Bricktown Brewery enlists Piney River for production

Brian Durham: The project is unlike any Piney River has tackled.

As Bricktown Brewery opens the doors to its newest restaurant this month in Springfield, two of the Oklahoma-based company’s signature beers are being crafted in the Ozarks.

Piney River Brewing Co. LLC has agreed to private-label production of the brewpub’s most popular varieties, Old King Kolsch and Bluesberry Ale.

Bricktown Brewery President and CEO Buck Warfield said it’s the first time his company has utilized a private label for its products.

“But I’m intrigued by it, and we got really lucky with Piney River,” he said.

The initial plan for Bricktown Brewery, which now has 14 restaurants in its portfolio, was to brew its own beer in Oklahoma and ship the product to the Springfield restaurant, at 2040 E. Independence St. However, he said company officials learned Missouri law prohibits breweries that also operate as restaurants from shipping into the state. He admitted it was a company oversight during the planning process that led to the brewing curveball.

“If we were only a brewery with no restaurant, we could send beer to Missouri, no problem,” Warfield said.

Warfield called Piney River co-owner Brian Durham in early August, just about a month before the restaurant scheduled opening.

“He reached out to me to see if we’d be interested in working on their beers,” said Durham, who owns Bucyrus-based brewing company with his wife Joleen. “It was definitely something that after a few days of discussions, it was a go, no-go thing. When you’re dealing with new beers that are coming out, it’s a collaboration and it’s all their recipes.”

Terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.

In the weeks since taking on the work, Piney River’s staff has consulted with brewers from the Oklahoma company about their recipes, Durham said.

“We definitely knew what path we were going down,” he said, noting his company turns out about 16 beer varieties of its own each year, including six offered year-round.

He said Piney River had to apply for state approval to label and ship before the first batch of brews went out to the restaurant on Aug. 29.

The time-sensitive project was unlike anything the 7-year-old brewery had encountered before, but Durham said the collaboration holds promise.

“This could be a good relationship for both of us,” he said. “Like anything in life, when you have something you’re trying to work out in a timely fashion, it can lead to building strong bonds between people as you work through those issues.”

The agreement is structured similar to the way restaurants order a certain number of kegs of beer per week, Durham said, noting his company uses a 15-barrel brew system that produces 31 gallons of beer per barrel.

“There’s nothing there that implies any contractual partnership between us,” he said.

However, both Durham and Warfield said if the brewing arrangement goes well, additional offerings from Bricktown Brewery’s stable of beers may soon be produced by Piney River. Warfield said he’s already considering an additional two to four beers for the Ozarks brewer.

The Piney River offerings will be among the 24 brews on tap in the restaurant, along with dozens of additional beers, Warfield said.

“We’ve positioned our business to brand craft beer as local,” he said. “We believe craft is best when it’s next door or down the street.”

Renovations for the restaurant, which was previously occupied by the Old Chicago restaurant that closed in late May, commenced in early June. Project costs landed on budget at $750,000, Warfield said, with expenses including construction, soft costs and training.

Its menu features burgers, pizzas and wings, as well as macaroni and cheese, salads and soups.

Bricktown Brewery’s first location opened in 1992 in downtown Oklahoma City, and has since added locations in Arkansas, Texas and Kansas.