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Diamond Bear Brewing Co. in North Little Rock is going up for auction on Oct. 25, unless, owner Russ Melton said, he gets a suitable offer beforehand.
To be clear, what’s being offered for sale is the 3-acre property at 600 N. Broadway St. and the 15,435-SF facility. Blackmon Auctions of Little Rock is handling the sale.
A sale does not necessarily mean that the 24-year-old brewery, a trailblazer in the state’s craft brewing industry, will close, Melton said.
Melton sees the sale going one of four ways:
- The new owner (call him “John Doe”) will buy the property and Diamond Bear will lease it from him.
- John Doe will buy the property and Diamond Bear will stay for a few months before moving somewhere else.
- John Doe will buy it and also buy the brewery.
- John Doe will buy the property, Diamond Bear will operate for a couple of months and the board may decide to sell the equipment and liquidate.
A previously low interest rate on the loan for the Diamond Bear property that changed to a variable rate some time ago, almost doubling, increased the company’s debt load and is one of the reasons for the sale, Melton said.
Diamond Bear’s board comprises 11 members, with Melton and his wife, Sue, the principal owners of the brewery. Charles Kling, the director of brewing, also sits on the board, and Melton calls him “one of the best brewers in the Midsouth.” Diamond Bear has won a number of awards for its beers over the years, with its Pale Ale receiving particular recognition.
Asked what he hopes will happen, Melton, who just turned 67 and is interested in retiring, said, “Look, I’m fine with whatever happens. But to have someone that’s a solid part of this Little Rock or central Arkansas community buy it — and that’s where I would love to be involved — and maintain it so Arkansas can have their oldest brewery.
“Everything about the company is tied to Arkansas. Diamond Bear. All the products are tied to it.”
The Meltons started Diamond Bear at 323 Cross St. in Little Rock in 2000. The brewery, which was pivotal in launching the craft brewing scene in the state, reported brewing 16,629 gallons in 2023, down from 21,846 in 2022, making it the 12th-largest brewery in Arkansas last year. And Melton himself was pivotal in persuading the Arkansas Legislature to pass legislation helping native brewers.
“The COVID thing really put everybody in the gutter,” Melton said. “That’s probably the wrong word, but it hurt everybody. If the federal government hadn’t done what they did, there would have been a lot more breweries and restaurants gone out [of business].
“Because not only did it close our restaurant, but it closed half of our customers out there,” he said, referring to the restaurants that buy Diamond Bear products.
“Things have rebounded somewhat,” Melton said. “Of course, this inflation and high interest rates have really hurt the restaurant segment, which is, again, a big part of our customer [base].”
Last summer, what had been the Diamond Bear Taproom & Pub was converted into Ol’ Bart Southern Eats at Diamond Bear by restaurateur Bart Likes.
In 2014, Diamond Bear moved from its Cross Street location to the Argenta region of North Little Rock, which has seen tremendous residential and commercial growth during the last decade.
“We’ve already got some substantial offers,” Melton said, so the property may sell before the scheduled auction.
Melton, a Malvern native, was in the tire business for 30 years, working for Michelin and retiring from that job in 2015.
As for Diamond Bear, he is proud of what the brewery has accomplished. “That was our original mission, to give Arkansas its own beer. And we succeeded in that.”
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