Growlers: Hive Riot is Back, Stone's Throw Barleywine, Lost Forty Lithuania IPA

Little Rock’s top recurring collaboration is back this week as Rebel Kettle and Moody Brews once again release Hive Riot, one of our Best Drinks of 2017. Hive Riot is a hoppy honey rye ale brewed with Green Magic hops. My favorite part about this beer when it first debuted was how the honey provided depth rather than sweetness, which let the sharpness of the rye and the citrus from the hops come through. This year, Moody and Rebel Kettle have a treat for us. At both release events this week, Hive Riot will be served alongside a toasted coconut version of the beer. This year’s Hive Riot and the coconut edition will debut on Wednesday at Vino’s Brewpub, and the next day at Rebel Kettle for the brewery’s weekly 4:30 Thursday event.
As usual, Arkansas plowed right through fall to get into winter temperatures. Fortunately, Stone’s Throw Brewing this week has a monster brew that should help all of us brace against the cold. The MacArthur Park brewery is releasing a barrel-aged barleywine at its #NewBrewFriday event. This barleywine is nothing to sneeze at. It came out of the Rock Town Distillery peat-smoked barrel with a 10 percent ABV and 90 IBUs, guaranteeing some pretty big flavors with every sip. This barleywine has been aging since May, and Stone’s Throw’s Ian Beard says the six months gave the brew plenty of mellow notes and a softer hop profile. Make plans to check this one out heading into your weekend.
For the first time in a long time, a local brewery has a style coming out that I know absolutely nothing about. Lost Forty Brewing today is debuting its Stelmuze Farmhouse IPA, a style of beer that traces its ancestry back to Lithuania in Eastern Europe. Stelmuze is made with a very specific yeast culture that comes from a specific farm in Lithuania. Lost Forty was able to acquire the yeast from a collector from Norway. Stelmuze is basically the brewery’s Rockhound IPA recipe, but made with the special yeast strain instead of a Scotch ale strain. As you can imagine, this is an extremely small batch; there’s only enough to serve by the glass starting at 4 p.m. today. Get there early before it sells out.
Flyway Brewing is getting into the canning game on a much more frequent basis now. Just a few weeks after canning Early Bird and Honeybird for the first time, the brewery is putting its newest brew into cans this week. Flying Duck Amber Ale will be canned Wednesday and will be available by six-packs in the taproom immediately. Ren Scott at Flyway tells me there will be some distribution of Flying Duck cans, but it’s too early to say how many will be available or where they’ll end up. Your safest bet is to grab it from the taproom starting Wednesday afternoon.
And if you get up to Paris, Arkansas, this week, be sure to check out the latest creation at Prestonrose Farm and Brewing Co. Liz Preston has tapped Dragon Volant, a variation of her classic French farmhouse saison recipe. Dragon Volant is fermented with wild trifoliate oranges, a citrus fruit native to China and Korea. Trifoliate orange, or hardy orange, is just about the only citrus that can grow here in Arkansas, and its bitter, sour flavor goes wonderfully with a classic saison recipe. Prestonrose is open Thursday through Sunday, and is certainly worth your time to visit.
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