USA, MO: Tie & Timber Beer Company to open its doors in Springfield on April 14

Tie & Timber Beer Company, a small-scale brewery that has been in development in east-central Springfield's Rountree neighborhood for 18 months, announced on March 19 that it will hold a grand opening April 14, the Springfield News-Leader reported.

The news comes after brewery owners Jen Leonard and Curtis Marshall spent a lot of time and effort lobbying nearby residents to support their project. Rountree is governed by rules including an urban conservation district adopted by City Council in 1985.

Leonard and Marshall also worked to secure zoning changes from the city. Meanwhile, they had to get approval from state and other regulatory agencies for a beer-brewing operation.

"The actual zoning went smoother than expected," Marshall told the News-Leader Monday, "and we got incredible feedback from the neighborhood. We wouldn't have chosen this location unless (Rountree residents) wanted us to be here."

Marshall noted that after speaking to microbrewery peers locally and elsewhere around the country, he and Leonard think they had "pretty smooth sailing, overall" as they worked to get Tie & Timber up and running.

"We have no complaints," he said.

Nearby neighbors have been eager to try out Tie & Timber, Marshall said.

"Every single day, we have people," he said. "They walk up to the door and peer in and we're just like, 'those are people who want to give us money for beer.'"

At the moment, Leonard and Marshall have four beers on tap, and when they have time, they said they try to offer impromptu tastings when people show up at their door.

On opening weekend, they'll have at least 10 beers available, among them a Kokoma Chocolate Porter, Wellerweizen Hefeweizen and the Juicy Brewski New England IPA.

Later on, Marshall said they expect to have 16 microbrews on tap, plus a couple of in-house ciders, a couple of handcrafted sodas and a couple of wines made available on tap. Tie & Timber is outfitted with 20 taps, total.

Leonard is the head brewer and said she's been on the lookout for ways to bring new styles of beer to Springfield when Tie & Timber opens.

"We wanted to bring to Springfield some of the techniques and flavor profiles that we enjoyed back in Colorado," she said. "So we're starting to see those New England-style beers hit the Springfield market. That was a pretty big deal out in Colorado, and I just picked up some techniques and some of my recipe secrets to create something new."

For the uninitiated, New England-style India pale ales are "big, juicy, almost pulpy," Marshall said, without "a ton of bitterness" on the tongue. Tie & Timber uses about 5 pounds of hops per barrel of beer — which is a lot.

"We're just layering and layering the flavors of the hops, and each addition pulls out the flavors and components," Leonard said, yielding fruity flavors like papaya, mango and pineapple.

The public will get a chance to try it all out beginning with a soft opening April 13 at 3 p.m., followed by the grand opening April 14 from noon to midnight.

The Saturday party will include beer, food and bluegrass music in its parking lot at 1541 E. Cherry St., Leonard and Marshall said in a news release.

Noting that they want to be a family-oriented community center, Leonard said that during the grand opening, "we’ll have games, you can come catch up with your neighbors, it’s a place to bring everyone together.”

Festivities start at noon, with outdoor live music until 8 p.m. Performers include Opal Agafia & the Sweet Nothings from Eureka Springs, Arkansas; Grassfed from Kansas City, and The Bluegrasstronauts, with more acts to be announced.

Brewery owners said Tie & Timber would open for regular business hours beginning April 13 from 3 p.m. to midnight. That Friday evening will include live music by Brandon Moore and Kyle Young.

The brewery's daily hours are tentatively set for 3-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 3 p.m.-midnight Friday, noon-midnight Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday.

Additionally, Springfield-area craft beer fans should remain on alert for a Golden Spike.

Marshall said that the Golden Spike is a promotion named for Timber & Tie's proximity near the railroad that cuts through Rountree.

A Golden Spike will be hidden somewhere in the city, sort of like Willy Wonka's Golden Tickets in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

Clues to the spike's location will be posted on social media. The person who finds it gets a year of free beer, Marshall said.

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