American Craft Beer Week–Piney River Style

Since 2012 we have celebrated American Craft Beer Week with events throughout our distribution area.  American Craft Beer Week is the official week that craft beer is celebrated across our nation, and we love taking part in this nationwide celebration.

This year is no different for us.  Tuesday night we will be at Flying Saucer in Little Rock with one of the extremely limited kegs of Mule Team, our 3rd Aleiversary Imperial IPA, to share at their #ACBW event.  On Thursday night, we will be at Mama Jean’s Market in Springfield (the Sunshine location) at a special craft beer tasting event.  To celebrate #ACBW, Mama Jean’s is putting many of their craft beers on sale, too!

Friday and Saturday are our own brainchild for American Craft Beer Week.  For us, American Craft Beer Week is about celebrating craft beer that’s brewed in the Ozarks, craft beer that celebrates the Ozarks, and craft beer that’s meant to be consumed in the Ozarks…preferably while enjoying our great outdoors.

American Craft Beer Week–Piney River Style begins Friday night at Dawt Mill in Tecumseh, MO.  Join us and some of the Piney River crew for a tap takeover.  Old favorites will be available as well as some never before served beers, including at least one special tapping of a cask of a Piney River beer–a Piney Pin.  Hobby Farm, our honey basil ale, will make it’s 2014 seasonal debut on Friday night, too.

Dawt Mill is known for their talented chefs, and Chef Ryan Van Winkle is hosting a special “Chef’s Table” dinner in his private kitchen.  This Chef’s Table event will feature foods that are paired with Piney River beer, and a member of the Piney River crew will be there to talk with you about our beer and our brewery, too.

The view from the Gravel Bar at Dawt Mill.

On Saturday, you can join Brian, Andy and I on an official Piney River float trip on the North Fork of the White River.  We are leaving Dawt at 10 a.m. and plan to put in at Blair Bridge and meander our way back to the gravel bar while sipping on our very own Float Trip Ale.  Althea  Spring, rainbow trout, cold, clear Ozark water, limestone bluffs and gravel bars make a complete American Craft Beer Week experience when you’re in Piney River Brewing country!

Concert HERE on Saturday night!

Saturday’s fun will be topped off by an 8 p.m. concert at the Gravel Bar with a band we love so much–The Hamburger Cows.  Steve Ames, Jeff Sowards & Bo Brown from Springfield will bring original tunes and covers of classic tunes  creekside on the North Fork of the White.  We expect that general merriment and more Piney pint consumption will ensue.

ALL of these events are open to the public, and we hope to see you in Little Rock, Springfield or at Dawt Mill!

If you are interested in part of the events at Dawt Mill, but cannot attend the entire weekend, please feel free to join us for part of the weekend.  The tap takeover on Friday night and the concert on Saturday night are open to everyone, reservations are not required.  The Chef’s Table event is open to the public, too, but reservations are required.  The dinner spaces are filling quickly.  You can bring your own canoe, kayak or tube to Dawt and put in with us on Saturday morning, or join us somewhere along the way and end the afternoon with a Piney Pint at the Gravel Bar after you take out.

I should also add that this is a family-friendly event!  We love that we are celebrating craft beer, and we can include our son, Andy, in this weekend.  He would be very sad if we did not include him in our stay at Dawt and our float trip!

Lodging is available for one or both nights.  Dawt Mill has rooms and cabins available as well as campsites.  Registered guests for the weekend package receive special Piney River swag, Piney Pints, discounts on Piney Pints.  For additional information or to make a reservation for the Chef’s Table or for lodging at Dawt, contact them at 1-888-884-3298  or  417-284-3540 or dawtmill@dawtmill.com.

Just like the saying on the BARn bar–“Don’t forget to have a good time”–wherever you see Piney River during American Craft Beer Week, we promise you will have a good time!

I’ll close with this photo–Piney River’s official “American Craft Beer Week Selfie”.  The Brewer’s Association asked all of us to take selfie featuring someone from the brewery wearing something with a brewery logo, with a bottle or can of our brew in a location that represented the area we brew in.  So, in early March, we were driving down to Gaston’s to do an event with the Brew Belles, and we drove past Hodgson Mill, which is VERY well known in our neck of the woods.  We stopped to look at the water, and Brian said, “We could do our selfie here.”  Perfect idea!  Brian grabbed one of the canned beers we brought along for the tasting…little did we know it was a future World Beer Cup Gold winner.  Couldn’t be a more perfect way to say, “Cheers!” to American Craft Beer Week 2014!

 

American Craft Beer Week…Thank You!

Five different towns in the Ozarks.

Three tap takeovers.

Two tastings.

Half price growler fills.

American Craft Beer Week is coming to an end, and our Ozarks style celebration is complete.  Earlier this evening Brian, Andy and I sat on our patio in the waning daylight, Ozark fireflies blinking all around us, and we toasted to a great week.  We covered some country.  We had fun.  We survived.

We can never thank all of you individually, but we do want to say a big thank you to everyone that came out and enjoyed a pint or four, tried our beer and patronized our hosts.

A big thanks to The Open Range Steakhouse in Willow Springs, Fisher and Brown Speakeasy in Rolla, Horseshoe Saloon Bar’n Grill in Salem, Hy-Vee and Brown Derby International Wine Center in Springfield.  We really appreciate you allowing us to celebrate this week in your businesses!

Thanks also to our distributors, Grellner Sales and Heart of America Beverage, for their support of locally brewed craft beer. We couldn’t have done what we did without their support.

There were some funny moments…like at Open Range when the bar and staff were rather overwhelmed with Piney River Beer drinking customers, so Brian and I got a crash course in running their POS system.  A BARn regular gave me some cash, and I rang up their drinks.  “When did you learn how to use the POS?” she asked.  “Just now,” I answered.

There were some GREAT moments…the opportunity to see a line up of Piney River Brewing tap handles.  And even better and greater–Open Range, the Speakeasy and the Horseshoe are all planning to add additional Piney River taps to their draft line ups.

I didn’t have much time to take photos during American Craft Beer Week, but I did snap this photo from our tap takeover at The Open Range…several patrons signed the declaration of craft beer independence.  It’s not every day you can add your John Hancock to a declaration of independence, especially one supporting craft beer.

For those of you that have been following this blog over the past year, you might recall May 18th, 2011.   Brian and I celebrated 15 years of marriage with a float trip on the Big Piney River and Fat Tire and Buffalo Sweat in cans.  We found out that day that our SBA loan for our brewing equipment was approved–a memorable day for us for the rest of our lives.

May 18, 2012 rolled around this year, and Brian and I were hosting simultaneous beer tastings at two different locations in Springfield.  No idyllic photos of McKinney Eddy or Brian holding a Piney River bronzeback on this anniversary, but Scott Gargus at Brown Derby International Wine Center did snap this photo of the two of us shortly before Brian left for his tasting at Hy-Vee.

So we weren’t in a canoe on the river yesterday, but we did get to have lunch with Sherry at The Midway Bar & Grill in Mountain Grove.  Sherry’s is proud to have two locally brewed beers on draft at her bar.  Being in Springfield also gave us the opportunity to see our friends at Farmer’s Gastropub and enjoy a celebratory dinner with great craft beer.  Stacy and the staff at Farmer’s are proudly serving Piney River beer, too.  And those experiences make Brian and I think that the next 16 years are going to be more interesting and fun than we can possibly fathom.

Tonight on the patio we were already talking about what we can do to celebrate American Craft Beer Week in the Ozarks next year.  So, let’s plan to celebrate again together next year, but don’t wait that long before you enjoy another Piney Pint!

Cheers!

American Craft Beer Week…Ozarks Style

Brian and I recently returned from the Craft Brewer’s Conference, an annual event sponsored by the Brewer’s Association.  It was inspiring and tasty, and some of the inspiration came from what we tasted.  But more about that later…

Next up on Piney River Brewing’s agenda is the celebration of American Craft Beer Week right here in the Ozarks.

What is American Craft Beer Week, you ask?

American Craft Beer Week is a nationwide celebration of the handcrafted beer made in the US by small, independent brewers.  From Monday, May 14th to Sunday, May 20th, thousands of beer beginners, beer enthusiasts and beer geeks across the nation will raise a glass in a celebratory toast to the handcrafted beers coming from their local craft breweries.  Piney River Brewing, our distributor, Grellner Sales of Rolla, Open Range Steakhouse of Willow Springs, Horseshoe Saloon Bar’n Grill of Salem and Fisher and Brown Speakeasy of Rolla have partnered together to bring excellent American Craft Beer Week celebrations to you.

As a side note–I find it so exciting to see all of the local, family-owned businesses working together to promote local food & local drink.  How cool is that?

Here’s the scoop:

Monday, May 14th from 5 to 9 p.m. at The Open Range Steakhouse in Willow Springs–Jim & Angel Alessi have graciously opened their doors and their taps to Piney River Brewing.  We will do a complete tap takeover at Open Range, and Jim and Angel and their great service staff will serve up some delicious homemade food (maybe even something that’s Piney River beer battered) to go with your craft beer pints.  Open Range has it all–appetizers, pasta, steaks, sandwiches, salads and AMAZING desserts, so you won’t go hungry, and Brian and I will be down at Open Range pouring up all six of our beers–Ozark Firefly Wheat; Black Walnut Wheat; McKinney Eddy Amber Ale; Bronzeback Pale Ale; Old Tom Porter and Missouri Mule India Pale Ale.  We’ll even help you pair our beer with your food!  So, grab your friends, your family, your neighbors and join us for an evening of great food and craft beer to kick off American Craft Beer Week in the Ozarks!

Tuesday, May 15th, 6 to 10 p.m. at Fisher & Brown Speakeasy in Rolla–Rick and the staff at the Speakeasy will have all six of our Piney River brews on tap to go with their lineup of appetizers and main courses.  Stop in for dinner, a couple of craft beers and karaoke with Ricky Bobby!  Again, Brian and I will be there to talk with you about our beer and to raise a toast to a great craft beer lineup at a locally owned bar in Rolla.

Thursday, May 17th, 6 to 10 p.m. at The Horseshoe Saloon Bar’n Grill in Salem–The Gray family is turning over their taps to their local brewery on Thursday night.  The Horseshoe serves a great lineup of  food including steaks, sandwiches and Tex-Mex.  We know you’ll be able to find something to pair with a beer from your local craft brewery–especially since we’ll have all six of our flagship beers on tap that night.  We’re hoping to raise a glass with you and the Gray family on their new patio that night.

At each of our tap takeovers, Grellner will have a copy of the Declaration of Craft Beer Independence that you can join men and women across the nation in signing the Declaration to show your support of beer made in America by small, independent breweries like Piney River.

Go ahead and clear your calendar now.  We’re looking forward to raising a glass with you right here in the Ozarks as we get together to celebrate American Craft Beer Week.