Be sure to have plenty of Flyway on hand, for whatever the season brings.
BRIAN CHILSON
ARKANSAS MADE
COME FLY WITH ME FLYWAY BREWING SHOWS TRUE ARKANSAS COLORS IN FOOD, BREWS.
T
he ducks returning to Arkansas every year follow their feathered brethren to The Natural State by instinct and a centuries-old heavenly turnpike called the Mississippi Flyway. Beer lovers in Central Arkansas are more or less the same beast, following the crowd to North Little Rock’s Flyway Brewery. Established in 2015, the company has made it a priority to showcase its pride of place and origins from the very start. “When we were deciding on a name and greater theme after we found our building on the banks of the Arkansas River, we decided to go with Flyway, which is a nod to the migratory path that comes right through the state,” said Ren Scott, Flyway’s social media manager. “Hundreds, if not thousands, of
12 | Arkansas Wild | SEPTEMBER 2021
BY DWAIN HEBDA different types of birds migrate through here, funneled from Canada and down toward Mexico every year. “We wanted to tie that into the beer that we brew and how beer comes from the land, hops and grains and malts and yeast, as well as the wild game that we serve on our menu.” Everything about the brewery’s taproom and restaurant, located in the city’s Argenta District, yells Arkansas’s outdoor culture. Beer names like Pintail and Peregrine hearken to many of the birds that can be found out in the local wilds, with some taking a little more Arkansas knowledge to catch. Lord God Triple Chocolate Stout, for instance, is a reference to the nickname of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, a bird once thought extinct but that may or may not still be alive in the Arkansas swamp after all.
Flying Duck is another brew with a strong Arkansas backstory, developed in cooperation with legendary duck call manufacturer Rich-N-Tone of Stuttgart, likely the only duck call manufacturer in America with a bar on premises. In addition to the state identity markers, Scott said the brewery also leverages family connections in the concept of its seasonal brews, called the Cake Series. Each seasonal variety — Imperial Red Velvet Ale in spring, Carrot Cake Golden Ale in summer, Coffee Cake Stout in fall and Fruitcake Belgian Dubbel in winter — borrows from the owners’ best-loved family cake recipes. “The cake series is really cool. Our coffee cake stout is probably the most highly requested variety in the series,” she said. “It’s really delicious. It’s made with fresh
