The B Team Podcast
Talking all things Business, Bentonville, and Bourbon. Hosted by Josh Saffran, Matt Marrs, and Rob Nelson. New episodes every Thursday!
The B Team Podcast
Ep. 73 - Gluten-Free Craft Beer Without Compromise
Discovering a hidden gem in Bentonville's flourishing culinary scene, we sit down with Rebecca Davitt, founder and head brewer of Stoic Brews, the only dedicated gluten-free brewery in Arkansas and one of just 27 nationwide. From the moment we take our first sip, preconceptions about gluten-free beer are shattered as we sample exceptional craft brews made from millet, buckwheat, and other alternative grains.
Rebecca's journey into brewing began with her own health challenges. After being diagnosed with an inflammatory disorder that required eliminating gluten, she found herself unable to enjoy craft beer for nearly a decade. What started as a joke with her husband ("I'll only be interested in brewing if we can make it gluten-free") evolved into a passionate mission to create a space where everyone, regardless of dietary restrictions, could experience the joy of craft beer and good food without worry.
The impact of Stoic Brews extends far beyond brewing great beer. Rebecca shares moving stories of customers brought to tears by their first beer in decades and the profound sense of normalcy her establishment provides to those with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. Located in downtown Bentonville's former Pedaler's Pub space, Stoic offers eight taps, a full gluten-free food menu (including incredible pizza we sampled on-air), and weekly events like bingo and trivia nights.
What stands out most is the intersection of craft, care, and community that Rebecca has created. With both indoor seating and patios, sports viewing, and a family-friendly atmosphere that includes mocktails for non-drinkers, Stoic Brews is pioneering what an inclusive dining experience can be. Whether you're gluten-sensitive or simply a craft beer enthusiast, this alternative brewery deserves a spot on your Bentonville must-visit list. Follow them on social media @stoicbrews or visit stoicbrews.com to learn more about this revolutionary approach to brewing.
Welcome to the B-Team Podcast. I am your host, josh Safran, with my co-host, matt Morris and our permanent guest, rob Nelson. We're here every week to talk to you about all things Bentonville, bourbon and business the B-Team Podcast. Be here. Welcome to the B-Team Podcast. I'm your host, josh Safran, with our co-host.
Speaker 2:Matt Mars.
Speaker 1:And there's an uncomfortable pause there. I normally say our permanent guest.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean to be fair. We did get our best ratings, I think, when he came in last time.
Speaker 3:I'm not quite, rob Nils.
Speaker 1:No, no, you're about 50 pounds skinnier, with a full head of hair, even though you're dressed as him today.
Speaker 3:Well, rob wanted to definitely have me keep the spirit of having him in the studio, so he gave me a told me strictly orange shirt. He gave me one of his gold chains I don't have one of these and an orange hat. We're ready to go. Did you shave your head bald? No, I did not. I still have the hair All right.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you to Jen's Place. We'll be very happy to know that.
Speaker 3:That's right, yesterday, jen's Place haircut. There we go, shout out Jen's Place, shout out.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, it's official. We may just say this is our new permanent guest, Jim Corbett. Jim Corbett.
Speaker 2:There we go, happy to be back. Happy to be back. It looks great.
Speaker 3:A cheap imitation.
Speaker 1:No New and improved. Yeah, we moved up New and improved. We're moving on up, moving on up.
Speaker 3:Jefferson's right. Thank you, did you know that one Jefferson's right? Oh yeah, shout out to Wheezy. Shout out to Wheezy.
Speaker 1:We haven't had a Wheezy shout out on this podcast before. Well, we're here every Thursday for all things Bentonville business and bourbon. Today it's going to be Bentonville business and beer and we have Rebecca here, the CEO, founder, general manager, proprietor of Stoic. Yeah, so I stalked you on social media because I heard there's a brand new, super cool gluten-free bar and restaurant open downtown. And I'm like boy, everybody needs that because you have gluten-free family members.
Speaker 3:I do. My wife stays away from gluten and my daughter, actually diagnosed with celiacs, she's type 1 diabetic. She's very focused on making sure she's eating the right things and keeping herself healthy, so it's great to hear that there's options out there you have natalie, right, doesn't she?
Speaker 2:have. Well, she has allergies dairy and egg and my daughter's gluten free but 10, 15 years ago, everyone would have said this restaurant no fair right like oh yeah, so you'd be like, oh, you'll never, never now, everyone seeks that out, yeah, for sure, and you're in one of the best locations in my opinion A really good location.
Speaker 1:Well, where?
Speaker 4:are you. So we are on A Street downtown Bentonville. We're in the old Peddler Pub location.
Speaker 3:Perfect.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, sure, that's a close walk to everything, yeah it is Not for you, though.
Speaker 1:You live out in Centerville.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're five minutes from there, but once you're downtown you can make your way all around down there you notice how he didn't say no on the castle part.
Speaker 3:He went along with the castle. It's a popular bike stop. Now it's a walk-in downtown. It's a great spot.
Speaker 4:It is, and we're next to our established businesses, so that's really good for us.
Speaker 3:When did you guys open up?
Speaker 4:March 14th was our official day. Okay, cool. How's it going so far? It's going really well. We've been well received within the community and we really weren't sure what people were going to think of a gluten-free, a dedicated gluten-free establishment, like you said, 10, 15 years ago, and I think that would have been poo-pooed on probably. You know, we still get a lot of people that come in that are a little skeptical.
Speaker 1:Oh well, we're skeptical, we're going to find out.
Speaker 4:We're going to taste and drink.
Speaker 1:We're going to give you the full run of sugar and that's what I want people to do.
Speaker 4:I want people to at least just try it, just you know, kind of broaden your horizons and and just you know what have you got to lose. It's just you know, but I guarantee you're not gonna hate it. So but we, we've been well received. We have we've had people that don't even know it's gluten-free come in, they just think it's some cool little you know brewery which I think is the best, because then you give it a hundred percent chance yeah, yeah, and then when we tell them they're shocked.
Speaker 1:So is most of the people that come in not aware it's gluten-free? Or are you getting the gluten-free folk coming through, or what's the balance? I?
Speaker 4:would say it's a good mix. I mean, it's probably more celiac and gluten intolerant heavy, I would say. But there is a really good mix of people that just come in because we're hey, the hub is full, we want to come check you guys out. Or we heard that there's a new brewery and there's a new brewery and we, you know, there's lots of people that like to. They go brewery hopping, so we're just on the list to do that and the Greenway is right next to us. So there's a lot of people that you know get on their bikes and that's what they do on a Saturday and they go from brewery to brewery to brewery.
Speaker 1:I can't. Imagine.
Speaker 2:No, but I love that area and I think it's true. Our daughter has the milk and egg allergies and if we tell my dad's the worst, but we're all that way because it's just how you're wired. If you tell everyone that it is something special, then they have their guard up, but if you don't say anything until, it's just how you're wired. If you tell everyone that it's that it is something special, then they all they have their guard up, but if you don't say anything until it's done and they're like that was amazing and you're like, yeah, it's.
Speaker 2:Uh, there's no dairy or eggs in there, dad. And he's like right, yeah.
Speaker 4:Whereas if you tell them that on the front side, they're like, uh, it just wasn't and we debated, really, you know, when we, when we designed this concept, we were like you know, do we blast it everywhere that this is a gluten-free space. You know, and that's why we're called Alternative, stoic Brews, alternative. Everybody says what does that mean? We're gluten-free? But you know, rather than say gluten-free brewery, we wanted a different name, so we said Alternative. That worked.
Speaker 4:That's great free brewery. We wanted a different name so we said alternative. That worked. But yeah, we debated on whether or not to really blast that we were gluten free or just keep it like you know, hush hush. But I also didn't want. I wanted the the mass amount of people like me because I've been gluten free for 10 years so that have not been able to go out and experience a beer you know in the last 10 years to know that we were there. So I didn't want that. I wanted them to know. I kind of wanted to shout it from the rooftop.
Speaker 1:How hard is it to make gluten-free beer? I mean, I assume you guys make it on premises.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, we make it there. Yeah, we have a very small system. It's a one barrel system, so I make, I'm the head brewer, so I make 31 gallons at a time, and I honestly can't answer that question. I mean it's I've never brewed conventional beer before, like so.
Speaker 1:This is all I know so did you teach yourself how to do this?
Speaker 2:I did, that's now, now was it? Was it? Did you have something where you had to go gluten-free, or was it more of like a yeah, being more healthy?
Speaker 4:yeah, I have an inflammatory disorder. I don't have celiac disease, I have an inflammatory disorder I don't have celiac disease, but I have an inflammatory disorder, so I had to cut out gluten. Dairy soy were huge allergens for me, or not allergens, but they created an inflammatory response. So, yeah, I have been gluten-free for 10 years and it's made a world of difference, absolutely.
Speaker 1:I see Matthew foaming at the mouth, ready to taste some beer. I already see it. I am I'm excited you want to pour.
Speaker 2:So now, what are tell us about what we have here?
Speaker 4:yeah, let's see which one of this this is the hazy, and which one do you want us to start with? Um, let's go with the lager. Since it's lighter, we'll go, for I mean not that the hazy is like a dark, sorry, yeah, it's under pressure, careful, and and I had to walk in that parking lot so it was kind of it smells good can you sell them in these growlers like this um.
Speaker 4:So we, we have a tap. I mean we sell, we I have a 12 tap system um in the in the brewery but we do sell growlers to go. We don't have, we're not canning yet we're getting there.
Speaker 1:Um, we do get that question a lot about cans but, that's something that's that's coming are you gonna have a drink with us?
Speaker 3:yeah, absolutely now, this is very light colored yeah, this is the lager I'm just pouring light ones for us, yeah sorry, I was to say 31 gallons at a time. Wasn't that your nickname in college?
Speaker 4:It was 30.
Speaker 2:Yeah, cheers you guys, cheers, Cheers, cheers, cheers. So this will probably be my favorite. It looks great Because, well, a lot of times I don't like the hazy ones, but here, lately I've started to like them more.
Speaker 4:So this is our lager that's made with millet and buckwheat. It's just millet and buckwheat that is good.
Speaker 1:What's the alcohol content?
Speaker 4:um, that's five percent, and it's light, I mean it's not great like you think summer, but it's not.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not like super heavy. Yeah, no, not at all.
Speaker 1:It's very tasty. I wouldn't again. I wouldn't know that it's not gluten-full.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would have never known. Good, no way would I have known.
Speaker 4:That's my goal. It's tasty.
Speaker 2:Now, I don't know a lot about gluten. Is it a certain grain or is it a? No?
Speaker 4:it's actually a protein. Gluten is a protein that's found in wheat and rye and barley. I mean, I'm just going off a typical brewery ingredients, but um, yeah, and that's what people with celiac disease you know which is everything every year, yeah, right, so it had to be hard, yeah, yeah, to figure this out so everything is 100 gluten-free.
Speaker 1:I brew with either millet, buck, wheat, rice, quinoa, uh, corn yeah, I give you a lot of credit because you found something that's like that's impacting you personally. Right, it wasn't like you, you, you're following somebody else that's doing it. You sort of just figured this out. Obviously, you went online and did a little bit of research, of course, yeah, um yeah.
Speaker 4:Well, it's kind of a funny story so my funny stories.
Speaker 4:Okay, good stories here we go I mean, I think, it's funny, maybe I'm a little biased, but but so my husband and I own kickboxing gyms here in northwest Arkansas and he wanted to retire out of that industry. He was kind of done and so. But he was like you know, I want to do something. He said I want to brew beer. And I was like since when I've never known you to ever even drink beer, you know? And I said, well, that doesn't really sound like much fun for me because I can't even have it.
Speaker 4:So why would I want to be involved in something that I can't enjoy, you know? So I jokingly said at the time if we can figure out a way to make it gluten-free, then I'm interested. But the conversation just kind of died there, you know, because neither one of us thought that was even a thing. And then I guess curiosity got the better of me because I was just like you know, that is a thing. So I I just looked it up, I googled, and I found out that it was a thing and at the time there were only 23 gluten free breweries in the united states wow and this was two years ago.
Speaker 4:Now there's 27. So it's not like yeah, it's a new.
Speaker 1:You're definitely one of one here in northwest arkansas. We're the only one that's cool.
Speaker 3:That's called the only one in the state of.
Speaker 4:Arkansas Only one in the state of Arkansas, wow.
Speaker 3:That's right yeah.
Speaker 4:I believe there's a brewery in Little Rock that is brewing a gluten-free beer, but they are not a dedicated gluten-free facility.
Speaker 3:I think they just have one, so the 27 are only dedicated, correct, okay?
Speaker 4:They're probably in big cities, I'd imagine. Right, I mean, you would think, uh, portland has a lot um, portland's got three or four, I believe there's believe it, or not only like two in california. I would have thought there would have been more in california? I would have thought so too um neff is the closest one to us here, rather than I mean um closest to us that they're in uh tulsa.
Speaker 2:Okay so, but there's nothing further south it feels like you're onto something here, like this is a business well unlike for Bentonville, I mean with all the bikers that, the mountain bikers and gravel bikers that come in there, they're all they. You know a lot of people, I think try to take gluten out. Yeah even if it's not something that yeah, it's not.
Speaker 3:It's not just a die, yeah, restriction. Yeah, sometimes it's truly a dietary choice to try to live healthier. Yeah, well, we have a lot of people that, bobby Jr, yeah.
Speaker 4:We also have a lot of people that say, even though they're not celiac or gluten intolerant, that my beer doesn't give them heartburn. I hear that a lot and I didn't even know that was. I mean, I guess people are just suffering with heartburn as they're drinking a beer, I guess, or, um, like bloating, you know which probably in all honesty.
Speaker 2:Maybe I should start eating.
Speaker 4:In all honesty that could be a sign of like gluten intolerance, anyway, but um, but yeah, like they don't expect we should get checked so much for having the podcast sponsor. Yeah but yeah we get a lot of people that are like your beer. Doesn't make me feel heavy and gross after I leave the brewery.
Speaker 3:That was light and refreshing yeah, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2:And then are these the two that you make, or you make more than this.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah. So right now I've got eight beers on tap.
Speaker 2:So it's hard for you to ever go home.
Speaker 4:Oh, I know, I live there, yeah, I live there.
Speaker 1:Eight beers 31 gallons Quick Matt.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Eight times 31,. Buddy Hold on.
Speaker 2:How quick is the turnover when you make them?
Speaker 4:Well, the lager takes the longest because it has to lager, but so so this is anywhere from two weeks to a month.
Speaker 3:process from the start to the end. You have to go back there for a second. The lager has to lager. Lager is a verb.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's the term actually given to lagers, a specific style of beer. I didn't do this it's a long cold process that makes all the heavy proteins and stuff settle out. To make it clear, what?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I have a question for you. Should we go to the second beer, or should we start with the food and then come back to the beer? Or what are you recommending?
Speaker 4:I say go to the food. All right, yeah, because it was hot. I was hoping she would say that.
Speaker 3:He's been eyeing that.
Speaker 1:Well now, this is pizza, gluten-free pizza right, it is yeah. Hold up to the camera, look at that. Look at that.
Speaker 4:So we got a supreme and then a pepperoni.
Speaker 1:You know who loves pepperoni pizza.
Speaker 4:Bobby Bobby loves pepperoni pizza.
Speaker 1:He's nice, he's too nice, let's show it to Bobby. Let's hold it up to the camera.
Speaker 2:Sorry, bobby, smells amazing too Well, so you're not here. The lead can't. No, it's getting worse.
Speaker 1:Let's put on the josh. I'm gonna break it. It's like he's new.
Speaker 2:Oh there you go there, there we go. I didn't want to tip it out on the ground. That's smart all right.
Speaker 1:So we're gonna, like savages, just dig in and grab, just go for it, let's go.
Speaker 4:I already ate before I came, so you, this is all for you and what else is on the menu other than pizza? Um, yeah, so we've got typical bar food. Um, we've got nachos, loaded nachos. We do have pupusas, which I think is kind of a different take on bar food, but it works really well. In our brewery We've got spiced nuts that are like a huge popular thing in the brewery.
Speaker 2:This is very good. Yeah, it's really good. This is gluten-free.
Speaker 4:Gluten-free yeah, I do have to give a shout-out to Sandy Sue's Gluten-Free Bakery. Sandy Sue's Gluten-Free yeah, she's in Bentonville also and we buy her pizza dough. So that is her dough and then our toppings, and then we bake it there on site.
Speaker 3:As someone from New York, an important component here is the darkness of the crust. Like that is a nice, well-done crust.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's right out of the oven. Yeah, a little crispness to that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's delicious. I can date and port my pizza review. What's that? I can date and port my pizza review. Listen, I do yeah.
Speaker 3:New.
Speaker 1:Yorkers know one thing it's good, pizza it's good.
Speaker 4:Good, yeah, I think is 14. The Supreme, I think, is 15. 15 or 16. I can't remember, but yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm impressed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's good, it's excellent.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we are hard to impress. I am impressed Because my daughter is gluten free. Yeah, so she's 18. So she's not ready for the beer yet, right? However, her favorite restaurant is Conifer. Shout out to Conifer because it's gluten-free. We went there and she had a blast, but she's like Dad, I can't find places where you know she's very difficult to go out to eat with because most places don't cater to her. Right, we would come, and she would, because under 21 can come.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we're family friendly. We also have mocktails. We actually get a lot of people that don't drink that come in, of people that don't drink that come in. They want to have pizza and they want to. You know, they want to have something with the pizza but they don't want alcohol. So we have mocktails. We we either have like like Shirley Temple type mocktails oh man, that's a fail. There we go or we have mocktails that are made with like gin alternatives and and rum alternatives and stuff like that, and people love them. There's a huge market for NA, which I am going to experiment with, an NA gluten-free beer, which is not being done. We get so many requests I don't get it. I personally don't understand it, but you know, you got to listen to what the masses are kind of saying.
Speaker 3:I didn't expect the pizza to be good. The pizza is very good, yeah like the pizza is very good and, and whatever it is now, you know it's better when it's fresh out of the oven again not to sound like too much of a pizza snob here, but like the fact that that's been in a cardboard box for as long as it has and still is great and fresh and that's fantastic, and it reheats really well too.
Speaker 4:We've taken them home and put them in the broiler for a couple minutes and it reheats really well. I mean, most gluten-free pizzas are synonymous with cardboard crap you know so like no. I mean the people just turn their noses up at it. But um yeah, if we can just get people in our doors to try it, I think you know more and more people would be a little bit more tolerant of gluten-free.
Speaker 1:Because we're in that area that's part of it for things and we will come back I mean we will come in and actually spend money as opposed to the free stuff.
Speaker 3:Well, listen when my wife, who again stays away from the gluten. It's great because you know, she's always looking for it. Well, she would eat the gluten. It's great, because you know she's always looking for a season.
Speaker 1:Well, she would eat the meat, she would eat the pie, she would not eat the meat, but she'd eat the pie and pizza.
Speaker 4:Well, and I'm sure they have a we have so yeah, we can do, you know, no meat or whatever if she's vegetarian. We also have a vegan cheese. We do have a lot of requests for that. However, the dough does contain dairy, so you know, yeah, it depends on how sensitive. Someone is to dairy, but we have a lot of people outstanding who want the vegan cheese on the pizza well, and it's like you said we.
Speaker 2:We talked about this a few weeks ago, but it seems like there's a big push of people that want non-alcoholic so I think if you could do that, yeah, that would be huge.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that is heard.
Speaker 2:Yeah, now what other we're pushing? Yeah, well, the reason it came up was I. So I, we have a lot of friends in florida and they're older and one of them's on this medication. Yeah, they're our age, but a little older. He's on medication. He can't drink, so he found there's this non-alcoholic and he's like every bar he goes to they're like yeah, we, we usually have it, but we sell out because the younger generation yeah doesn't seem to want it's true alcohol as much yeah so what other?
Speaker 2:so what other options do you have besides pizza when people come?
Speaker 4:so we have the pupusas, we have the loaded nachos, we have calzones, yeah, and those are really popular yeah, that'd be good um. We have charcuterie board, which is really popular yeah um, and then the spice nuts. Like I said, those are, those are heaven. It sounds kind of boring, but like people love those things, they're just, they're like sweet and spicy and they go really great with beer.
Speaker 1:Lunch place, dinner place.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's both. Yeah, we're open from 11 am. We close at 10 pm Tuesday, wednesday and Thursday, but we're open until 11 on Friday and Saturday and then we close at 7 on Sunday.
Speaker 2:So open Sundays too, Yep open Sundays too, and that's pretty late for Bentonville being open until 11.
Speaker 3:Yeah, usually they're like naming rights for any of the beers If the B-Team podcast wanted to have the official beer on the podcast. I'm imagining that's something we could discuss.
Speaker 4:Absolutely, yeah, heck yeah.
Speaker 2:Always be closing. He sounds just like Rob.
Speaker 1:Bobby.
Speaker 2:Jr. So what kind of discounts do people have, if they?
Speaker 3:come in.
Speaker 1:Didn't come in.
Speaker 4:Did not ask for a discount?
Speaker 1:Have you done anything with Conifer? Can you do anything with them? Is?
Speaker 4:there any cross opportunities? We actually met with them last year last fall I think it was and we brought them samples of our beer. They loved it and they immediately wanted to, you know, start serving our beer. But we are not canning currently. So that is something that we will be doing. We do realize that that is a huge, you know missed opportunity right now, especially with it being summertime and people are on the lake and you know, going on trips and they just want to take a you know a six pack to go. So it's not that we don't want to, it's just other things have been prioritized. But that is coming and that is something that we've done.
Speaker 1:He just opened a second gluten-free restaurant.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:RIN.
Speaker 4:RIN yeah.
Speaker 2:Now people can have a growler and go in there and fill it up.
Speaker 4:They can.
Speaker 2:So it's not like you can't get it, you just have to have your own. Yeah, correct.
Speaker 1:Feels like you're trying to take that home with you.
Speaker 2:I see what you're doing there, Matthew.
Speaker 1:You keep slowly pulling Rebecca's.
Speaker 2:like I need that to go back with me. I'm going to put my name on there.
Speaker 4:This is Kat from Out of Sight over there, I got a little engraver Nuts. Yeah, I mean, the growlers are not as superior as cans. You know cans are going to stay fresher longer. You know you can have a 12-ounce can, whereas this it's like you know you can drink the whole thing.
Speaker 2:It does look cooler. It is cool, it is really awesome.
Speaker 1:But probably more practical for the break, I like when you did the sound. Can you open the other one? Oh, here we go?
Speaker 3:I don't know. I we're trying to start. I think we're ready. Let's see if we move these out of the way, let's cause a problem here?
Speaker 2:oh, there we go are these your two favorite or do you have a? You kind of change all the time. What's your?
Speaker 4:like my personal favorite. The hazy is probably my favorite, um, and then I just launched an amber ale and the amber ale is. I didn't think I was gonna like an amber ale, but I'm. I really like the amber. So, um, but yeah, the hazy is probably my favorite and it is our most popular. You're going to like this.
Speaker 1:It's our most popular beer.
Speaker 3:Really.
Speaker 1:You're going to like this.
Speaker 4:I sell out of this one the quickest.
Speaker 1:And the lager yeah.
Speaker 4:But I also have a blonde on tap. I've got an IPA, an American IPA.
Speaker 1:Man, you have a blonde on tap at home. I was like geez, can I make that kind of joke right out of the gate. First time I'm here I was a blonde on set. Shout out to Carrie.
Speaker 3:You put that on the tea for us.
Speaker 1:You really did. You're welcome. Shout out to Carrie, she won't watch this anyway.
Speaker 3:We have a statue Cheers.
Speaker 2:I'm pretty sure Corey would not be okay with the comment either. That's why you and I just better just be quiet.
Speaker 4:I the comment. That's why you and I just better just be quiet.
Speaker 2:Um, I also have an american stout, changing subjects um and, like I said, it's really good cream ale that's a good like.
Speaker 1:The aftertaste is really when you're catching the smell yeah it's so good, I like it a lot thank you, tastes like vacation, yeah you would know you've been gone for like three months now.
Speaker 3:If I would have had this, I may not have come back you're had this, I mean you're gonna have to start having like a strict limited PTO policy here on the beating yeah, this one's a little higher in a BV.
Speaker 4:I think it's six and a half this is outstanding.
Speaker 1:The first one was good.
Speaker 2:It was good thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:This one's outstanding.
Speaker 2:It's the most popular Now is it hard to make them, since it's like you kind of like, it's like a boutique brewery that you have, because it's not you know a thousand gallons or whatever, but is it hard to make them exact?
Speaker 4:Identical. Like with the weather changing and all this, oh, 100%, really, yeah, and probably you're the worst, you're the hardest on yourself.
Speaker 2:Oh, I am Absolutely.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and it drives me and everyone else crazy, yeah, so people just know like to leave me alone usually when I'm in that kind of mood. But yeah, it does Like I'll be off certain points, you know, with trying to reach target numbers and everybody keeps telling me like just don't worry about it, like you can't. Even most people can't tell you know, it's like I can tell, I can tell and it's right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it does and then how do you so? How do you do you know after you like cook it, or do you not know until it's done?
Speaker 4:yeah, I really don't. I mean, I guess it depends on how the whole, like it's called, the mash process.
Speaker 2:You know, like I mean, sometimes I have equipment failure that sometimes I can remedy you know, pretty quick and sometimes I can't you know, but then it's pretty cool how, if you have you ever seen someone do this like make beer?
Speaker 3:I've, yeah, I've been to some of the distilleries. Like william, watched him do it.
Speaker 2:It's, it's neat yeah, it really is.
Speaker 3:Came up, I was I was just gonna ask josh, you know, I know he's used to equipment malfunction.
Speaker 1:Emily or Josh. Shout out to Emily I apologize, You're just leading us right into something I was going to say. Did I do?
Speaker 2:that one too, I don't know. Jim, do you remember her husband's a kickboxer, that's true.
Speaker 1:That's true.
Speaker 2:He could kick you in the ear right after he shakes your hand.
Speaker 1:Or at the same time.
Speaker 3:Kick in the ear is a good name for a beer. Kick in the ear. That is good, instead of kick in the rear.
Speaker 2:I like that joke.
Speaker 1:Kick in the ear that had more value in 15 minutes than Bobby has in a season and a half.
Speaker 4:Well, don't worry, all the names of our beers are stoic related, so we won't be using that one. Now, how'd you get the stoic name? Yes, I just love philosophy. I don't, I've always just been fascinated with it. Um, stoicism is just. You know, I I consider it the practical version of philosophy and something that everybody can use in their day-to-day life, and I wanted, I wanted it to somehow be incorporated in the business. I just thought it was such a positive thing to be. I knew we were going to be at the brewery all the time, like we were going to live there, and so I wanted to be in a space that promoted, you know just, good vibes and positivity and all that, and so that's what came around.
Speaker 3:What's like a good stoicism mantra that we can remember as we go forth from here.
Speaker 4:Today I can tell you one of my favorite quotes.
Speaker 3:Sure.
Speaker 4:That's perfect From Seneca, and it's that. It's not that we have a short time to live, it's that we waste a lot of it.
Speaker 1:We sure do, there you go, we sure do.
Speaker 4:So yeah, it just makes you think, you know.
Speaker 2:This one is yeah. They're both amazing, but this one, youzy, is good, the hazy is really good.
Speaker 3:Now, personally, I like the first one better, but I can see how people like the second one, like both were solid, yeah I would order the first one again yeah but, it's just really really good.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I'm glad you like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I had a question for you. Could we? Um, I own a barber shop and these guys give me grief all the time that we don't have other barber shops in because it's competitive. Okay, but for you, like, could you go to social project shout out, or bike rack brewery, shout out to jeff and say, hey, I want to feature one of the 15 or 20 beers you got on tap being gluten-free? Like, is that type of stuff doable? Because that would help their business with but also, more importantly, would bring a lot of traffic over to you at some point you mean you have their, one of their beers.
Speaker 1:You mean have one of their beers over on our house.
Speaker 4:No, have one of your beers over there, oh gotcha, yeah, no, yeah, I mean, we're definitely, you know.
Speaker 1:Because it would make a lot of sense for them, right? Because they're people that I can't drink Exactly yeah, right, right, and I think it's a different user in most cases no-transcript be nice to have, like at the gins well, she doesn't have cans yet like if you just have a tap. It would be wonderful we don't have taps there. I was going to say you got taps Wow.
Speaker 2:You guys can't get a tap to where you have all the drinks, or no. No.
Speaker 1:I mean we could, but we don't. I mean, like we do a social project, they bring in their hazy and we keep it there at a time oh in cans, yeah cans. So when we get to cans, I mean it would be a fantastic option, that's something that's definitely coming soon.
Speaker 4:We already got our labels designed, so that's already in the planning, and so next step is to actually make sure that the proof comes back correct from the company that I'm ordering them from, and and we plan on ordering them probably within the next week, week and a half, but production is going to take probably three weeks so it's going to the canning process.
Speaker 1:You're going to go from working 20 hours a day to 24 hours a day. Now, I mean, it's just going to add a lot more time. Yeah, yeah, pretty much and are you a one woman show like you do this yourself.
Speaker 4:That's me just me that's yeah, yeah, that's why she knows she knows all the stuff that happens yeah, my husband runs the kitchen and I run the brewery, so that's great.
Speaker 2:We stay out of jerry's way it's so. It's good like this is together, but separate.
Speaker 3:Which is which?
Speaker 4:is good sometimes.
Speaker 3:That's right, it is yeah what's the busiest time at your restaurant?
Speaker 4:um, I would say I mean fridays and saturdays are going to be our busiest days, but we also get a pretty large dinner crowd, get a lot of people you know between six and seven that like to show up.
Speaker 3:So usually not too bad a wait, like you can usually get a spot.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, no, yeah, fantastic yeah, for the most part, and on tuesdays we have bingo and thursdays we have trivia.
Speaker 3:So we're starting to do some events. Corey's a big bingo fan. She loves bingo. I do too. She's a big fan of bingo.
Speaker 4:We've got fun. We give away house gift cards and stuff, so we have some fun events.
Speaker 1:Corey's very competitive, so we have to be very mindful of it.
Speaker 2:We probably have to.
Speaker 3:Because if we're doing bingo, with.
Speaker 1:Corey it could get violent If she beats anybody kid elderly it's going to be in your face.
Speaker 3:She's still mad at me about the last time we played bingo. She's still upset with you about the last time you played bingo. You have to let her win if you ever know.
Speaker 1:At the TASC event. Shout out to TASC. Shout out to Teen Action Support Center. She's very mad at me because I that she won and then she didn't win and she was embarrassed, and I still hear about that, oh crap she does not have to this day I still hear about this, oh yeah.
Speaker 3:That was happening. Oh yeah, Me too.
Speaker 4:Yeah, bring her to bingo, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Bingo Tuesdays. Bingo on Tuesdays starts at 7.
Speaker 3:You should be like the bingo master the guy that calls out stop it, you're already trying to get off. But now Bobby would love to do Tuesday night, but he's not busy this Tuesday. He'll be there to call out the big show who runs?
Speaker 4:the bingo so my husband's, actually it's his nephew's wife runs it so and she's yeah, I know family, yeah, family that's how you, that's how you keep it honest yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I'd be, like it's a b7 yeah, like, I'd be like oh seven, like hey wait what happened there, man, how did we get to the oh seven?
Speaker 1:that's how we know that there's cheating going on on.
Speaker 2:So then you guys, you have a patio, you have indoor and outdoor seating.
Speaker 4:Then yeah, we've got a little front patio, we've got a full back patio and then we have our yeah.
Speaker 3:And the bike trail runs right next to the building, right Right along.
Speaker 4:yeah, it's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:Peddlers was like that yeah.
Speaker 3:Terrific.
Speaker 1:How'd you find the location?
Speaker 4:Well, it's a blue crane property. Yeah, and we were actually looking at one of their other properties next to Crystal Bridges, but that one fell through, and so it just so happened that Peddlers was going to be moving across the street within the next couple months.
Speaker 3:That has a popular following, so you've got a lot of traffic there and it seems like a great spot.
Speaker 4:It is a great spot, and Peddlers has been over there since last year for almost a full year now, and we still get people every day.
Speaker 2:Is this peddlers? Yeah, yeah. So I mean, it's just funny, I know I should. Yes, well, you have parking too, which is huge yeah, yeah, it is great so so now that location and you're with your food and your beer that you have, I don't, so you shouldn't have any, take the family issues oh yeah right, I like that.
Speaker 3:No good yeah love the fact that it's a unique offering and and honestly targeting a growing segment of the population it's great it really is and natalie could have the nachos.
Speaker 4:I'm sure, yeah, is that, and she's the one that's dairy free yeah yeah, and we do have the vegan cheese that we can put on there for her yeah absolutely. We're pretty allergy-conscious over there. Perfect, so yeah.
Speaker 2:Well and it's hard. It's like what you said you go, she gets to where she only likes to go to two or three places that she knows, because she doesn't want to get sick.
Speaker 4:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:And I'm sure you had to deal with the same thing I did.
Speaker 2:I might go to Mary Gates the same way and it never fails, like we were when we were just on vacation. We went to this place and told them everything. And the first thing comes out and the bread has egg wash on it.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it's like she's not doing it because she wants to, but then she doesn't want to eat. We've already ordered.
Speaker 1:But you have a family of five, so it's only good at two restaurants For you, who could eat anything, or Carrie who could eat anything.
Speaker 2:It's not fun. So that's what it's nice with what you guys have.
Speaker 4:It's an isolating feeling. It really is. I mean, I'm just speaking for myself, but I just felt like I couldn't attend family functions and had to either bring my own food or had to eat prior to going to a family function. And yeah, you're down to like one or two restaurants and then you're met with that like inevitable, like why aren't you eating?
Speaker 4:You know, and it's like I don't want to have to talk about this for the hundredth time about why I don't want to eat that or why I can't eat that, and you know so it does. It's just it's. I did this more for like, like an emotional impact too, and I've had people cry like people. Strangers hug me and cry and say like this is my first beer in 20 years.
Speaker 2:Well, and to go like, not even that, but to be able to go and like, know, across the board, it's all gluten.
Speaker 4:Everything.
Speaker 2:Like it's not reading three things at the bottom, that they're gonna mix the other stuff in with right. So, like people that have it, no, they're like there's no chance of it being anything else?
Speaker 3:because, everything here is that you're the normal place, the, and for us it's good.
Speaker 2:Yes, our late comes.
Speaker 3:No plate comes to you and you're kind of scanning and you're looking, you said, all right, wait, wait, wait, wait. And here you just kind of have at ease and you can just sit back and enjoy it.
Speaker 1:It's fantastic I think we take for granted. Like we go out to a restaurant, we order whatever we want. But I'm not surprised to hear you say that somebody comes up and hugs you or I mean because it's probably hard for, I mean, I know my daughter. We go out to eat and it's like I'm looking at her menu to figure out where we can go and where we can't go. It's a pain in the keister, it's exhausting, yeah it's just. It's just a pain in the keister right but so this is awesome.
Speaker 3:That's what I was going to say too.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so it's more than just beer, it's more than just the food it is. It's like a it's, it's, it's. It's very emotional, and you know connecting with people that probably haven't, you know, left their home or, you know, haven't had a meal out in a long time. You know dealing with a lot of people that have just pulled themselves up in their house because they don't want to go out and eat anywhere.
Speaker 1:Give us a great story, maybe a tearjerker, maybe something that somebody, just as you walked in, I know I'm doing.
Speaker 4:The one that sticks out the most for me is, um, a gentleman that came in and I was in the back brewing and I was, I was busy and, you know, didn't want, I was in my mode, and the bartenders kept coming back and saying, rebecca, there's this guy out here that really wants to talk to you. And I'm like I can't, I can't right now. And they kept coming back and they're like, no, I think you really need to talk to this guy. And I was like, okay, you know so. And then I felt guilty, you know, for feeling that way, because his story was just so impactful. But so I go out there and he, he hugs me also, but he tells me, he says, um, I, he was diagnosed with celiac disease when he was, I think, think 45, and he's now 55.
Speaker 4:But he had symptoms since he was four. So all those years of damaging the lining of his intestine, basically, which causes a whole other myriad of, you know, problems within the body. And so he's the most serious case I've ever heard. He had to have his whole entire lower jaw reconstructed. He lost all his teeth. His whole entire lower jaw reconstructed. He lost all his teeth. He had a heart.
Speaker 4:No, he had a stroke, sorry stroke, and he had a finger amputated, all because of unchecked celiac disease wow and I was like almost in tears when he was telling me this story I was like I've, I didn't even know that was possible. For one thing I didn't know that. I mean I've heard that you know it affects people differently and and and whatnot, but I didn't know that it could be that bad. And he said, yeah, it was.
Speaker 3:It was that bad so he was emotional you were emotional oh yeah, we were both yeah plus he had some to drink.
Speaker 1:So yeah, here's three dollars off your next pizza. And then he brought me beer. He brought.
Speaker 4:he brought me beer from. He brought me beer from Colorado. So there's a really popular gluten-free brewery in Colorado called Holla Daily and I had never tried their beer yet. I've always wanted to. Neff in Tulsa was the only other gluten-free brewery I ever tried, so we were talking about it. He's like I got Holla Daily in my fridge. I'll bring you some. So next day when I went to work there was like cans of Holidaly in my walk-in I was like that's not very cool.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's not as good as this, of course, Well, of course, but that's really like my yeah it was.
Speaker 4:It was just a really neat story. And then I was like, see, I means so much to people to have that space, so that's what keeps the 12-hour days manageable?
Speaker 3:Do you guys do catering at all?
Speaker 4:No, we have not done catering. Okay, no, we are just looking into booking private events, though, however, at the space cool, you're thinking about doing something at the Corbett House.
Speaker 3:Potentially. You know I love hosting, you do. We've been over this before, but yeah, that would be great.
Speaker 4:We're open to any ideas. Okay, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:So, speaking of ideas, expansion franchise, because these gentlemen have a lot of money, and the thinking was though I mean, you're on to something here, Wait, wait.
Speaker 2:You know this is Matt and Jim. I mean you're on to something here, Wait, wait. You know this is Matt and Jim. It's not Rob.
Speaker 1:I didn't say that you spend the money. I said you have a lot of money.
Speaker 3:Well and plus, I'm going to have the extra income from hosting the podcast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, permanent guesting Right.
Speaker 3:But I assume it's some sort of stipend or something right.
Speaker 1:Well, we'll have to take out Bobby's cut. Okay, fair, take out Bobby's cut, but I think there's only 27.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And you're one of one here. There's got to be opportunities. I'm sure I know you're only two or three months old.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But have you started to think about what an expansion plan looks like?
Speaker 4:Yeah, we definitely have. And yeah, that's all this. You know Bentonville especially would be ready for that. You know a lot of people ask me why Bentonville? I'm like, well, you know Bentonville's kind of a more diverse area and you know that's something that unfortunately, even though you know gluten free as much, as it's seen as a choice, it's not for so many people. You know it's something they have to do.
Speaker 1:I don't care what, you know, political party you're from or whatever you know it affects everybody, so rapid population growth yeah significant increase in being health conscious like it's a great spot to try something like this and you're not the only one you mentioned, conifer.
Speaker 3:There are several others as well that are focusing on being that healthy alternative to just going out and eating somewhere. Historically, going out to eat was a you were going to eat unhealthy, right. It's different now it is. It's different now.
Speaker 2:And you guys are kind of in the sweet spot of that. It's nice. I like these bullets points. He's good. I haven't heard Bobby ever talk like that.
Speaker 1:Ever. At this point, bobby would be scrolling through his phone checking for text messages, all right.
Speaker 3:what's the discount?
Speaker 1:Bobby's fantastic and again took jujitsu classes, so I'm going to say nothing positive.
Speaker 3:I forgot about that. Jujitsu black belt, bobby's great.
Speaker 4:I feel like I need to meet Bobby now.
Speaker 3:We'll bring him in. We'll bring him in, he's good people and he lives downtown.
Speaker 1:He likes to frequent all the locations there and we're doing a dinner this weekend. Maybe we'll pop in there before. Are you open? Saturday, you're open.
Speaker 2:Saturday Are you there every?
Speaker 1:day too. Oh yeah, but the oh yeah, there's a little bit of tearing there was.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, but you can tell that you love doing it. Do it like there. It seems like you love doing, I do, I love it. And I mean, how many people I don't know the the number, but how many do we have that come in and out of bentonville per week, whether it be for for business or riding bikes, and you know those are the people that are, I think, also help your business, because you know, it's just a lot, of, a lot of people the bigger cities are used to Stuff like what?
Speaker 1:you. Last number is 31 people are moving here every day.
Speaker 3:Like I mean, you just start, yeah and they're coming from 31, 31 gallons of debt. Yeah, I mean it's like something there, something there, 31 gallons 31.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna day you have a gallon for every person moving in.
Speaker 1:We need to change the name of a beer Instead of Kiki Rear, 31 gallons. I like it.
Speaker 4:But yeah, to answer your question. Yeah, you know, since I have such a small system right now, in order to do any kind of distribution, we would obviously have to go get a bigger system. So that would be the next step.
Speaker 1:This feels like a Shark Tank opportunity where you should be Mark Cuban and she needs a check from you, because this thing is a goldmine.
Speaker 2:No, I think it definitely is, because I even with you telling me that it's gluten-free. It's amazing, the beer like you should, and. I'm sure you hear it daily, but you do, it's good.
Speaker 1:But, more importantly, you're getting drunk and you feel good about it because it's healthy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, it's a win-win for all of us.
Speaker 3:Win-win, everybody's a win.
Speaker 4:Yeah, well good, I'm glad you guys enjoyed it.
Speaker 1:It's great. How do we find you? Website, Instagram, LinkedIn, social media, TikTok, all the fun things.
Speaker 4:We're pretty much on everything. I don't think the company is, but yeah, we've got a TikTok page. Instagram website it's just stoicbrewscom. Facebook yeah, we're on all the typical social media platforms.
Speaker 1:So yeah, a lot of good Google reviews, I hope.
Speaker 4:I hope so. Sometimes I try not to look at those. No like I just.
Speaker 3:Sometimes it's just we can help you with that Josh just had to bring it up.
Speaker 2:This is what he gets mad at. He loses sleep every night over the Google reviews.
Speaker 1:I would. First thing in the morning, I check my email, I check my texts from the Yahoo's, because there's always some stuff coming and then I check our Google reviews for the business in that order, and typically the texts from these guys are much better than the Google reviews.
Speaker 3:Don't forget the missed FaceTime calls.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean the texts from these guys are much better than the google reviews. Don't forget the missed facetime goals. Yeah, I mean, you won't even answer us a lot of times when we call.
Speaker 4:Try not to I usually have the managers just kind of take care, like I think we had. We had one bad review when we opened up like our first weekend. It never fails. I think we were. Only we weren't even open like a week and we got like a one star and what was the reason?
Speaker 2:it was something she didn't like the vibe oh my god, which had nothing I know, and I was like oh, and our and our, our big screen broke that day.
Speaker 3:It was like, I mean, I'm like really we should find that person and invite them into the next podcast.
Speaker 1:That would be a fascinating but I bet, if you find this person, then you click. They've had like 80 reviews. All that were one star yeah, they just hate life. Yeah, I was like.
Speaker 4:Are you kidding me, the vibe? How about the food? Or the?
Speaker 1:service or the I don't know yeah people should be more understanding for small business and new business, because you don't always have it right the first week shoot we're seven years old. We don't have it right now but it's one of those where you have to give people some grace, right? Yeah, it's always hard to find help, particularly early on, right? Absolutely Right.
Speaker 4:Absolutely. We do have a good staff. I will say We've got some amazing bartenders. They're super friendly. Our bar is always full. I love seeing that. I think that's just really fun to see a full bar, you know, just full of people that want to hang out and talk and whatever.
Speaker 1:So you have your regulars now.
Speaker 4:Oh, yeah, we call them our bar flies.
Speaker 3:I love it. We have football games on in the fall.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so we do have a really large. Don't ask me the measurements, I don't know, but it's this big projector screen that comes down.
Speaker 3:We're going to go with 120 inches.
Speaker 4:It's hidden during the day when it's not on, and then it'll come down when we play. But we've played, like some of the basketball stuff baseball games, yes, and then we will definitely be playing football.
Speaker 3:Fantastic.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we didn't want to be known as, like a sports bar, you know, per se, but we did want to have that option to have sports playing you know, especially big games.
Speaker 1:Maybe Monday night football you and Bobby Jr could do like a, Bobby Sr could do like a box pool. Do the box pool, sure. And then Tuesday night is bingo.
Speaker 3:You guys will be there back-to-back nights, you guys probably aren't open in the morning, but Tour de France is on now. The bicycle we're open at 11.
Speaker 4:The bicycle's. At 11 o'clock. You catch the end of Tour de France each day On the projector.
Speaker 3:Let's go. Shout out to Tony Pagaccia.
Speaker 4:I don't even know what he's saying. Oh good, I thought I was the only one, yeah.
Speaker 3:So is the defending champion and three-time winner of the Tour de France, guys.
Speaker 4:Everybody who knew that drink.
Speaker 1:That's my point Just you, bobby Jr, just you, bobby Jr. Thank you for coming in.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:We will push this, we will support this, we will ensure that we get in there, because we like to go to bars and drink bourbon and have beer and restaurants and this will be on the hit list awesome food was great.
Speaker 4:Yeah, the beer, everything was was great yeah, that's the luck, thank you, appreciate you, thank you.