For the brewery that created the flagship beer Black Walnut Wheat, there’s really nothing more fitting than to have three giant, communal tables made of black walnut in our tap room.
One of the three black walnut slab tables at the BARn.
If you’ve been in the BARn in the past few months, surely you’ve noticed our black walnut tables. They are BIG. They are beautiful. And like all things Piney River, they have a story.
Piney River Brewing is located on our Farm, and in the 20 years that we’ve owned our farm, we have lost some centuries old trees due to weather and to age. A massive black walnut tree near our home was losing bark due to old age and limbs every time the weather got a little crazy.
The black walnut tree had limbs that were the size of small black walnut trees, and the tree was also leaning precariously. Instead of worry about the tree falling on the house every time the weather turned ugly, we made the decision to have the tree professionally removed in the summer of 2017.
The main trunk of the tree was around 16-feet long and 38-inches at the base. Brian and I weren’t sure what to do with the tree, but we contacted a local woodworker and craft beer drinker, Harold Mitchell of Out on a Limb Woodworking, to see if he was interested. Harold and his dad came by one day loaded up the massive trunk and branches in one big trailer load. Harold hauled away another load of smaller branches, too.
The base of the black walnut tree.
Harold makes beautiful furniture and interesting bowls and spoons, and we were happy to give the wood to Harold so that the black walnut would live on in another way—from an 1800’s land grant farm in the Ozarks to someone’s wooden bowl or spoon collection.
Harold asked us if we would be interested in a piece of the black walnut wood for a table in the BARn tasting room, and we agreed it would be an excellent use of the wood. We have a history of using old wood from Texas County in the BARn thanks to the late Tim Prater of the Wood Mill in Raymondville.
Harold and his dad used their sawmill to cut the main trunk into large slabs, and they dried it for over a year. In the fall of 2018 Harold asked if we wanted to see the slabs. He showed up at the brewery with four beautiful pieces of thick black walnut. We decided that we wanted them all.
Slab by slab, Harold finished the black walnut table tops, and delivered them to the BARn where they leaned against the wall awaiting future placement in the tap room. Harold only had enough room in his shop to work on one walnut slab at a time.
The week of our 8th Aleiversary we used specially fabricated steel bases from Grace Manufacturing in Plato to bolt the black walnut slabs to the top of the steel bases and to bolt the bases to the floor. With the slabs, we made two high top walnut tables and one low top walnut table, and they can seat 14 people comfortably at one table. There were so many people at the Aleiversary, it wasn’t until the weeks following our big shin dig that people really started noticing the beautiful, new tables in the BARn.
At least 14 people can commune over pints at these black walnut tables.
We’ve never had big tables that seat a lot of people in our tap room other than picnic tables on the decks. Giant, communal tables are very common in beer halls across the US and Europe. However, we know and understand that many people in the Ozarks like to have a little elbow room, so sharing a table with strangers might not be the best way to make an inviting space at the BARn. We were prepared for negativity about the tables.
Cherry bowtie in a split in the black walnut.
But it never came. Turns out, it’s good for the soul to share a pint and maybe even a pizza at a table with other folks also enjoying a pint at the BARn. We should have known.
Our black walnut tables have been admired my many visitors to the BARn, and Harold has given us permission to share his contact information here so you can reach out to him if you have a big old black walnut tree laying in your yard or if you’re looking for a skilled wood worker in the Ozarks to make a table, bar top or some other piece of fine furniture.
