Beer stopped being a hobby for Stone's Throw Brewing's partners on July 4, 2013.
It was a rare day that home brewing enthusiasts Ian Beard, Theron Cash, Shawn Tobin and Brad McLaurin all had time off from their day jobs and got together to brew their first batch of beer for commercial sale. Beard and Cash have since become full-time employees of the brewery, which celebrates its third anniversary this month.
Stone's Throw, located at 402 E. Ninth Street, will again host the Block on Rock Birthday Bash July 30. The brewery has multiple beer releases planned for the month of July, including its Anniversary Stout, a replication of the first beer brewed on July 4, 2013.
Since brewing that first batch, and the opening of Stone's Throw's taproom on Aug. 1 three years ago, the brewery has increased its distribution from five to 50 retail locations in Little Rock. Seating at the brewery has increased similarly, it's now open six days a week and Beard and Cash are joined on the payroll by two other full-time employees.
Beard and I sat down recently for a Q&A about the brewery and the future of the operation and the MacArthur Park neighborhood where Stone's Throw is located. Portions of the transcript have been edited for space and clarity.
Starting a business is always risky. What has been the key to survival?
It was important, at least for me, that we chose this location in a residential neighborhood so we could have a built-in community and a built-in customer base. That's been big from the beginning. We have a lot of regulars who walk in for a pint after work. ... We hear all the time people consider this their Cheers. Bartenders know their name, know their drink. We've expanded our seating twice since we opened, but still don't seat a total of 50 people. It's still a small place that allows our bartenders and customers to have a rapport with one another and talk with one another.
Has word of mouth been key to growth? What else have you done to encourage people to come to the brewery?
We're a small place with very little marketing budget. We need to find a way to bring people in, keep them engaged. Early on it was with food trucks. We started hosting trivia on Thursday nights, but made it Arkansas trivia to make it more unique than the other 300 pub trivias you can do around town. Faith and Fermentation was an idea developed in a local church. And come to find out, more people show up to discuss theology when drinks are involved. Hops and Hope we just started and $1 of every pint on a particular night goes to a cause like the Firehouse Hostel, Dunbar Garden and Preserve Arkansas. Being part of the community matters.
Are you content, long-term, with being the neighborhood bar with a few local retail accounts? What are your plans for the future?
We signed a 10-year lease when a new landlord bought the property. We wanted predictability, and the neighborhood is being developed more. There are a couple of big residential units being built a couple blocks away and we didn't want to get gentrified out of our own neighborhood [laughing]. We're going to be in this building for a long while. We'd have to open up a new facility to brew or sell more beer than we do. I'm pretty content with where we are. Now, that's probably a strategic planning question for the partners now that we've hit three years. It's been seat-of-our-pants at this point. But I think for the foreseeable future we're pretty good where we are. We have a couple things that make us unique. We can focus solely on beer. We don't have the distraction of trying to run a restaurant at the same time, so we're able to have 14 beers at any one time. We don't distribute outside Pulaski County. We like being a uniquely Little Rock beer. It's something you're not going to get at a bar on Dickson Street in Fayetteville or Central Avenue in Hot Springs. It's great all those other breweries have been able to achieve that. It's just not our style. We like being uniquely local.
You sort of joke about being gentrified out of your own neighborhood, but more neighbors means more potential customers. That can't be all bad, right?
One of the reasons I wanted this location is because I lived in the neighborhood for about 10 years. This area has long been a great neighborhood for when people land in Little Rock. If you're looking for something that's not part of a gigantic complex, a little more personality, closer to downtown, this neighborhood has always been an affordable option for that. It's always worked out that way. Most of my staff lives within walking distance of the brewery. If rents go up, they'll have to find a different job or live someplace different. I don't want either of those. ... I think people who have long-term investment in the neighborhood would like to keep it a mix of incomes, a little funkier neighborhood. It's been that way for a long time. We have people who own million dollar houses, people paying $325 for a studio and everything in between. That's what makes a great neighborhood.
If you have a tip, call Chris Bahn at (501) 378-3518 or email him at cbahn@arkansasonline.com
SundayMonday Business on 07/03/2016