Flyway Fayetteville opening quickly, brewery planning 3 brand-new areas for 2024

Flyway BrewingFlyway's new Fayetteville location.
What began as a modest operation 10 years ago-- a high school English instructor developing beer in his off time for celebrations and the now defunct dining establishment South on Main-- has become an effective Argenta microbrewery with 3 new places opening in 2024.

Reports about Flyway Brewing's expansion into Northwest Arkansas were confirmed in April when Apple Blossom Brewing Company announced on social networks that it was closing which Flyway would be taking control of the area at 1550 E. Zion Road in Fayetteville.

In July, Arkansas Business reported that Flyway would be among the restaurants slated to open in the brand-new Breckenridge Village redevelopment project in West Little Rock, signing up with other recognized Central Arkansas dining establishments branching out for the very first time. Those consist of downtown Little Rock's The Root Cafe and Hot Springs' Deluca's Pizzeria. And Flyway has more strategies in the works. Owner/founder Matt Foster just recently informed the Arkansas Times that the brand name will continue to expand into Memphis and West Point, Mississippi, in 2024.

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Flyway Fayetteville

Found simply a couple of blocks south of Veteran's Memorial Park, Lake Fayetteville and the Razorback Greenway Trail System, Flyway's new Fayetteville taproom appears poised to be a popular area for Northwest Arkansas bicyclists and outdoor lovers. At roughly 8,500 square feet, it has a bigger taproom and cooking area than the Argenta location. Foster anticipates to be able to seat 150 inside and another 100 on the patio area.
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Flyway BrewingFlyway Brewing's Fayetteville taproom.
The taproom includes sofas, tables, cubicles and a complete bar. Murals of migrating birds, mountains, individuals, rivers and lakes kayaking cover the walls. General manager/operating partner Phillip Schaaf said the goal with the style was to have a familiar Flyway design. Whereas the decor in Argenta is focused on the Arkansas Delta, the Fayetteville place's aesthetic appeals show the Ozarks.

Foster and Schaaf stated they wanted to not "overcrowd the outdoorsy visual" with TVs on every wall. Flyway Brewing

His strategy for the Flyway menu is to stay real to much of the work that's been done in Argenta by chef Georgina Jones Price (Flyway's star of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives"), however because the cooking area is considerably bigger, the Fayetteville crew will take the chance to add brand-new products. Hamburgers, sandwiches and several smoked products will be on the menu, including turkey, salmon, pork and tofu, Foster said.
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Flyway also inherited some pizza ovens with the acquisition of the area, however Schaaf said he was conscious Northwest Arkansas already has lots of excellent pizza.

" I didn't wish to go up against Wood Stone and [Pizzeria] Ruby and all of the excellent pizza areas, so we wanted to take a different method," he stated.

Cue his variation on the square, Detroit-style pie, an Arkansas pizzeria rarity.

" It's a deep dish style cooked in steel pans, and you get this actually great, tacky crust around the edge," Schaaf said.

Flyway BrewingDetroit-style square pizza pieces at Flyway Brewing.
Like the Argenta brewery, Flyway Fayetteville has a 10-barrel brewing system, and Foster estimates it will produce 1,500 barrels a year (or 46,500 gallons), which has to do with half of North Little Rock's production capacity. Foster stated the objective for Fayetteville is to sell everything they brew in-house through the taproom draft system, and what they do not sell there will be distributed.

Flyway's longtime head brewer, Tim Berkley (who likewise takes place to be Foster's former student at Central High School and Dunbar Middle School), will be directing all brand-new developing operations for Flyway, Foster stated. Foster initially taught Berkley how to brew beer on a little brewing system that was established in Loblolly Creamery's production cooking area when he was solely brewing Free Range Brown Ale for sale at South on Main from 2012-2015.

" That managed us the chance to improve a brewing procedure that could be scaled up, and it built a track record as a brand," Foster said. It also helped Foster get authorized for an individual business loan to build a brewery in Argenta.

" We didn't have huge money investors," Foster stated, a reality that he stated he's relatively proud of.

" I was a teacher, male, and I got a business loan and we developed Argenta."

When asked, Foster verified that previous Flyway co-owner Jess McMullen, owner of Brood & & Barley, is no longer dealing with Flyway. Foster declined to discuss the factor for McMullen's departure.

The brand-new Fayetteville shop has 18 taps, which will consist of a number of the beers Flyway serves in Argenta, in addition to a handful that will be brewed specifically for Fayetteville.

With Berkley supervising the transition, Kort Castleberry-- the longtime head maker at New Province Brewing Company in Rogers-- will be taking on head developing responsibilities, splitting time between Flyway and New Province.

Canning partners

In April 2022, New Province was bought by an ownership group that includes John Lee, who was the head maker and co-founder of previous Little Rock brewery Rebel Kettle Brewing, and Heather Parker-Foster. Parker-Foster is wed to Matt Foster of Flyway.

Last summer season Lee informed the Arkansas Times he prepared to increase production at New Province by adding more tanks to the brewery's 8,100-square-foot footprint.

Flyway's draft beer served on taps in Arkansas bars and restaurants has actually always been brewed in North Little Rock. A brewery the size of Flyway with an item as extensively popular as Bluewing, its well-known blueberry wheat beer, doesn't have the capacity to brew all of its canned beer in house. That's where contract brewing enters play. Over the years, Flyway has actually contracted with companies in Memphis and Florida.

" The large majority of breweries that grow to some sort of substantial production levels use contract brewing, at least as part of their model, as they grow," Foster stated.

With that can come the criticism that the Arkansas beer you're drinking wasn't actually brewed in Arkansas.

Currently, Foster stated all of Flyway's canned beer dispersed in Arkansas is brewed in Arkansas at New Province, except for the brewery's new light beer, Flyway Light.

" [New Province] simply completed a massive growth," Foster said, more than doubling its capability for the functions of contract developing for Flyway." It's a major maneuver," Foster said. "It's creating jobs, keeping money in the state, and New Province will go from 2,800-3,000 barrels of annual production to 6,000."

In addition, Flyway will soon start dispersing beer to Nashville, Memphis and Mississippi. It will still utilize out-of-state agreement brewing for distribution to surrounding states, Foster said.

No authorities opening date has actually been set for Flyway Fayetteville, however it could be open by the time this post is published. Brand name supervisor Jason Jalihal said it's presently in a "soft opening slow rollout phase."

Foster anticipates Flyway's Memphis area to open around the start of the new year. The Breckenridge Village and West Point, Mississippi, brewery/taprooms are slated for mid-to-late 2024. Foster decreased to call any investors at this time however stated that none of this would be possible without the hard work and devotion of his crew in Argenta, the Argenta Downtown Council and the Argenta Arts District.

To commemorate its 10-year anniversary, Flyway is offering gold cans of Bluewing in its taprooms.

Flyway BrewingCommemorative cans of Bluewing commemorating 10 years of Flyway Brewing.
The cans "are honoring a lot of cool things," Foster stated. "The inaugural batch of Bluewing, brewed and canned at New Province's manufacturing center with our sibling brewery-- my wife and John Lee's brewery up in Rogers. It likewise all at once corresponds with the opening of our 2nd place."