PRBC Blog

Two brewers (husband and wife), one big old barn, one river located just down the hill below the barn and an idea for something that may be a little work that leads to a lot more fun.
The First IPA Canned in Missouri Start up

The First IPA Canned in Missouri

While we're making brewing history in Missouri, why not make a little more?  How 'bout the first India Pale Ale canned in the Show Me state? Piney River Brewing Company took the honors for the first IPA canned in Missouri, our appropriately named Missouri Mule India Pale Ale.  And it was fun! Roger and Tristan from Wild Goose Engineering went back to Boulder last Tuesday night, and they left us with our magical Micro Can machine.  We ran it all by ourselves tonight.  (We received photo proof that while we were running our new canning machine, they were enjoying some…
Piney River Brewing Company
November 15, 2011
A Show Me Guide: How Craft Beer Was First Canned in Missouri Start up

A Show Me Guide: How Craft Beer Was First Canned in Missouri

Last November we were a newly licensed brewery trying to figure out if people would really drink craft beer brewed in barn in Bucyrus, MO.  By March, we were at the Craft Brewers Conference in San Francisco talking with canning machine companies. Why cans? Lots of reasons. Easier to recycle.  Less shipping weight and cost.  Better for the environment.  The best way to preserve the flavor of beer.  And most importantly, the only way to take craft beer on float trips on the Big Piney River or any other river out here in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.  Plus, canned…
Piney River Brewing Company
November 12, 2011
Missouri Made Canned Craft Beer Start up

Missouri Made Canned Craft Beer

We promised it--canned craft beer from a microbrewery in Missouri. On Tuesday, November 8th about 4:30 p.m. the first craft beer from a Missouri microbrewery was canned on site at Piney River Brewing Company in Bucyrus, MO. A more descriptive and photo filled blog post is soon coming, but suffice it to say, handcrafted beer in a pint can is now available and made in the Ozarks. All of this would not have been possible without assistance from two extraordinary gentleman, Tristan Shaffer and Roger Walz from Wild Goose Engineering in Boulder, CO.  Tristan and Roger delivered and helped us…
Piney River Brewing Company
November 9, 2011
You Supply the Event. We'll Supply the Craft Beer…In a Keg! Start up

You Supply the Event. We'll Supply the Craft Beer…In a Keg!

If a pint of Piney River Brewing beer is good and a growler of Piney River Brewing beer is better, how does a keg of Piney River Brewing beer sound?  If you've got a kegerator or an upcoming event, we can now provide kegs of our handcrafted ales for your drinking pleasure. Here's what you'll soon see on our web site: Kegs to go are now available at Piney River Brewing Company.  Please contact us via e-mail (brian@pineyriverbrewing.com) or via phone (417/967-6786) to reserve a keg of beer.  Not all of our beer styles are currently available in kegs.  Keg…
Piney River Brewing Company
November 5, 2011
The Microbrewery Keg Queen Gets Her Bells & Whistles & Levers & Knobs Start up

The Microbrewery Keg Queen Gets Her Bells & Whistles & Levers & Knobs

Keg cleaning is an ongoing job in a brewery.  There are always kegs in various stages of cleanliness. Kegs aren't just to be cleaned either.  They also have to be sanitized.  And filled.  And they are emptied at an amazing rate which starts the cycle all over again. When we first started home brewing, we used old soda or "corny" kegs because they were fairly simple to disassemble for cleaning.  As a microbrewery, we have a bunch of brand spankin' new, shiny "Sanke" kegs that are waiting to be put into the brewery rotation. Sanke kegs are not that simple…
Piney River Brewing Company
October 30, 2011
What's in a can? Not just any can…craft beer in a can. Start up

What's in a can? Not just any can…craft beer in a can.

If you would have been in the BARn at Piney River Brewing Company today you would have seen the brewer and his wife passing fittings and tools back and forth to each other, putting in lines to run the air compressor for our canning line.  Seven barrels of Missouri Mule India Pale Ale were glug-glugging happily in time with some tunes from the Drive-By Truckers.  Yes, this little microbrewery is getting ready to can our craft beer. We are very proud of the fact that our little craft brewery will be the first microbrewery in the state of Missouri to…
Piney River Brewing Company
October 23, 2011
How Oktoberfest Went Down Beer Events

How Oktoberfest Went Down

Brian and I geared up for our first beer festival--Oktoberfest at The Public House in Rolla--by making sure that we had excellent beer to sample.  For this festival, we had a Missouri Mule India Pale Ale and an Old Tom Porter--five gallons of each--to share with festival attendees.  My beer, the Black Walnut Wheat, also tasted fabulously of fall, so we decided to take five gallons of it to the festival, too. A very crafty girl that I work with, Brittney McNiell, was hired to carve a pumpkin with our logo in it (and she did a darn fine job…
Piney River Brewing Company
October 17, 2011
A Festive October at the Microbrewery Beer Events

A Festive October at the Microbrewery

Saturday, October 8th provided Piney River Brewing Company the opportunity to bring a local charitable organization to the brewery.  We don't offer food to our customers, but the Houston Education Foundation came out to the brewery and served up hot dogs and brats to raise funds for their group which supports the Houston schools. Our customers don't really need a reason to drink, but we offered up "pints with a purpose", donating a portion of every pint sold at the brewery yesterday.  Thanks to our thirsty customers, we were pleased to make a $120.00 donation to the Houston Education Foundation.…
Piney River Brewing Company
October 9, 2011
The Piney River Brewer's Wife The Beer

The Piney River Brewer's Wife

On our end of the river, this brewer's wife is nanny, maid, cook, accountant, sensory panel, brewery hostess and the ever important keg cleaner.  This brewery's wife also has an avid interest in craft beer; after all, I always said I didn't like beer until (many years ago) I tasted a Fat Tire by  New Belgium and said, "Mmm...that's good." The success of Piney River Brewing Company has been in large part to the fact that Brian and I are willing to work together side-by-side to do whatever needs to be done to make our dream of owning a microbrewery…
Piney River Brewing Company
October 2, 2011
Microbrewery Owners Can Sleep When They Die Start up

Microbrewery Owners Can Sleep When They Die

A year ago in September we still had some old barn wood on the BARn.  There were dirt floors, and there was certainly no plumbing or electricity.  The TTB probably hadn't even opened the box with our application for licensure. Somewhere over the past 52 weeks we got a concrete floor, plumbing, electricity, and we actually opened a nanobrewery.  Brian has brewed almost 70 batches of beer (10 gallons at a time).  I've cleaned a million kegs or maybe two million kegs (or so it seemed).  We've had hundreds of people come through the doors of our brewery.  We've had…
Piney River Brewing Company
September 22, 2011
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