Growlers: Coronavirus Impacts on Central Arkansas Breweries

Before we start on the week in Central Arkansas’ beer scene, we at Rock City Eats want to remind you to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when supporting our local breweries. We encourage everyone to continue to buy local; however, please make sure you are washing your hands often and observing social distancing recommendations during the coronavirus pandemic. Beating this outbreak will take all of us.
This is obviously a developing situation, so make sure to double check each brewery’s Facebook page to confirm the below information before visiting.
Rebel Kettle Brewing Company is temporarily closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. The brewery will continue making beer and providing kegs to its restaurant and bar contracts for now. They will continue paying employees during the shutdown. Rebel Kettle posted the following statement on social media:

We hope you can understand our decision in light of developing events, and in the meantime, we wish everyone in our community and beyond good health. We will continue to monitor the events and will keep everyone updated on our social channels.

Rebel Kettle’s 4th Anniversary Party is currently still on for April 18. The brewery will update everyone on social media if those plans change.
Lost Forty Brewing today announced changes at the taproom. All dine-in services are suspended until further notice. However, Lost Forty is making its entire food menu available to go, and obviously you can still grab cans, crowlers and growlers. For now, those growlers must come from Lost Forty; the taproom will not fill existing growlers. That includes today’s Freshcut Monday release: Space Ice Cream pastry sour, a 5.1% ABV soured Berliner Weisse Neopolitan Space Ice Cream bars, cacao nibs, milk chocolate, vanilla beans and strawberries (side note: YUM). Starting Tuesday, Lost Forty will be doing curbside pickup and call-ahead orders so you can stay in your car and get your order. And one other thing: Lost Forty is paying all staff indefinitely during this pandemic, which is a wonderful response. Not every business has the means to do this, obviously, but it’s heartening that Lost Forty is using its resources to take care of its team.
Stone’s Throw Brewing is open during its normal business hours for the time being. Tomorrow at the Stifft Station location, Stone’s Throw is tapping its Barrel-soured Mickey’s Irish Red, a 6% ABV traditional Irish red inoculated with pediococcus yeast. The taproom will also have an Irish coffee stout and nutty Irishman variation on its flagship Shamus Stout available. You can also get the standard Mickey’s Irish Red and a special Irish menu for St. Patrick’s Day at both locations. Then on Friday, Stone’s Throw’s MacPark spot will tap Aurora Borealis Scottish Light Ale for #NewBrewFriday at 4 p.m. While these beer events are still on, Stone’s Throw is cancelling events that would be hard to sanitize, including Dartball, all board and card game nights, video games, karaoke, and Bingo.
Flyway Brewing is still open for its regular business hours and has plenty of cans and growlers ready for to go beer. We are still waiting for cans to come available of its superb Barrel-aged Lord God Imperial Chocolate Stout; that announcement will hopefully come in the next week or so.
Diamond Bear is also open as usual as of press time. It has cans of its classic Irish Red available to take home.
And if you’re in Hot Springs, Superior Bathhouse Brewery is also open for its regular business hours. The taproom is using disposable cups, plates and flatware during this outbreak.
Do you have any beer news to share with us? Email steveshuler@gmail.com.

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