickets are $35 via arktimes.com/craftbeerfest or $40 at the door if still available. Below, find short profiles of each of the 31 participating breweries, and see pages 30 and 31 for a handy checklist of all of the brews they’re planning on bringing.

NATIONAL

ANCHOR BREWING Certainly one of the oldest brewers at the festival (founded 1896), San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing is probably best known for its Anchor Steam Beer, a highly effervescent, extremely drinkable beer. But Anchor makes several other excellent brews, including Anchor Liberty, Porter and Small (a low-alcohol beer made from “second runnings” of a stronger beer mash), all of which will be on tap Nov. 2. RB

n e e ie d at s or d tor e

d), br, e elre er B

CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

BLUE MOON Born in Denver in 1995 and purchased by Coors, Blue Moon’s reach is now pervasive, found seemingly everywhere but in playground water fountains.

These guys are big now, but they came up the right way: Blue Moon’s head brewmaster and founder has a Ph.D. in brewing from the University of Brussels. SE.

THE BOSTON BEER CO. As the fifth-largest brewing company in the country, Boston Beer Co.’s Samuel Adams is the Target store of American craft brews: wide-ranging and presentable, with a veneer of middlebrow pretense. On tap from Massachusetts at the festival will be the delectable Winter Lager and three you probably haven’t tried: the stiff, malty New World; the “wine-like” Stony Brook Red and the oaky/raisin-y Thirteenth Hour. SE

BREWERY OMMEGANG From the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame (that’d be Cooperstown, N.Y.) comes Brewery

Ommegang, the only American brewer that exclusively makes Belgian-style ales.

That might sound like a niche focus, but Belgium has one of the richest and most diverse brewing traditions in the world, thanks in large part to centuries of beerloving monks doing God’s work on Earth.

Ommegang’s devotion to doing things the right way speaks to the brewery’s level of commitment to delicious beer. The folks from Ommegang will be pouring their Abbey, BPA, Hennepin and Three Philosophers ales. RB

GOOSE ISLAND The brewery is the pride of Chicago’s North Side, just within staggering distance of Wrigley Field.

These guys are bringing the full band: Honker’s Ale, Mild Winter, India Pale Ale, the Belgian-style Pere Jacques, Matilda and the coveted Bourbon County Stout, of which the brewery makes this enticing claim: “One sip has more flavor than your average case of beer.” Read more about the Bourbon County Stout on page 15. SE

HENRY WEINHARD’S A brand new entry into the national beer market, this brewery traces its roots back its namesake, a German immigrant who settled in

Portland in the 1860s, started a brewery and once offered to pump beer through a city fountain (the city declined, the story goes, for fear of rowdy horses).

MillerCoors now owns the 150-yearold brand, and last month started introducing it to markets across the country.

At the festival, they’ll be pouring their Private Reserve, Redwood Flats Amber and Woodlands Pass IPA. LM

does end up landing on its feet with a good balance of malt base and hop suppression. The choppy, craggy hoppiness will be appreciated by veteran hopheads.” They’ll be pouring that brew, along with Anubis Coffee Porter, CSB ESB, Dogfather Imperial Stout, Dogzilla Black IPA, Huckleberry Cream Ale, Rocket Dog Rye and Sneaky Pete IPA. RB

JACOB LEINENKUGEL BREWING CO. The Wisconsin-made keg-filler college students get when they’re willing to shell out a couple of bucks more than the Bud/Miller fare so they can actually taste their beer. The Sunset Wheat, Berry Weiss, Lemon Berry Shandy and possibly the Fireside Nut Brown Ale will be representing. SE

NEW BELGIUM New Belgium was one of the earlier arrivals on the craft beer scene in Arkansas and also one of the most highly anticipated. About 15 years ago, a friend, just back from a trip to Colorado, was breathless over this beer called Fat Tire.

“It’s the best beer I’ve ever had,” he said, going on and on about its delicious caramel flavor and general amazingness. And while it would still be a few years before the rest of the state got to try it, Fat Tire did live up to the hype, which had grown considerably by that point. New Belgium is now one of the biggest craft brewers in the country, with a huge, diverse lineup of brews. It will be pouring its Peach Porch Lounger, Snow Day and Shift Pale Lager. RB

LAUGHING DOG Laughing Dog, out of Ponderay, Idaho, got started back in aught-five. So while it’s not the oldest brewery in the festival lineup, it does offer a big selection of brews, including The Alpha Dog — billed as one of the hoppiest beers ever made, describe thusly by Beer Advocate: “Crazy ... crazy flavors here. Not the most together DIPA [Double India Pale Ale], but it

NORTH COAST A prolific granddaddy of craft CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

We Always Knew VEO Was The Best Glad You Think So Too!

3610 Kavanaugh Blvd • hillcrest • 501.663.1464 • sorestaurantBar.com www.arktimes.com

OCTOBER 24, 2012

21

It doesn’t cost us any more to offer excellent service...

Why Should You Pay More?

CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

Winner best Wine list since 2007

come see us after the craft beer festival!

We’re proud to offer one of the largest bottled beer selections in central arkansas - over 50 beers!

The way we look at it, you shouldn’t have to sacrifice service to get a lower price. We think of this as another way we can help. Visit us, let us impress you both ways: with service and value.

Join us on facebook to find out more about our monday Wine tastings! reserve now for holiday Parties best Wine bar!

Crush

6400 Mabelvale Pike Little Rock, AR 72209

Wine Bar

JosePh st. ana

(501) 565-4644

oWner/ sommelier 318 north main street argenta

(501) 834-1191

© adfinity

7700 Highway 107 Sherwood, AR 72120

HusonFuneralHome.com

beer, North Coast, based 150 miles north of San Francisco, is chockablock with fantastic brews. They travel well (to 47 states, Europe, around the Pacific) and win gobs of awards — more than 70, by the brewery’s last count. The most renowned is probably the Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, one of the best-regarded stouts in America. If you’re into craft beer, you’ll probably welcome Red Seal Ale, Acme Pale Ale, Pranqster Golden Ale and Scrimshaw Pilsner — all of which will be gracing the festival — as old friends coming to visit in a beery reunion. SE

501-374-9463

REDHOOK ALE BREWERY This Seattle-based purveyor of accessible craft beers has been around for more than 30 years. Its ESB (Extra Special Bitter) has been in production for a quarter-century; the brewery will also bring its IPA and its Pilsner. Nothing complicated here, just long-respected standards. With Widmer Bros., part of the Craft Brew Alliance. SE

Stout and Torpedo Extra IPA, as well as its seasonal Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale. SE

WIDMER BROS. Representing all that is carbonated and hoppy about Portland, Ore., since 1984 is this mature microbrewery that now trades on the NASDAQ (symbol: BREW) as part of the Craft Brewers Alliance, along with Red Hook. It’s bringing its flagship Hefeweizen and Drifter Pale Ale, as well as two of its gluten-free Omission beers, the Lager and the Pale Ale. That fact will come as delightful news to anyone suffering from the chronic beerstarvation that accompanies celiac disease, which afflicts Widmer Bros. CEO Terry Michaelson and a million other Americans.

In honor of Omission, Portland Mayor Sam Adams (yes, really) declared a “Gluten-Free Beer Day” there in May. SE

REGIONAL

A FAMILY-FRIENDLY SPORTS & PIZZA BAR

BEST SPORTS BAR

For 8 Great Yea s k n rs Tha Happy Hour 3-6pm Mon-Fri • Trivia Night Wed 8-10pm Karaoke Fri Nights • Free Wi-Fi • Huge Tvs 313 President Clinton Ave • River Market 501-374-1441 • www.gusanospizza.com

La Harpe

IN LITTLE ROCK!

river market

President Clinton Ave.

SHOCK TOP BREWING CO. This is one of the cottage brands within the AnheuserBusch empire. Your bartender will tend to serve its spicy Belgian-style wheat with a slice of orange on the rim because, you know, scurvy. Taste the Belgian White side-by-side with Blue Moon’s to determine macrobrewery wheat beer supremacy, then move onto the Raspberry Wheat, the Wheat IPA, the Lemon Shandy and the Midnight Wheat, which includes chocolate malt and chiles. SE

BUSY BODY Now – Nov. 4

A hilarious murder mystery comedy starring Natalie Canerday!

Hank and My Travis Ledoyt Honky Tonk Heroes “The World’s Best Young Elvis” Nov. 6-8 Nov. 9-11 (2 shows on 11th)

Colonel Glenn & University • murrysdinnerplayhouse.com • 562-3131 22

OCTOBER 24, 2012

ARKANSAS TIMES

SIERRA NEVADA BREWING CO. The California granddaddy of craft brews began at a time (the late ’70s) when the entire United States supported fewer than 100 breweries. Now the second-largest craft brewer in the country, after Samuel Adams, its iconic Pale Ale is coming; so are its Kellerweis,

ABITA Based just north of New Orleans, in Abita Springs, La., Abita Brewing Co. has long been a favorite among Natural State beer-lovers. Its Purple Haze is ubiquitous ’round these parts, and it will be pouring that brew, as well as its crisp Amber, Jockamo IPA and Restoration Pale Ale. RB

BOULEVARD As the 10th largest craft brewer in the United States, Boulevard is Kansas City’s answer to Samuel Adams and a major craft brew pipeline to Arkansas.

Expect to encounter its standby Unfiltered Wheat and 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat as well as brews from its “esoteric” Smokestack Series: the Sixth Glass, Double Wide IPA and Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale. SE

CHARLEVILLE BREWING This brewery

CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

(and winery) is straight outta Ste. Genevieve, the oldest city in Missouri and the point where the Ozarks make the prudent decision not to venture onto Illinois. The family that runs Charleville also built a bed and breakfast on their property; this is indeed a microbrewery, and one run by people who know from right living. They’re bringing their punny, warm-weather HalfWit Wheat (a hybrid American Wheat and Belgian Wit) and their Hoptimistic IPA (which promises a grapefruity citrus aspect with a dry finish). You better get it here unless you’re going to be in the central Midwest any time soon: Charleville is on tap around St. Louis and is in packages around southeastern Missouri and in Illinois, but that’s about as far as they go for now. SE

CHOC BEER When you read “since 1919” on the Choc logo, and recall that Oklahoma wasn’t even a state until 1907, and that our panhandled neighbor to the west extended its Prohibition until 1958, well, you figure this is a brew with some stories to tell. The Krebs Brewing Co., nestled in the hamlet of Krebs two hours southwest of Fort Smith, traces the recipe for its flagship 1919 brew to old Choctaw nation recipes the founder, Pete Prichard, brewed in his bathtub and served at his restaurant.

“Of course,” the brewery notes, “this entire process was illegal.” Well, not any more, clearly; after a hiatus, the brewery fired up again in 1995 and set about crafting award-winning beers.

Get started with the 1919, an unfiltered American wheat, then advance to the OPA (that would be an Oklahoma Pale Ale), the Winter Stout and the Signature Dubbel, redolent of “dark fruits.” SE

CROWN VALLEY This craft brewery/ distillery from Ste. Genevieve, Mo., is bringing the house: Five beers and a cider, covering the gamut of tastes. The crowdsource at Beer Advocate regards the Big Bison Ale, a 6.9 percent alcohol by volume “ruby red” Belgian dubbel,

as the top of the bunch. Also along for the ride will be the Farmhouse Lager, the Plowboy Porter (gets “butterscotch” and “smoky black licorice” comparisons) and the 60 IBU (International Bittering Units), hops-laden Wooden Nickel IPA. Also coming are the Country Carriage Cider and a seasonal that’ll just have to surprise you. SE

MARSHALL BREWING Naturally, when you think of great beer, you think of Tulsa. No, wait. Normally when you think of Tulsa, you think of the low-alcohol-content laws prompting thirsty Oklahomans to consume entire cases of watered-down Bud and Coors in pursuit of a vague buzz. Enter Eric Marshall, a fourth-generation Tulsan who learned brewing in Munich and fired up his eponymous microbrewery, Tulsa’s first, in 2008. Making the trip to Little Rock will be Marshall’s Atlas IPA, a 6.5 percent ABV ale with “a malty backbone”; Sundown Wheat (barley, flaked oats, coriander, oranges), the German-style lager Old Pavilion Pilsner and the English/Irishstyle McNellie’s Pub Ale. SE

Thanks Arkansas for the 8 great years of support!

PINEY RIVER Not terribly far from our own Big Piney Creek, this brewery hails from Bucyrus, Mo., about two hours through the Ozarks from Mountain Home. Joleen and Brian Durham — who founded the brewery in 2010 and now run it out of a restored, 70-year-old barn — will be representing the brewery themselves at the festival. They’re bringing their Black Walnut Wheat, Old Tom Porter, McKinney Eddy Amber Ale and Missouri Mule Pale Ale. The brewery is young, small, based in the Ozarks and in true float-trip-friendly fashion, it cans (rather than bottles) its beers, carrying a printed reminder to “Pack it in.

Pack it out. Enjoy nature.” Piney River is new to Arkansas but should have no trouble fitting right in. SE CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

Best national Brew www.arktimes.com

OCTOBER 24, 2012

23

Back Room ASK ABOUT OUR

for your next party, reception or special event!

C HECK OUT OUR FA C E B O O K PA G E

( 5 0 1) 324- 2449

The home you hit before you head home.

Thanks for voting for us!

AMERICAN BAR = GRILL All American Food & Great Place to Watch Your Favorite Event

Best Happy Hour Best Bar for Pool, Darts, Shuffleboard and other games

Best Sports Bar

Best Bartender, Julianna Best Pick-Up Bar • Best Patio or Deck for Drinking

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK | 11AM - LATE 225 E MARKHAM • LITTLE ROCK, AR

(501) 324-2449

2809 Kavanaugh Boulevard (501) 614-9818 hillcrestfountain.com

CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

SCHLAFLY The largest craft brewery in St. Louis by a wide margin, the St. Louis Brewery keeps its Schlafly brand of beers straightforward: Pale Ale, Dry Hopped IPA, a Kolsch, Coffee Stout, and for the fans of Belgianstyles, Grand Cru and Quadrupel. The 21-year-old brewery (proudly Missouri’s first new brewpub after Prohibition, once Missouri lawmakers in 1990 allowed microbreweries) could be considered a cross-state rival of Kansas City’s Boulevard. Also, since Anheuser-Busch fell into the hands of Belgians and Brazilians, it’s the largest ’murican-owned brewery in St. Louis.

From pioneers to patriots, these fellows. SE

Arkansas brewery through Arkansasonly beers such as the Hookslide Ale brewed for the Arkansas Travelers and its upcoming Ray’s Honey Rye made with Arkansas honey, which brew master Josh Quattlebaum says should be out later this month. Boscos holds special “cask nights” every third Thursday of the month, where it serves cask-conditioned ale, and the restaurant has plans for a mug club starting in November. Quattlebaum’s beer has

received national accolades, including a first-place finish in last year’s World Beer Cup for his German-style Hefeweizen. MR

CENTRAL ARKANSAS FERMENTERS The

Central Arkansas Fermenters are a group of home brewers of various ages and experience levels who share a passion for home-crafted beverages, including beer, mead, wine and sake.

The CAF is also active in supporting local causes such as the Arkansas Arthritis Foundation, the Pulaski County Humane Society, the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre and the Arkansas Fallen Firefighters MemoCONTINUED ON PAGE 26

TALLGRASS BREWING CO. It’s one of the more recent craft beer brewers to arrive in Arkansas. The Manhattan, Kan., brewery’s brightly colored, visually appealing cans started showing up on liquor store shelves last year with attention-grabbing names like “8-Bit Pale Ale,” “Buffalo Sweat Stout,” and “Velvet Rooster.” And yes, you read correctly: most Tallgrass brews come in 16-oz. cans, which founder and brewmaster Jeff Gill makes a great case for based on environmental impact and convenience, as well as the everimportant blocking-out-the-light angle.

“Think of them as little recyclable kegs that can fit in a backpack,” he writes.

Sounds great to us. Gill and brewer Andrew Hood will be pouring the three beers mentioned above, as well as their Halcyon Unfiltered Wheat, IPA and Oasis. RB

the awards are stacking up THAnK YOU

Winner 2005-2012 – Best of arkansas | arkansas times Winner 2009-2012 – toast of the town, Best Liquor store | arkansas times Winner – Best Liquor store | adg | arkansas magazine | soiree

LOCAL

BOSCOS Although based out of Tennessee, the Boscos chain has established its River Market location as a true

11200 W. Markham (West of Shackleford on Markham) Little Rock 501-223-3120 866-988-vino info@colonialwineshop.com

www.arktimes.com

OCTOBER 24, 2012

25

CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

rial. Most recently, the CAF brewed a batch of beer at the Arkansas Museum of Discovery as part of the museum’s Science After Dark series, and the group is always ready and willing to teach others about their craft. They’ll be doing demos at the Craft Beer Festival. MR

312 Main Street • north LittLe rock 501.376.2900 • renoSargentacafe.coM

CORE BREWING & DISTILLING CO. Drawing on two decades of experience in brewing, brewmaster and seventhgeneration Arkansan Jesse Core has been operating Core Brewing in Springdale since 2010. In addition to the stock ESB, Kolsch, and Oatmeal Stout brews, Core has several other beers in rotation including the Golden Ale, Robust Porter and Arkansas’ only barley wine. Core Brewing is expanding production, with a new four-unit, 20-barrel setup going online in November, and its beer is found at several of Northwest Arkansas’s better restaurants like Hog Haus, Tusk and Trotter, Kingfish, Brewski’s Draft Emporium and Greenhouse Grille, with Core also serving as the brewmaster at Hog Haus Brewing in Fayetteville. MR

DIAMOND BEAR BREWERY Russ Melton and crew have been brewing beer in Little Rock since 2000, but it’s really been since 2006 (the year they began bottling their beer in Little Rock) that they’ve become a quality craft brewery and one we’ve come to enjoy a great deal. Brewmaster Josh Melton is in charge of producing Diamond Bear’s beers, from the Pale Ale that won gold at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival to newer brews like the summery Strawberry Blonde that debuted last year. Diamond Bear is available at liquor stores and restaurants across the Natural State, and the brewery operates a small taproom at its 323C Cross St. location in Little

26

OCTOBER 24, 2012

ARKANSAS TIMES

Rock. Notable for being the only retail location in the capital city to sell bottled beer on Sundays, Diamond Bear also offers tours Friday through Sunday at 3 p.m. for $7, a price that includes a pint glass. MR

FOSSIL COVE The latest addition to Northwest Arkansas’s growing craft beer scene opened this summer in Fayetteville. After a stint working at Silverton Brewing Co. in Silverton, Colo., and completion of a six-month brewmaster course at the University of California at Davis, Ben Mills returned home and opened Fossil Cove. The microbrewery offers about five beers at a given time, including its flagship Paleoale, which is an American pale ale, and Belgian Brown, a brown beer with a touch of coriander for a bit of extra character. Mills sells to nine restaurants and offers pints and to-go growlers from Fossil Cove’s taproom. The latest seasonal beer is a Pumpkin Ale. Some larger fermenters are in the works for later this month, which will allow Mills to sell more beer and possibly bottle some as well. They’ll be pouring the Paleoale and Belgian Brown. RB

HOG HAUS Kari Larson and Julie Sill were already well known in the Fayetteville dining scene as the owners of the popular Common Grounds coffee house on Dickson Street before they renovated and re-opened the restaurant and brew pub formerly known as the Ozark Brewing Co., serving up hand-crafted beers from brewmaster Jesse Core in addition to a selection of other imported and domestic beers.

In addition to the beer, Hog Haus boasts an executive chef, Eric Lea, who previously worked for Ozark Brewing and James at the Mill. Hog Haus also offers an exclusive beer club. MR

! ?

Y L EAL

R REFINED ALE BREWERY OF LITTLE ROCK One of the more ambitious craftbrewing upstarts Little Rock has seen in recent years, Refined Ale Brewery is the brainchild of brewmaster Windell Gray, who turned a brewing hobby into a full-time occupation in 2009 after running a barbecue restaurant and working as a trucker for several years. The first and still the only black-owned brewery in Arkansas, Refined Ale has pretty much been a one-man operation from the start, with Grey overseeing all the brewing, bottling and distribution duties himself with the help of a very small staff. As you might have guessed from the name, Refined Ale focuses on what Grey calls “true ales” from traditional recipes, working in small, 35-gallon batches to create light, openfermented, unfiltered brews. Refined Ale will have two varieties on hand for the festival: Its signature Refined Ale, and a Golden Light ale. DK

I keep my eyes open for sales but

50%

OFF Trees!

That’s a great

SALE!

A deal this good can’t last forever!

SADDLEBOCK At barely a month old, Springdale’s Saddlebock Brewing is the newest brewery to come online in Arkansas, but its beer is already available in locations from Fayetteville to Eureka Springs. Saddlebock brews classic-style beers such as American Pale Ale, Hefeweizen, Dukelweizen and a Kolsch-inspired Dirty Blonde.

Saddlebock’s brewery was designed with the environment in mind, with a gravity-fed delivery system sending its grain to the brewing system and into the cellar tanks, and skylights to eliminate need for most electric lighting and heat during the day. Like most Arkansas craft brewers, brew master Steve Rehbock began making beer out of disgust at the state of American beer, going from home brewing to creating kits for others to finally founding Saddlebock. MR

501-868-4666

15601 Cantrell Rd.

thegoodearthgarden.com www.arktimes.com

OCTOBER 24, 2012

27

NOT AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT

BRIAN CHILSON

CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

Vino’s builds on tradition with innovation.

BY MICHAEL ROBERTS

S

tepping into Vino’s, there’s the clank of the door’s rigged counterweight on a chain, the rich smell of pizza, and a varied soundtrack that ranges from The Kinks to Black Sabbath with every stop in between. It’s an eclectic and electric place, mixing guys in suits from the downtown offices for lunch, families in for a slice or calzone, and hipster kids waiting on the night’s band to start their sound check and get the evening’s festivities going. Just off the main dining room, though, the scents change from baking dough and melted cheese into something richer and warmer — the heady smell of barley malt coming from the small-but-effective brewing tanks of Little Rock’s longest-running brew pub.

While Vino’s has been a respected name in Little Rock and wider craft beer circles for a while — then-head brewer Bill Riffle notably managed a gold medal win at the Great American Beer Festival in 2008 for an imperial red ale — it’s really been since brewmaster Josiah Moody took over in November 2011 that the beer has gone from solid to spectacular.

Moody is an experimental and enthusiastic brewer, and while Vino’s

28

OCTOBER 24, 2012

ARKANSAS TIMES

is his first professional brewing job, he’s been an avid home brewer for more than five years. Vino’s is a small operation in size, capable of brewing only three and a half barrels (or seven kegs) of beer at a time, but Moody says that the pub is on track to turn out more than 15,500 gallons of beer this year, an amount that Moody says makes him “push that little brewhouse to its limit.”

Moody has kept many of the beers that long-time brewer Riffle made so popular at Vino’s, but he hasn’t limited himself to someone else’s recipes.

Within the past year, Moody’s own creations have started hitting the taps at Vino’s, including the crisp, hoppy Kolsch .45, the Rock Island Steam (which he rates as his favorite beer to drink) and the Saison du Roche, the first beer in the saison style to ever be commercially brewed in Little Rock.

The saison in particular, a style known for using wild yeast strains and producing flavors that beer-lovers refer to as “funky” (but in a good way), is not only a shining example of Moody’s inventiveness and ambition but also indicative of his skill at turning out a balanced, wellflavored brew. “For most of those beers, I haven’t even attempted to home-brew

first,” Moody says, “so for every one of those, I have that moment of ‘What if no one likes it?’ It’s always a very rewarding feeling when those ‘babies’ are wellreceived.”

Moody enjoys being a part of Vino’s history. Its tradition motivates him to create quality beers, and says “the more I worry about the quality and consistency of the beer coming out, the Vino’s ‘perception’ will just take care of itself.”

To this end, Moody has begun cask-conditioning some of his beers, a process that is unique to Vino’s among commercial producers in Arkansas. The process is a labor-intensive one, involving taking almost-fermented beer, transferring it to a hand-cleaned and sterilized keg, and then adding extra fermentable sugars and various other ingredients to change the flavor of the beer. For a keg of Saison du Roche, Moody added crushed peppercorns and extra hops, tweaking the flavor profile of a beer that was already experimental, and like most of Moody’s brews, it sold out within days.

These new brews coming from an old favorite mark just another part of the growing craft beer scene in Arkansas. Long seen as a beer backwater, the

state is finally catching up in terms of scope and quality, and it’s the dedication to craft of people like Josiah Moody that is leading the charge. Ten years ago, an Arkansas-brewed saison, hefeweizen, or cask-conditioned stout would have been the stuff of beer lovers’ dreams. Today, it’s available for less than five bucks a pint with some of the tastiest pizza in town. As American tastes in beer change, with craft beer being the biggest growth sector in the market, people who have had a long-abiding love of hand-crafting beer are finding a market, introducing the thirsty masses to styles and tastes previously unknown from local sources.

Moody wants to expand Vino’s brewing capabilities, something that may prove difficult in the confines of the 1909 building that houses the restaurant. He views Vino’s as “one of the only places where a brewer is given freedom to try new things,” and it seems those new things are working well. What would he say to people who haven’t tried the beer at Vino’s during his tenure? That while the pub still offers its great regular beers and seasonals, “there is a new brewer who is trying to experiment and innovate, and I hope that folks join me for this journey.”

CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

ARKANSAS TIMES CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL GUIDE

The Arkansas Times is proud to present Central Arkansas’s first craft beer festival. Tear this spread out and use it to plot your course for sampling some of the 150 beers from more than 30 local and national breweries to be represented in Argenta. National, regional and local breweries will each be grouped together in three tents.

NATIONAL Anchor Brewing Co. ❑ Anchor Liberty______________________________________ ❑ Anchor Porter_______________________________________ ❑ Anchor Small_______________________________________ ❑ Anchor Steam_ _____________________________________ Blue Moon Brewery ❑ Belgian White_______________________________________ ❑ Winter Abby Ale_____________________________________ Brewery Ommegang ❑ Abbey______________________________________________ ❑ BPA________________________________________________ ❑ Hennepin___________________________________________ ❑ Three Philosophers_ ________________________________ The Boston Beer Co. ❑ Samuel Adams New World___________________________ ❑ Samuel Adams Stony Brook__________________________ ❑ Samuel Adams Thirteenth Hour______________________ ❑ Samuel Adams Winter Lager_________________________ Goose Island ❑ Bourbon County Stout_______________________________ ❑ Honker’s Ale________________________________________ ❑ India Pale Ale_______________________________________ ❑ Matilda_____________________________________________ ❑ Mild Winter_________________________________________ ❑ Pere Jacques_______________________________________ Henry Weinhard’s ❑ Private Reserve_____________________________________ ❑ Redwood Flats Amber Ale____________________________ ❑ Woodlands Pass IPA_ _______________________________ Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. ❑ Lemon Berry Shandy________________________________ ❑ Snowdrift Vanilla Porter_____________________________ ❑ Sunset Wheat_ _____________________________________

30

OCTOBER 24, 2012

ARKANSAS TIMES

Laughing Dog ❑ Alpha Dog IPA_ _____________________________________ ❑ Anubis Coffee Porter________________________________ ❑ CSB________________________________________________ ❑ The Dogfather______________________________________ ❑ Dogzilla IPA_________________________________________ ❑ Huckleberry Cream Ale______________________________ ❑ Rocket Dog Rye_____________________________________ ❑ Sneaky Pete IPA____________________________________

Widmer Brothers Brewery ❑ Drifter Pale Ale_____________________________________ ❑ Hefeweizen_________________________________________ ❑ Omission Lager_____________________________________ ❑ Omission Pale Ale___________________________________

REGIONAL Abita Brewing Co. ❑ Amber______________________________________________ ❑ Jockamo IPA_ ______________________________________ ❑ Purple Haze_ _______________________________________ ❑ Restoration Pale Ale_________________________________ Boulevard Brewing Co. ❑ 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat_______________________________ ❑ Double-Wide IPA____________________________________ ❑ The Sixth Glass_____________________________________ ❑ Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale_______________________________ ❑ Unfiltered Wheat Beer_______________________________ Charleville Brewing Co. ❑ Half-Wit Wheat_____________________________________ ❑ Hoptimistic IPA_____________________________________

New Belgium Brewing Co. ❑ Peach Porch Lounger_ ______________________________ ❑ Shift Pale Lager_____________________________________ ❑ Snow Day_ _________________________________________

Choc Beer Co. ❑ 1919________________________________________________ ❑ OPA________________________________________________ ❑ Signature Dubbel_ __________________________________ ❑ Winter Stout________________________________________

North Coast ❑ Acme Pale Ale______________________________________ ❑ Red Seal Ale________________________________________ ❑ Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout__________________ ❑ Pranqster Golden Ale________________________________ ❑ Scrimshaw Pilsner__________________________________

Crown Valley Brewery ❑ Big Bison___________________________________________ ❑ Country Carriage Cider______________________________ ❑ Farmhouse Lager_ __________________________________ ❑ Plowboy Porter_ ____________________________________ ❑ Seasonal brew______________________________________ ❑ Wooden Nickel IPA__________________________________

Redhook Ale Brewery ❑ ESB________________________________________________ ❑ IPA_________________________________________________ ❑ Pilsner_____________________________________________

Marshall Brewing ❑ Atlas IPA___________________________________________ ❑ Big Jamoke Porter__________________________________ ❑ McNellie’s Pub Ale__________________________________ ❑ Old Pavilion Pilsner_ ________________________________ ❑ Sundown Wheat_ ___________________________________

Shock Top Brewing Co. ❑ Belgian White_______________________________________ ❑ Lemon Shandy______________________________________ ❑ Midnight Wheat_____________________________________ ❑ Raspberry Wheat_ __________________________________ ❑ Wheat IPA__________________________________________ Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. ❑ Kellerweis__________________________________________ ❑ Pale Ale____________________________________________ ❑ Stout_______________________________________________ ❑ Torpedo Extra IPA___________________________________ ❑ Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale__________________________

Piney River Brewing Co. ❑ Black Walnut Wheat_________________________________ ❑ McKinney Eddy Amber Ale___________________________ ❑ Missouri Mule India Pale Ale_________________________ ❑ Old Tom Porter______________________________________ Schlafly Beer ❑ Coffee Stout________________________________________ ❑ Grand Cru__________________________________________ ❑ Dry Hopped APA____________________________________ ❑ Kolch_ _____________________________________________ ❑ Pale Ale____________________________________________ ❑ Quadrupel__________________________________________

CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

Tallgrass Brewing Co. ❑ 8-Bit Pale Ale_______________________________________ ❑ Buffalo Sweat_______________________________________ ❑ Haylcyon Unfiltered Wheat_ _________________________ ❑ IPA_________________________________________________ ❑ Oasis______________________________________________ ❑ Velvet Rooster______________________________________

Over 30 Breweries & Over 150 Beers November 2nd - 6 to 9 pm

Argenta Farmer’s Market Grounds

LOCAL

6th & Main Street (Across from the Argenta Market) Downtown North Little Rock (RAIN LOCATION: Dickey-Stephens Park)

Boscos ❑ Famous Flaming Stone_ _____________________________ ❑ Bombay IPA_ _______________________________________ ❑ Isle of Skye Scottish Ale_____________________________ ❑ Ray’s Honey Rye____________________________________ Central Arkansas Fermenters ❑ Irish Red_ __________________________________________ ❑ Various_ ___________________________________________ Core Brewing & Distilling Co. ❑ American Oatmeal Stout_____________________________ ❑ ESB________________________________________________ Diamond Bear Brewery ❑ Pale Ale____________________________________________ ❑ Paradise Porter_____________________________________ ❑ Presidential IPA_____________________________________ ❑ Rocktoberfest_ _____________________________________ ❑ Southern Blonde____________________________________ ❑ Two-Term Double IPA_ ______________________________

Buy Tickets Early - Admission is Limited arktimes.com/craftbeerfest $35 early purchase — $40 at the door.

MUSIC 6 p.m.: Funkanites. Featuring members of Amasa Hines and other standout local musicians — like Velvet Kente’s polyrhythmic drummer Jamal Lee — this relatively new act specializes in jazz-infused instrumental funk.

7 p.m.: The Salty Dogs. Little Rock’s honky tonk heroes are led by Brad Williams, a man with a voice to rival Dwight Yoakam’s.

8 p.m.: Weakness for Blondes. Mix most popular genres — rock, blues, jazz, funk — add a penchant for experimentation and you get this local jam band extraordinaire.

FOOD Included in ticket price.

Cornerstone Pub & Grill: Hot wings and honey BBQ wings Cregeen’s Irish Pub: Beef stew and corned beef and cabbage Reno’s Argenta Pub: Pale Ale macaroni & cheese and duck pate

VOLUNTEER POURERS Fossil Cove ❑ Brown Ale__________________________________________ ❑ Pale Ale____________________________________________ Hog Haus ❑ Seasonal beer 1_____________________________________ ❑ Seasonal beer 2_____________________________________ Refined Ale ❑ Brewery Beer_______________________________________ ❑ Golden Light Beer___________________________________ Saddlebock Brewery ❑ Dunkelweiz_________________________________________ ❑ Hefeweizen_________________________________________ ❑ Pale Ale____________________________________________ Vino’s ❑ Ouachita ESB_______________________________________ ❑ Pumpkin Spiced Ale_________________________________

The Hat Club, a 65-plus member non-profit founded in 2010, supports meaningful community service activities.

Its primary function is to plan fundraising events in support of charitable organizations looking to achieve long-term stability. In addition to hosting events, the Hat Club volunteers time and effort to multiple organizations and causes.

It has donated over $95,000 to more than 15 charitable organizations in the state. The club’s next event is the Third Annual Miracle Wiff, an all day Wiffle ball tournament Nov. 10 at Dickey Stephens Park that benefits the Miracle League of Arkansas.

SPONSOR NOTE The Argenta Arts Foundation is a local arts organization. It produces art and cultural events, provides financial and marketing support to art endeavors, and advocates for art, education and economic development in the Argenta Arts District of North Little Rock. The Argenta Arts Foundation, with support of the Argenta Friends of the Arts, supports the Little Rock Film Festival, the Argenta Film Series, the Thea Art Festival, Tales From the South, the Argenta Farmer’s Market, 3rd Friday Art Walk, the Great Arkansas Talent Search, the Arkansas Sculptors Invitational, St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the Main Thing at the Joint. The AAF also produces other cultural events such as Celebrate the Grape, a Mardi Gras parade, the Argenta Tulip Festival, the Argenta Foodie Fest, Argenta Restaurant Weeks and the Big Dam Bridge 100 Finale Fest. The AAF also started Art Connection, an after-school and summer teen work program that employs 20 teens in the creative economy.

Located in the historic heart of downtown North Little Rock, the Argenta Arts District is committed to the visual, performance, landscape and culinary arts as evidenced by the district’s 11 arts organizations, eight performance art venues, 10 visual arts venues and 10 dining and drinking establishments.

www.arktimes.com

OCTOBER 24, 2012

31