The Ouachitas now offers beverages in a can

By Ethan Nahté

It’s been approximately four months since the first retailers in Polk County began offering packaged beer and wine. Currently there have been 19 alcohol permits issued. One of those was a temporary beer permit for serving at the Polk County Rodeo. Seven others are for private clubs and restaurants such as Mena Elks Lodge No. 781, Ouachita Country Club, and a handful of restaurants in Mena that have had permits prior to last November’s election.

The other 11 permits are for various stores and gas stations throughout Polk County, including Wickes, Cove and Hatfield. According to Arkansas Beverage Control, there are seven more awaiting permits, including Walmart.

Many locations carry craft beers and wines created here in Arkansas from all over the state. As many know, The Ouachitas has several of these beers on tap, as well as their own brews.

Now, the restaurant and brewery is not only packaging some of their own beers, but al-so a souped-up coffee togo as of Aug. 18.

Derek Campbell, owner of The Ouachitas, said, “As we opened the brewery, we knew it would be a long time and we thought it would be even further off from today’s date that we’d have some product in cans. This past year, after successfully having the county go to ‘wet’ status, we decided it would be really important for us to try and move beer in cans sooner rather than later.

“This spring, we started looking into different equipment. We’ve been working on that for several months at this point. We finally got our canning equipment and our canning line in earlier this month. We went through all of our training with it and packaged some beer over the past couple of days, and we have it today.”

Campbell has two full-time brewers, Traven Bayne and Tim Mosely. “Those guys, along with the help of myself and my father, make up the whole brew and packaging team at this point. We’ve decided to can off four of the different beers that we brew here.”

Carney Man, Madd Ox, and Clara are currently available. Dead to Me should hit the shelf sometime around the end of August or beginning of September.

Everything the restaurant/brewery al- ready does falls within the rights of the permit they already hold, according to Campbell. The Ouachitas can self-distribute to local grocery stores or retailers, but they will use distributers to move the product across the state and even into a few Oklahoma counties.

“It’s difficult to cross state lines as a brewer. You have to not only register all of your products in your home state, but then you have to register all of the product and the packaging it’s available in, in that state as well.” They’re already in a casino in Pocola and will be in the Chili’s in Poteau.

The four beers were chosen to appeal to the biggest audience they could manage. “We want to have something available for any person, any palate, any walk of life.”

For those who may wonder, although both glass and aluminum are fully recyclable, cans are more versatile when it comes to places to drink. Many pools, rivers, and venues prefer the safety of aluminum compared to the possibility of a broken bottle. It’s also more practical for a smaller brewery when it comes to availability, production and costs. There is also the new Nitro Coffee that has been launched at the same time but is sold individually. “We take our coffee that we roast here and we brew a huge batch of cold-brew coffee, run it through our canning line and dose it with liquid nitrogen, which creates a really great beverage. It’s really silky, smooth and very delicious,” Campbell proudly said as customers came in to buy some of the new canned products.

continued from page 1 planning. Melanie Wade, executive director of the Chamber, has a small and dedicated team which work most of the year to make sure the Rod Run goes off without a hitch. Without them we would have no Rod Run. And that would mean less revenue for local businesses.

The Rod Run is a special event for car lovers. Most car shows are held in an indoor arena, convention center or a bland parking lot somewhere. Here we have a car show with upwards of 200 vehicles or more held in two beautiful locations. First, on Mena Street on Friday evening and then beginning the next morning at 2,400 feet in the sky next to the lodge atop Rich Mountain. The Rod Run is a unique experience, and the different styles of cars, trucks and other vehicles are the true stars. Not too long ago if you went to a car show every ride there was in top notch shape. Perfect paint. An engine you could eat a meal off of. Not a speck of dirt anywhere.

That has changed and it’s for the better. And that’s thanks to the popularity of the guys from the internet and television show “Roadkill.” David Frieburger and Mike Finnegan take beaters and junk cars and get them running. None of the cars are in great shape even after they initially work on them.

Their formula of taking junk cars and making them run has made “Roadkill” the most influential car program of the last decade.

So, what does this mean? What am I getting at? I’m getting at this: If you own an older vehicle it doesn’t have to be in perfect condition to be shown. Get your rusty bucket of bolts out there and let people see it! Does your classic car or truck have a few dents? Doesn’t matter. Enter it in the Rod Run. Hot Rodders love to see rides in any condition because we love talking about cars!

Now let’s take a minute to call out people who have classic cars and trucks, but do not enter them in the Rod Run. C’mon people. Some of you have multiple classics and they are never shown. I’ve even seen locals driving around town on Rod Run weekend in their classic, but not enter it. Let’s show the people who drive their cars hundreds of miles to be here that we live up to the reputation we have earned nationwide as a hot rod community.

So, no matter the condition of your classic, get it out of the garage! Enter it and let’s keep the Queen Wilhelmina Rod Run going strong!

Friday, Aug. 25, 4–10 p.m., Mena Street from Sherwood to Port Arthur, Maple Street and Janssen Avenue on each side of Mena Street, and Sherwood from Mena Street to Dequeen Street will be closed. The parking lot next to Ouachita Little Theater, as well as the alleyways at American Artisans, OMG and Mike’s Home Specialties will also be closed.

Saturday, Aug. 26, 4-11 p.m. on the opposite end of Mena Street, from Coast to Coast to Mena Fire Station No. 2; and on Martin Street, Gillham Street and Oak Street between Dequeen to Mena streets.