Sunday 28th of December 2014 09:54:47 PM

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The name Diamond Bear comes from two of the first nicknames for the state of Arkansas. The Diamond Bear Brewery occupies a one-story pale brick and glass tile building. It has a blue and yellow awning over the front and a large sign near the street. There is a dedicated parking lot to the left of the building. Large garage doors with windows let you see the brewery inside. In front are stainless steel fermenters, on the right are 5 stainless steel brewing vessels, and a grain hopper hangs overhead. Enter the tasting room through the door on the right. The compact room has a couple tables and a small 4-chair wooden bar. Brewery paraphernalia and six-packs of their bottled beer are for sale to go. The floors are concrete and decorative vines hang from the ceiling. Behind the bar are 5 taps of their house beers, which can be had by glass, sampler flight, or growler fill. I found their beers were good, worthy of a visit, and my favorites were their IPA and DIPA. They do not have a kitchen, so eat before you visit. The service was friendly and very knowledgeable about their beers and the industry. They are currently planning to move to a new larger location and have already started construction. Their current brewing equipment will be sold as they've purchased larger equipment to expand their production. I look forward to returning to visit them in their new brewpub.

Thursday 15th of April 2010 01:21:45 PM

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On a recent visit to Hot Springs, AR we timed the trip to stop at the Diamond Bear Brewing Company in Little Rock for one of their Saturday tours. This is a working brewery, no food service. They offer tours at 3 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Tours are free and include three tokens for samples of their beers. On tap they had a Southern Blonde, Irish Red (Spring Seasonal), Presidential IPA, Pale Ale, and Paradise Porter. They also brew a Honey Weiss (Summer Seasonal), a Rocktoberfest (Fall Seasonal), and just ran out of their Double IPA. Once you’ve finished with the samples you can buy a pint for 4 dollars. I tried all their beers either sample or pint; all were very good with the Pale Ale being my favorite. They have growler, keg, and bottle sales at the brewery. They also make a root beer. They only have about six full time employees and the rest are volunteers. The volunteer tour guide did an ok job; he hasn’t been doing it very long and couldn’t answer some of the questions. The brewery is outgrowing their current location and is looking for a new location. I was told they are thinking of opening a brewpub at the new location. Diamond Bear is available mostly in Arkansas. They are working hard to expand into Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Sunday 22nd of November 2009 10:06:36 PM

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This is a great small brewery. They don't have anything fancy, no restaurant, no glitzy environ, but it is just a really nice craft brewery. They love beer there, love to talk about it, love to enjoy it. They support the community, and they make some really tasty beer. The Pale Ale is the flagship, the IPA is very similar to Sierra Nevada Torpedo... my favorite it the Porter. I've blind tasted it against some of the best in the nation, and I always pick this one.

Thursday 22nd of May 2008 03:38:04 PM

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I have been to Diamond Bear a few times. Have enjoyed each time I was there. You can have a few beers while you shoot the bull with the guys there and other beer lovers that come in while you are there. It is a small operation and they take volunteers on bottling days which is great. Look forward to my next trip there for some more good beer. They have most of their beers on tap to try at the brewery and they also have their rootbeer on tap which is great, I like a growler of it every time I am there too. They are working on some new things which I am looking forward to.

Monday 24th of March 2008 11:21:15 PM

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Diamond Bear Brewing Company is Little Rock's first production brewery in over 15 years. Diamond Bear started brewing on September 21, 2000, and started distribution on October 17, 2000 with the Flying Saucer (Downtown River Market District) being the first establishment to carry our product. We have since been expanding our market steadily. Our styles of beer are produced in the old time honored traditional methods of European brewers, using only two-row malted barley, hops, yeast and great Arkansas water. Being brewed locally gives the beer a great advantage in "freshness" while still capturing some of the worlds most famous styles of beer without the use of adjuncts or preservatives!

You may be wondering where our name came from. Diamond Bear is brewed in Arkansas which is the only state to have a diamond mine. This is where the first part of our name came from. As for the bear portion of Diamond Bear, Arkansas was once home to a large population of bears. In fact, during the pioneer days Arkansas was known as the Bear State. Therefore, we combined the two to create a name that is distinctly Arkansan, Diamond Bear!