Springfield Missouri's Best Craft Breweries

Up until about the second decade of this century, if you wanted craft beer in Springfield, Springfield Brewing Co. was your only option. Now, what once wasn’t is—there are 17 breweries across the Ozarks. With this in mind, we traversed all sorts of terrain to get to know the people behind these breweries and what they are doing to make each a destination. Locals have embraced the plethora of craft breweries with open arms—we can’t count the number of times brewers or owners have told us how surprised and overwhelmed they were by the reaction when they first opened. Two of these breweries, 4 By 4 Brewing Co. and Tie & Timber Brewing Co., have Denver roots, taking the neighborhood approach and applying it to Springfield, Missouri. All of southwest Missouri has fostered this sense of community in a short amount of time, proving that for all the supply entering the area, there is an equal amount of demand. We approached reporting this story with the same fervor, and what we found was an unbridled enthusiasm to bring the best quality craft beer and the experience to match. 

Springfield Brewing Company

Mention “Brew Co.” to anyone in 417-land, and it’s more than likely that they’ll know you’re talking about Springfield Brewing Co. The staple has made continuity the name of its game—it celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2017, and not much has changed during that time. Some of its flagship beers have been around since the beginning, and its name and staying power have helped it become almost synonymous with Springfield itself. Brew Co. is located in the heart of downtown and has held its constant presence as the surrounding area has grown and thrived. 

For a while, the brewery was all there was when it came to craft beer downtown, serving as an entry point for thirsty customers all around. “When we first opened, we had a lot of people that had never drank craft beer before,” says brewmaster Ashton Lewis. Known for its food as well as its beer, Brew Co. serves a wide variety of American favorites, like pizza and its beloved mac and cheese. It is a place to meet up for business, to watch sports, to celebrate a big occasion, for team-building—whatever the case, the brewery, with its patio, meeting rooms and upstairs and downstairs spaces, can serve your function. You can almost guarantee that there’ll be live music on the weekends, too. It’s the type of place where you can assume you’ll run into someone you know regardless of when you go. 

The brewery has also won awards for its beer, having previously won Gold in the World Beer Cup for its Mayhem Marzen. This is a brewery that asserts itself and backs it up, proving that there is a very good reason that it has been around as long as it has. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. 

Mother's Brewing Company

Even if you don’t drink beer, you probably know something about Mother’s Brewing Co. From the brewery’s perspective, that brand awareness is very much on purpose. More than any other 417-land brewery, Mother’s is visible, establishing itself as a champion of the community and hosting or sponsoring some of its biggest events year-round.

“It’s within our interest and within the community’s interest for us to not just be a factory producing beer that goes into stores,” says head brewer David Soper. “The real value for us in this place comes when we get to do things and actually connect with the community.”

Given the brewery’s downtown location, driving past Mother’s often comes with a sinking feeling that you’re missing out on something, and that’s because you probably are. There are taproom-only special releases that add an aura of exclusivity for a brewery whose beer is fairly easily purchased in liquor stores across 417-land. There’s a purpose to this—Mother’s would love nothing more than to be the reason that people come to Springfield, supporting local businesses and hotels.

White River Brewing Company

Think of White River Brewing Co. as a presiding member of the revitalization of Commercial Street. When owner Buz Hosfield bought the building almost 10 years ago, he was optimistic about the direction the street could take. But he also remembers the run-down businesses that surrounded the brewery when it first opened. 

His optimism has turned out to be well founded. C-Street is now a place to see and be seen, where some of the most exciting food concepts are happening, where you can shop and drink a beer and eat nationally recognized chocolate all within a few blocks. Hosfield considers White River the western anchor of C-Street. It even brews C-Street Pale Ale, a beer that brewery rep Steve Ames says is part of White River’s identity. 

As for the brewery itself, it’s all about the patio. It peeks out onto the street, as if trying to lull you in to try Gravel Bar IPA or that C-Street Pale Ale. Drive by and you’ll almost always hear some sort of live music emanating from the patio, along with a visual of people packed in, leaning against the railing. There’s a taproom inside, too, with a fairly expansive space with tabletops and chairs and decor that hints at the overall brewery motif.

Piney River Brewing Company

To get to Piney River Brewing Co., you might need to have a compass and a treasure map. You’ll first need to drive to Bucyrus (pronounced bew-SIGH-rus), an area encompassed by the nearby Mark Twain National Forest. Once you reach the gravel road that leads to the brewery, it’s a 2-mile drive where every bump brings the sensation that you’re going the wrong way. But a giant silo and barn emerge to assure you that, yes, this is a brewery, and a stellar one at that. For owners Joleen and Brian Durham, the reception and patronage has been outstanding.

Piney River opened in 2011. The brewery has what it calls the BARn, a taproom with a two-story outdoor patio that opens its doors to visitors, hikers and locals looking to drink a few beers. “We’re really proud of what we’ve done here in a very economically challenged area,” Joleen says. “We bring a lot of tourism in the area.”

Given the brewery’s secluded nature, food options are limited. Piney River recently fixed that by offering homemade pizza, giving people every reason to stay as long as they’d like. 

Look outside and you’ll see green pastures and cattle and start to feel a little rebellious, as if drinking in this space is an act of defiance. It all factors into what Piney River is trying to do: brew beer against a very specific backdrop. “We’re trying to celebrate the Ozarks,” Joleen says. 

Lost Signal Brewing Company

Tyler Hoke can’t be fully impartial when he sings the praises of the barbecue at Lost Signal Brewing Co. He is the owner, after all. But he doesn’t make the racks of ribs, chicken and burnt ends; his father, Jack, does. With the beer that Hoke brews and the crave-worthy ’cue, Lost Signal has carved out a niche for itself. It’s a brewery with an indoor and outdoor space where you can sip a beer and chow down on barbecue that lives up to Missouri standards. Nestled just outside the main drag of downtown Springfield, it’s a spot where you’re going to want to stay awhile.

Tyler started as a home brewer and immediately got bitten by the bug. “When I start something, I get a little obsessed,” he says. He cut his teeth at Lakewood Brewing Co. in Garland, Texas, in a post as a volunteer that he turned into a job. He opened Lost Signal with a clear vision—brew German styles that often get overlooked. Add in the exclusivity of the beer—you’ll have a hard time finding it around town—and there’s a formula in place to keep patrons surprised and coming back for more. 

4 By 4 Brewing Company

Perhaps more than any other brewery in Springfield, 4 By 4 Brewing Co. is a recreation space. Given its location near Sequiota Park and Galloway Creek Greenway, this only makes sense. It’s the type of place that feels like a brewery and a bar in equal measure, equipped with TVs, ping-pong, darts, Connect Four, jumbo Jenga and anything else you’d want to help you waste the day away. Soon, The Pitch Pizza & Pub will set up shop in a food trailer next to the brewery, making the experience that much tastier. 

The brewery gets its name from the four couples who co-own it. Derek Shimeall, one of the aforementioned co-owners, says that the proximity to Sequiota Park and its community atmosphere was a factor in designing the brewery’s look when it opened in late 2017. It is very open, both visually and in personality—Shimeall says patrons often ask for him; his wife, Danielle; and the other owners to serve and educate them from behind the bar. “We want people to talk to people they’ve never met,” Shimeall says. “We want people to make friendships.”

Tie & Timber Beer Company

Jennifer Leonard and Curtis Marshall come from Denver, where it seems there is about one craft brewery per block. With that comes a need to be hyperlocal, to appeal to the neighborhood in which that brewery resides. “We had noticed that Springfield didn’t have the neighborhood breweries that we were used to seeing in Denver,” Leonard says. 

Their goal: Start a brewery you can walk to if you’re close enough, as Leonard and Marshall do, establishing a meeting place that a neighborhood can call its own. At Tie & Timber Beer Co., as co-owners, Leonard and Marshall have adopted this philosophy in Rountree. From the outdoor space and the tanks visible in the back to the giant owl-centric “This Must Be the Place” sign made of 300 yards of thread, the place feels lived-in, as if it’s always been there. Although the brewery opened in 2018 and is in its nascent stages, you wouldn’t know it.