4 by 4 Brewing expanding to Fremont Hills

4 by 4 Brewing Co. LLC is expanding to the Fremont Hills area near Ozark and Nixa.

Co-owner Derek Shimeall said a March 2022 opening is planned for an 11,000-square-foot brewing and bottling operation with a taproom near Fremont Hills Country Club.

"We feel like we can hit a market that isn't coming into Springfield as much as we think they are," Shimeall said. "The growth out there is huge. We think it's an opportunity to capture some of that traffic."

4 By by 4 Brewing hired Stinson Building Co. as general contractor and Torgerson Design Partners LLC as architect for the structure that's slated to be built from the ground up at Highway CC and Fremont Road, according to a project submission for Springfield Business Journal's March 15 Architects & Engineers focus section. Shimeall said 4 by 4 Brewing is buying the property for undisclosed terms. He also declined to disclose construction costs.

With the Fremont Hills operation, 4 by 4 Brewing is relocating much of its brewing and bottling capacity from its original shop in Galloway Village, Shimeall said, noting the taproom in the eclectic Springfield neighborhood would remain a priority for the company.

"We'll have the capacity for 10,500 barrels. We currently do about 1,100," he said. "The goal with the new place is to increase our retail footprint."

Last year, 4 by 4 Brewing began selling its beers in 23 local stores, including Brown Derby and Price Cutter, Shimeall said. The company also is eyeing other territories, such as Lake of the Ozarks, for retail opportunities, he added.

In Galloway Village, the taproom is slated to continue as normal and the facility's brewing equipment would work on experimental beers and one-off beverages, he said. 4 by 4 Brewing opened in Galloway Village in 2017.

With the Fremont Hills plans, Shimeall said the company is preparing a marketing push through social media that will include the creation of separate pages for the two operations.