New Province Brewing Co. is now in its second act. Founded in 2016 by Derek and Megan McEnroe, the Rogers brewery was acquired in 2022 by John Lee and a group of like-minded investors. Despite the change in ownership, New Province maintains much of the identity it created before the sale. Built on the back of beers such as Philosopher King IPA, an India pale ale, and Fallen Queen, a Belgian witbier, the brand continues to find success with the tried and true while pushing into new territory with innovative recipes and an evolving business model.
The brewery has been in operation less than a decade, but is considered one of the senior members of the Arkansas brewing community. When it opened, New Province was one of around two dozen breweries actively producing beer in the state. Today that number is closer to 60. Craft beer is no longer the novelty it once was in the Natural State, thanks in part to the trailblazing efforts of New Province and others that opened their doors in those early days.
Speaking of trailblazing efforts, New Province was one of the first breweries in the state to can its beer when it did so in 2017. With the help of northwest Arkansas design firm BLKBOXLabs, the brewery introduced Philosopher King and Fallen Queen in eye-catching packaging that matched the quality of the products inside the cans. This effort helped push the brewery’s presence well beyond its taproom walls. Today, aluminum-clad New Province products are ubiquitous throughout the state. You can find those two labels and many more in liquor and grocery stores from Bentonville to Little Rock.
The brewery’s reputation has continued to strengthen over the course of time. The 8,100-square-foot brewery at 1310 W. Hudson Road in Rogers is just a short distance east of Interstate 49 and Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville. The taproom occupies about a quarter of the building’s footprint and is open every day of the week except Monday. The schedule is full of special events, and an on-premise food truck keeps patrons from going hungry. Open-mic comedy nights on Wednesdays have proven so popular that the number of comedians allowed on stage has been capped at 20 to ensure each brave soul has enough time to work through his or her bit. Thankfully, there is enough alcohol by volume behind the bar to calm nerves before participants’ names are called.
The taproom at New Province is open every day except Monday.
Lee assumed leadership of New Province following a successful stint at Rebel Kettle Brewing Co. in Little Rock, which rebranded as East Sixth Brewing Co. before closing. He left Rebel Kettle in 2020, and after a short hiatus from the brewing industry, he is now more determined than ever to build a successful beer brand. Although he maintains his permanent residence in central Arkansas, he is a familiar face at the Benton County brewery. The frequency of his visits depends on the number of problems that need to be solved. Recent issues related to brewery expansion have kept him on the premises more often than not.
“We have been investing in the brewery and adding equipment to increase the amount of beer we can produce,” Lee said. “We recently expanded our Wild Goose canning line from two heads to five heads with the goal of doubling the number of cans we can produce in the same amount of time. Installation didn’t go as planned, though, and it took almost a week to fix an issue related to loss of pressure.”
The canning line is running smoothly now, which is important because New Province is now producing all of the packaged beer for North Little Rock’s Flyway Brewing, which now has a Fayetteville location and does not have a canning operation of its own. Flyway founder Matt Foster is married to one of Lee’s partners at New Province, Heather Parker-Foster. Co-manufacturing is a natural relationship for the two breweries, and it is a win-win scenario for everyone involved. It is a unique situation no one else in Arkansas brewing is attempting at this point in time.
“We’ve been turning and burning a lot of Bluewing [Berry Wheat] for them since we started working together,” Lee said in reference to Flyway’s top-selling beer. “In February, we were making 400 cases of Bluewing per week. The partnership obviously benefits New Province in terms of utilizing all of the capacity we’ve built here, and it benefits Flyway, too, because they were able to bring all of their packaged production back home to Arkansas.”
Flyway was previously using a contract brewery in Florida to can its beer for distribution.
New Province and Flyway not only share brewing equipment, but also a brewmaster. Kort Castleberry, who joined New Province in 2017 following a stint at Fossil Cove Brewing Co. in Fayetteville, obtained a stake in Flyway’s new Fayetteville brewpub location and now oversees production at both sites. Tim Berkley continues to guide brewing operations for Flyway’s original location in North Little Rock.
“New Province and Flyway are sort of sibling brands now,” Castleberry said during an interview before the holidays. “The brands are intertwined, and we’re working together to achieve a common goal. We’ve added staff at both locations, and we named Hugh Brewer as head brewer at New Province, which will help a lot.” The Flyway location in Fayetteville — which is near Lake Fayetteville and was formerly occupied by Apple Blossom Brewing Co. — carries both brands on tap.
Flyway is in the process of opening additional satellite breweries in Little Rock and Memphis, Tenn.. The Memphis location was acquired from High Cotton Brewing Co. and will keep some of those legacy beers in the portfolio.
Other capital investments recently made by New Province include four 45-barrel fermenters and a 45-barrel brite tank — a vessel used to store and clarify beer after fermentation — that were once used by JJ’s Brewing Co. in Fayetteville. The equipment became available after JJ’s stopped making its own beer for the chain of restaurants bearing the JJ’s name. A glycol chiller system big enough to cool the increased volume of beer was also installed, although it too created challenges for Lee and the team at New Province. Shortly after installation, staff arrived at the brewery to find all of the system’s coolant had leaked onto the floor. It was just the latest mishap among the myriad of others that occurred during the brewery’s expansion.
Although unwelcome, such headaches are the hallmarks of entrepreneurship. Lee has taken them all in stride and is looking forward to calmer, more predictable days ahead.
“The good thing about all of these issues is that everything happened during our slow season,” he said. “Now that we’re getting closer to spring and summer — which are prime beer drinking seasons — we’ve just about got it all figured out.”
As for the beer itself, Philosopher King IPA continues to dominate the New Province portfolio.
“It’s a fantastic West-Coast-style IPA,” said Lee. “It saw a significant increase in sales last year, up almost 20 percent from the year before. It’s the No. 1 seller here in the taproom, and it’s the No. 1 product that we have in the market.”
The beer is known for its clean bitterness and citrus flavor profile. In a market dominated in recent years by hazy IPAs, it is a throwback to the beginning of the craft beer movement.
Space Suit — a lower-alcohol session IPA — is the second-highest selling beer for New Province, followed by Fallen Queen. An up-and-coming beer is Del Rey, a Mexican lager and a lightly-hopped beer that weighs in at a relatively-low five-percent ABV. It appeals to the preference of today’s beer drinkers, who are increasingly looking for a straightforward option that does not take too much thought to enjoy. Nationwide, the style has exploded, with brands such as Modelo, Pacifico, and Tecate leading the way.
New Province’s Space Suit, a lower alcohol IPA, is one of the brewery’s top two sellers.
“I think you’re going to see big things from Del Rey this year,” said Lee. “It’s a popular style now, but we put our own spin on it. We’re using a specific hop from New Zealand that gives it some of its lime character. We serve it with a lime here in the taproom, but you don’t need one to get that citrusy character because it’s built right in.”
Lee was known for his creative flair when he was brewing at Rebel Kettle, but his influence on New Province’s products has been fairly conservative thus far. Again, the brewery’s reputation is well-established at this point, and Castleberry created a trusted lineup of beers that the brewery’s success was built on. Lee has been more deliberate in finding his opportunities to put his thumbprint on the brewery’s offerings.
“I’ve had some influence on our selection of hazy IPAs,” Lee said. “We’re loading three to four pounds of hops per barrel for those beers, so they’re pricey to make, so for the most part, we’re sticking with canned sales out of the taproom for those.”
West Hudson, a double dry-hopped hazy IPA, is one such beer. It features notes of guava, grapefruit and pine.
Another way Lee infuses New Province with his brewing personality is through variations on previously brewed beers.
“On Fridays, we offer kegs of beer we’ve already made and add crazy ingredients to them,” he said. “We recently injected a bunch of blueberry puree into a sour base we had on hand, which was really popular with our taproom customers, and we’re playing around with our imperial stout by making peanut butter cup and mint chocolate chip versions of that big winter beer.”
The special, one-off beers, typically advertised on the brewery’s social media accounts, are gone soon after they are tapped.
One beer that recently hit the market and is turning heads is Pair of Kings Double IPA, a bigger, boozier version of Philosopher King. Sold in four-packs, the limited-run beer has been popular with Arkansas beer drinkers.
New Province’s partnership with Flyway has benefitted both brewers.
“It’s incredibly smooth,” Lee said. “I think it might even be an easier drinker than Philosopher, which is amazing considering its ABV is three points higher [nine percent versus six percent].”
New Province is on an upward trajectory in its growth. According to figures provided by the alcoholic beverage control division of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, the brewery produced just more than 1,100 barrels of beer in 2018. Lee said the brewery more than doubled that output in 2023.
“I don’t have a definitive number yet, but I think we did about 2,400 barrels last year,” he said, “and this year, we’ll probably produce more Flyway out of here than New Province. With all of their canned production coming here to Rogers, it will likely be more than 3,000 barrels of their beer in 2024.”
Under Lee’s and Castleberry’s leadership, New Province continues to grow its own portfolio while infusing the brewery with cash through its partnership with Flyway. In the end, the synergistic relationship between the two breweries will benefit both.
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