• Bucyrus’ Piney River Brewing Co. was featured last week in a story in the Kansas City Star as it enters that market.
The brewery has a product that is tied to the Ozarks walnut crop.
A portion:
“If you grew up in the Ozarks, picking up black walnuts was a way of making money as a kid … it was something we did every year,” says Joleen Senter Durham. “It’s a prized flavor: If you see it in something, you seek it out.”
In 2011, Durham and her husband started Piney River Brewing Co. from their 80-acre farm near Bucyrus, in northwest Texas County, and started brewing a black walnut wheat ale that has become their best-seller.
The nut’s natural astringency is tempered in the mash: Midnight Wheat adds coloring, while the Hammons Baking Bits leave an almost fruity aroma behind. At 4.5 percent alcohol, the brew is “light and easy drinking” but also interesting to the craft beer connoisseur.
Last week Piney River debuted at HyVee, Gomer’s and Lukas Liquors stores. Look for cans with artwork that includes green hulled fruit in a bucket and burlap bags gathered alongside a river.”
• Mark your calendar for these community activities: Community choir Christmas program, Dec. 10; Houston High School Christmas concert, Dec. 13; and Houston Ministerial Alliance Christmas service is Dec. 18 at Faith Fellowship.
• A registered Angus bull owned by Mike Moyer of Houston placed third at the American Royal Livestock Show in Kansas City, Mo. The American Angus Association recognizes the American Royal as a “Roll of Victory” show.
• Damage is estimated at $100,000 at Willow Springs’ Star Theatre that sustained damage from a recent fire. The building had fire, smoke and water damage. Fire destroyed the sound room and the back six rows of the theatre.
The cause is believed to be electrical in nature, authorities said.