Northwest Arkansas
is quickly becoming known
as one of the hot spots
for craft brewing.
But there's one place
that's doing things
just a little different
than everyone else.
We're here at Ivory Bill
Brewing Company
in Siloam Springs
to show you exactly
what they're bringing
to the craft beer scene.
Come on, let's check it out.
I am here with Casey
and Dorothy.
The owners of Ivory Bill
Brewing Company,
and we're just here to learn
a little bit more
about their business
and just a little bit
about what they do.
So I got to ask, why here?
Why now? I mean, what's.
Tell me a little bit more about
why you guys chose
to set up your business here.
Well, we chose Siloam Springs
because this is now home
to both of us.
Neither of us grew up here,
Casey's from Minnesota,
I'm from California.
But we both went
to John Brown University
and have been here long enough
that Siloam feels
as much like home
as any other place we've lived.
And so we wanted
to build our business
in a place where we are actually
a part of the community.
I hear you all.
You're the first brewery here
in Siloam Springs.
That right? That's awesome.
So they didn't have
any ordinances.
Right. From.
From what I understand,
they didn't even know
how to approach this.
So tell me a little more
about that.
Yeah. So when the city
went wet back in 2012,
the ordinances
that they put in place
were just very general
purpose ones.
And they hadn't really
anticipated a brewery.
So they had to go back
and amend the laws
to allow for the possibility
of a brewery.
And then also trying
to think of like
maybe we won't be the only one
ever that there
will be this one,
but maybe there'll
be more to come,
which would be super cool
as far as we're concerned.
I'm excited to see
a little bit behind the scenes.
So what do either of you
like to show me around
and tell me a little bit
of what's going on behind
the scenes here at Ivory Bill?
Casey is the brewer.
So he should give you the tour.
All right. Let's check it out.
All right. Come on in.
Wow.
So this is a really cool space.
We really love it.
All the great windows.
Now I'm seeing there are quite
a few things around here
that maybe looks like
this wasn't always a brewery.
Right. That's true. Yeah.
Tell me a little bit about it.
It was originally built
as a car dealership back
in the late 1930s.
This building was then a pipe
manufacturing facility.
It made all kinds
of different pipe.
But my favorite story about
the pipes that were made here
is that Sam Walton
had his five and dime
and he knew a guy in Siloam
who could build him Hula-Hoops.
So this building was, in fact,
a hula hoop
manufacturing facility.
Wow. That's really cool to know.
So. So, in fact,
if you look at the cups
that we have for cream soda,
OK, kids, we have like a little
cartoon ivory-billed Woodpecker,
that's hula hooping. Nice.
I like the head nod.
That's very cool.
So tell me a little bit more
about what's going on behind us.
I hear these you said
these were built in the 1980s.
Is that correct? Yeah.
Built for the Orange Brewery
in London in the 80s.
And they're very much British
traditional style fermenters.
So open fermentation.
Yeah, that's a totally
different process
than than I've seen around here
in Northwest Arkansas.
Are you okay with showing me
a little bit more about that?
Can I learn some more?
So, yes.
So we're kind of going into
like the sacred space.
And I typically tell people, no.
Sorry.
This is just like brewer only.
But I want you to see it.
So, yes, we need to kind of
make sure we've dusted off
before we go in. It is.
We'll keep that room
as clean as possible
because we just have.
One yeast strain,
it's working away in there
and we don't want it
to have any competitors.
So this.
So this is truly the inner
sanctum of Ivory Bill.
It is the inner sanctum.
Yes, You're getting a view that.
Very, very few people ever have.
Wonderful.
Well, thanks.
I cannot wait to check this out.
OK.
All right, so first of all,
the first thing I notice in here
is the smell is fantastic.
So. So, I mean, I would assume
that's that's the yeast working.
So we have we wash down.
Yeah, we've got the sanitizer.
You ready to take a peak?
Can we take a look inside?
Absolutely.
All right. Let's check it out.
So and that's the
yeast working on top.
That is fantastic.
And this yeast strain
is 150 year old strain.
It came from Victorian Tower
Brewery in England.
And it makes beautiful beer.
All right.
So I'm going to put
the babies to sleep.
OK. Fantastic.
Sleep well. Sleep well.
All right, so I had no idea
of all the different things
that went into
this open fermentation process.
I got to say,
we've been standing in here
for a little while.
The aromas are amazing and I
still haven't tasted anything.
So do you mind
if we head outside?
Let's go drink beer.
All right. Let's do it.
Well, let's try it.
I can't wait.
It smells fantastic.
OK. That's got
an amazing flavor to it.
You can definitely taste
the peach to it.
That's wonderful.
What inspired this beer?
Was it just the desire
for local fruit?
Was it. Was it something that.
Are you a personal fan
of peaches or what?
We make a lot of we make
a lot of beer with fruit.
When the fruit is sort of
in season made to serve
in the same season
and those tend to be
lower alcohol beers
and, you know, things that
just really emphasize
the freshness
and moment of the fruit.
Casey, thank you so much
for having us in, man,
I really appreciate this.
Tell you what.
If you have not been down
to Ivory Bill Brewing Company
here in downtown Siloam Springs,
you're missing out.
Well, cheers. Cheers.
Thanks for coming.
