Our first destination was Piney River Brewing Co. somewhere near the big city of Bucyrus, Missouri. And by "big city" I really mean the middle of the Ozarks, which sort of feels like the middle of nowhere as we wound around gravel roads, through creeks and farmlands and I swear I heard banjos playing. Of course that feels a bit like home to me as I grew up in a small Arkansas town so I actually love that sort of area. It's a beautiful part of the country and a welcome escape from the city I live in.
Finally, just when I was feeling like my Garmin was screwing with me, we came we came upon this sign:
And I got excited like a kid pulling up to an amusement park. Those dusty roads can sure make a guy parched. Notice the sign says closed but the guy running the show and I had been in contact and he assured me he'd let us check it out if we were to swing by. True to his word, we met the owner, Brian Durham, in person finally and he showed us around a bit and let us sample some of the product.
Brian and his wife Joleen started making beer on their kitchen stove and last year decided to revive a 70-year old barn made from red and white oak trees harvested off the farm, and Piney River Brewing Company was born. Now it's called the "BARn" (see what they did there?) and it's being turned into one of the most unique breweries I believe I've seen. Check this out:
Seriously, this is one of the coolest things I've seen ever in the beer world. He took us on a tour and the upstairs is one huge 2,000 square foot room that's going to be made into a tasting room/bar/party room and I can't wait to drive back up and check it out when it's finished. It overlooks a big pasture and pond and is just a gorgeous view. You can actually see cows and such, and they're adding a big deck (Brian and his wife, not the cows) that faces the sunset. Here's the unfinished upstairs with my lovely girlfriend (and beer lover) posing with Brian:
Now technically I believe Piney River would be considered a nanobrewery with some taps to fill pint glasses and growlers but don't expect it to be that way for long. They've got a canning line coming and a couple of big tanks, a 15-barrel fermentation vessel and a 15-barrel bright tank, set-up inside and looking ready to rock. You can see them behind Brian and I in this picture:
Meeting and hanging out with the (co)brewery/owner/brains was great. He's about as nice of a guy as you can find I'd guess and he loves his beer and is extremely knowledgeable, not just about beer and brewing but about how to market it and keep fresh ideas flowing. What I really like is you can just tell he's excited about beer and loves to talk about it and share what he knows. It's infectious to just be chatting with him over a cold pint.
I loved the set-up, the names of the beers, the labels and all the great plans for the future they have. But now that I've told you a bit about that side of it, the biggest and most important thing about a brewery to me is the beer, and we got to try the Missouri Mule IPA and Ozark Firefly Wheat. All of this stuff above would be for naught if the beer sucked... but have no fear. Both of these were solid representations of the styles. I didn't have enough of the wheat to say too much (liked what I tried though and my girlfriend loved it... and she knows her wheats) but I had enough of the IPA to know that it was quite tasty and super easy-to-drink. I believe he told me it was 7.5% ABV also, but you wouldn't know it from a pint. It's smooth and very sessionable. I think he said he used Glacier and Centennial hops, both American varieties. The IBU on it is 70 if I remember correctly, and it packs a very nice punch. I wish I'd have taken a couple of growlers with me to fill with this very nice IPA. Delicious. I look forward to trying all these other brews (click on the photo to blow it up if you can't read the names):
Piney River Brewing Company may be a bit off the beaten path, or a bit out of the way, but it's definitely worth finding and visiting. They're open on Saturdays usually and if you follow their Facebook profile they'll let you know when I'm sure. We're going back on a Saturday this fall when the leaves start to turn colors we think and I'll be sure to take several of my growlers. Hopefully we'll get to meet Brian's better half this trip too. In the meantime, I'll just have to wear my sweet hat, shirt and use my pint glasses as often and remember the excellent visit we had.
I'll post a bit about Little Yeoman and Springfield Brewing Company visits soon.
