White River Brewing Co. owner John Hosfield, right, is reviving plans to open a Commercial Street brewery with brewmaster David Lamb, after efforts to sell the property and equipment failed.
Following a failed attempt in 2010 by brothers-in-law and business partners to open C-Street Brewery, a relative, who also is the owner of the proposed site at 505 W. Commercial St., decided to take matters into his own hands.
John “Buz” Hosfield plans to open White River Brewing Co. this fall with equipment that Kris Foster and Doug Draper left behind.
Hosfield said he’s hired a general manager and a brewmaster, David Lamb – a former contract brewmaster for Hickok’s Steakhouse & Brewery – to help him make the north-side brewery a reality. White River is currently seeking a brewer’s permit from the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, Hosfield said, as well as state and city licensing for the brewery that would distribute to local retailers and bars.
The company, Hosfield said, would start with four varieties of beer, and possibly a seasonal brew.
“We are very hopeful that we can begin selling beer by October,” Hosfield said.
Hosfield, the stepfather of Draper and stepfather-in-law of Foster, said he knew about two years ago that C-Street Brewery was in trouble. Draper, he said, decided to move to Oregon and Foster – who has since left the state – didn’t feel he had the experience to move forward with plans on his own.
Left with a 10,000-square-foot property he purchased for the brewery, Hosfield, a former banker from the Los Angeles area, worked to sell the property and equipment. C-Street Brewery’s partners had purchased a couple of stainless-steel tanks for $70,000 from Hickok’s owner Scott Tillman after the brewpub closed in 2008.
“We had both for sale, but the timing just wasn’t good. We didn’t have the operation going yet, which made (the property and equipment) very difficult to sell,” Hosfield said.
In May, Hosfield decided to revive the brewery idea. He currently is seeking a conditional-use permit from the city to become a center city manufacturer and has a Sept. 20 public hearing scheduled with the Planning and Zoning Commission.
“We are strictly going to be distributing the beer,” Hosfield said, adding that he knew little about the restaurant business. “We haven’t even established the four staple products we’re going to have, but what we’ve made so far, we like.”
Hosfield has yet to sign a distribution agreement, but he said he has been in negotiations with a couple of area companies, though he declined to name them.
White River Brewing would join veteran brewpub Springfield Brewing Co. and 2011 startup Mother’s Brewing Co. in the local market.
Jeff Schrag, who founded Mother’s Brewing Co. in spring 2011, said he’s followed the stop-and-go plans for C-Street Brewery.
“When I had the idea for my brewery, I saw that they were ahead of me, and I thought, ‘My goodness, what is that going to mean?’ But then I decided that there was enough room for another,” Schrag said, pointing to Brewers Association data showing craft breweries comprise up to 6 percent of the national beer production, but only 3 percent of the market in Missouri. “More craft beer means more craft beer, and maybe it means more awareness.”
In its first seven months of operation, Mother’s Brewing production was enough to lead all microbreweries that opened nationwide in 2011, according to the Brewers Association.
Mother’s produced 2,331 barrels last year, and is on tap to crank out more than 6,000 barrels in 2012, Schrag said. Through Heart of America Beverage Co., Mother’s products are distributed to more than 300 locations across Missouri.
“I think any contribution to craft beer in the market is going to be good for everybody,” said Bryan Bevel, a member of the investor group that last fall bought out 15-year-old Springfield Brewing Co. from stainless steel manufacturer Paul Mueller Co.
Three months ago, the new owners rebranded the brewery as SBC and revised its product lines, with the intent of increasing penetration through distributor Wil Fischer Distributing Co. Bevel said SBC products are now sold at more than 30 retail establishments, including Hy-Vee, Macadoodles and Harter House, and at 25 restaurants such as Quincy Magoo’s, Harbell’s Grill & Sports Bar and Applebee’s.
“It’s going better than we could have expected,” he said, declining to disclose revenues tied to retail sales.
Both Schrag and Bevel said White River Brewmaster Lamb was a known quantity in the area, and Bevel said he had lunch with Lamb recently. “We wish them well,” Bevel said.
Hosfield said he’s been particularly encouraged by Mother’s volume – which Heart of America helped to get on Wal-Mart Stores shelves – and he’d like White River to be part of a trend that feeds demand for locally produced beer.
“If we’re all making good craft beers, it will just help all three of us,” Hosfield said.
