Brant Bishop, the newest brewer at Ozark Beer Company, cleans brewhouse equipment inside the Rogers brewery.
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Little Rock craft beer fans are about to get a taste of some of the best beer being made in Northwest Arkansas.
Ozark Beer Co. last week announced new agreements with Central and Moon Distributors that will bring several of the brewery’s offerings to central Arkansas.
Brewery officials said the plan was to have cans of American Pale Ale, Cream Stout and Belgian Golden Ale on a truck headed to Little Rock by Monday afternoon (Dec. 14).
Marketing director Marty Shutter said getting into the Central Arkansas market is a big deal for the two-year-old brewery.
“Arkansas is special, and we’re fortunate our beer is arriving in such an engaged craft beer scene,” Shutter said. “Little Rock is a vibrant city where people already demand high quality. Beginning to share what we’ve built up here in Rogers is deeply satisfying.”
Increasing distribution comes as part of the brewery’s continued growth in Northwest Arkansas. After doubling capacity last fall, Ozark added three new 30-barrel tanks in July to push capacity to just over 5,000 barrels a year – a 50 percent increase.
Ozark recently hired its third full-time brewer, and completed a heavy dose of equipment upgrades and installations that Shutter said put the brewery in the position to package more beer and send it farther.
