Welcome to Growlers: your weekly roundup of news, events and specials from Little Rock’s breweries and taprooms. Little Rock’s beer scene is growing and improving at a rapid pace, and we’re dedicated to keeping you up to speed on all of it. Here’s what’s happening this week:
This week, it’s all about Rebel Kettle Brewing Company. The instantly excellent brewery and taproom turns a year old, and the celebration goes all through the week, culminating in one massive party on Saturday. Here’s the rundown:
- Tuesday: Special happy hour event at Samantha’s Tap Room and Wood Grill, starting at 5 p.m.
- Wednesday: Rebel Kettle Glass Night at Flying Saucer, starting at 7 p.m.
- Thursday: Sampling event at 107 Liquor in Sherwood (4 p.m.), 4:30 Thursday at the taproom featuring three re-releases (see below), and a tap takeover at The Fountain in Hillcrest (5 p.m.).
- Friday: Argenta Pub Crawl starting at 5 p.m. with The Joint, Reno’s Argenta Café, Skinny J’s and Four Quarter Bar. Get your card punch at any three locations for a drawing at Four Quarter at 9 p.m. for a special giveaway.
- Saturday: Beer and Loathing in Little Rock from 11 a.m. until it ends, featuring a barrel-aged beer booth, a whole hog cookout, live music and plenty of activities for the entire family. Tickets available now for the hog roast, but admission to the event is free.
For 4:30 Thursday, Rebel Kettle is re-releasing its Season of Sin Spring Saison, its Hell Camino Chipotle Porter and the ever popular White Limo Golden Stout. Congratulations are definitely in order to Rebel Kettle for an outstanding first year in business; it’s already hard to imagine our beer scene without this place.
Lost Forty Brewing recently stopped brewhouse production for a few days to get some new tanks installed, which means today’s Freshcut Monday release is a unique one. Omar’s Demolition Day Cider was crafted by head brewer Omar Castrellon to fill the gap made by the temporary work stoppage. However, don’t think of this one as an afterthought. It’s a hefty 8 percent ABV cider made with Scottish ale yeast that drinks pretty dry. This one is a taproom-only release; no growlers, crowlers or cans are available. Also, you should start checking grocery store shelves very soon for Lost Forty’s spring seasonal, Look-See Hefeweizen. The beer last year was very good, and the can art might be the best that Lost Forty has put forth so far.
Last week, we previewed the excellent new wild game sausage dishes that Flyway Brewing now has on the menu. Even if it weren’t for its capable beer list, Flyway would be worth the trip just for the food alone. Thankfully, there’s still beer, like the wonderful Imperial Red Velvet Ale, which is on tap now. This is my personal favorite of Jess McMullen’s “Cake Series” beers. You can enjoy it at Flyway’s regular game night tomorrow evening.
I can’t say this often enough: kudos to Diamond Bear Brewing Company for its new devotion to a small batch series. It can be easy for big breweries to forget about the small, fun brews that endear the business to local beer lovers. This Friday, brewer Jeremy Whitehead has a Smash Beer with Azacca. It’s a single-malt, single-hop brew, using Maris Otter for the malt and Azacca hops for the bittering component. This one will be out at 5 p.m. Friday at the Arkansas Ale House.
Stone’s Throw Brewing has two beers to release for #NewBrewFriday this week. The first is a Bruxelles Belgian Blonde, and as far as I can tell, it’s the first time its beer released in the taproom. The second, Bremerhaven Alt, is an altbier that was served both at Stone’s Throw and The Southern Gourmasian back in 2015. Bremerhaven Alt is a 5 percent ABV ale with some interesting spice notes. It is pretty rare to find an altbier on tap in Little Rock, so beer lovers shouldn’t miss this one.
Do you have some beer news you would like to share with us? Email me at steve@rockcityeats.com.
