Growlers: Blue Canoe Spring Party, Stone's Throw at Flying Saucer, Flyway Gose

Event season has officially come to Little Rock’s brewery scene. For the next four weekends (at least), there will be a minimum of one major beer event, starting with Saturday’s beer garden party at Blue Canoe Brewing Company’s warehouse location on 15th Street. The party is the official opening of Blue Canoe’s outdoor space for the season. Expect to find food trucks and plenty of other local business pop-ups on hand for the event, along with live music and plenty of activities. Also, Blue Canoe will be releasing its Raspberry-Blackberry Gose at the party, which sounds like a great beer for outdoor festivals. The party starts at noon Saturday and goes late into the night. By the way, the taproom is also busy this week with some old favorites making a comeback, including $2 Taco Tuesday and Friday’s “Pretzel and a Pitcher” for $15.
Stone’s Throw Brewing is bringing some of its brews to Flying Saucer for a special evening on Wednesday. Stone’s Throw Night will feature Ripple Effect Rye, Amadeus Vienna Lager, Winner Takes it Ale (blonde ale) and Dos Cabras Doppelbock. You can get all four as a flight, and you can also pick up a Stone’s Throw pint glass while you’re there. Then on Friday, it’s the return of Balarama Black Peppercorn Saison for #NewBrewFriday. This one is a classic European saison brewed with black peppercorns and fermented with wild yeast from Dunbar Garden. It goes on tap starting at 4 p.m.
Flyway Brewing is releasing its first-ever gose this Friday. Goldfinch Gose is a reinvented take on a tart classic. Flyway’s gose starts by souring the wort with a lactobacillus blend, then dry-hopping the final product with Citra hops. Flyway says this gose is slightly sour and very citrus forward, making it a highly sessionable brew for the spring months. Flyway has also started a new weekly menu special called Wing Wednesday. Every Wednesday, Flyway’s kitchen prepares a limited number of chicken wings; when they’re gone, they’re gone. Early reviews have been pretty positive, and owner Jess McMullen says he’s proud of this recipe. If you want to get a bite before they sell out, better get there close to Wednesday’s 4 p.m. opening time.
A warm weather classic from Lost Forty is back today for Freshcut Monday. The brewery is tapping its Strawberry Hefeweizen made with Arkansas strawberries from Barnhill Orchards in Lonoke. These are the first strawberries of spring, and they’re going into the brewery’s Look-See Hefeweizen for what is a refreshing, light introduction to spring. This one is a more limited batch than last year; there are no crowlers or growlers to go. If you want a sip of this one, you’ll need to get it by the pint at the taproom.
Buffalo Brewing Company at The Water Buffalo has been quietly expanding its lineup and now has five of its own brews on tap (in addition to its root beer). Buffalo Brewing’s Pineapple Wheat has proven to be its most successful beer since coming out to rave reviews last summer, and it’s on right now alongside a couple of IPAs and two ales. Also on tap at The Water Buffalo are brews from Steinforge and Sidetracked Research, both of which brew their beer on site. You can also find beers there that you can’t find anywhere else in Little Rock, including Bubba Brews and Apple Blossom, so make sure you stop by for a pint or a growler fill-up this week.
Do you have any beer news you’d like to share with us? Email steve@rockcityeats.com.