Diamond Bear Brewing Co.

While Diamond Bear beer has earned seven national and international awards, and its popularity has risen steadily since the brewery opened 15 years ago, there is “plenty of room for growth,” said co-owner Russ Melton.

Sales revenue for the brewery rose 45 percent in 2014, Melton said.

Melton began brewing at home, but he never considered the craft a hobby. “I certainly was a beer enthusiast and I started home brewing, but I definitely had the intention of starting a brewery,” he said. In 2000, Melton and his wife, Sue, used private funds to open Diamond Bear Brewing with the goal of providing “a great beer and a local beer.”

The first establishment to sell Diamond Bear was the Flying Saucer in Little Rock’s River Market District. Since then, with bank loans and private investor funding, the company’s production and sales have risen to 45,000 cases in 2014.

In 2013 the brewery moved from its original location on Cross Street in Little Rock into a larger facility on North Broadway Street in North Little Rock, which has allowed for an increase in production along with an on-site restaurant, the Arkansas Ale House, and private event rooms for patrons. The company, which employed four or five at the Little Rock location, now has about 40 full- and part-time employees, Melton said.

The brewery offers 10 varieties of beer — six available year-round and four seasonals — along with root beer, all of which are brewed and bottled at the North Little Rock facility. The brewery also offers draft products in large and small kegs.

Diamond Bear’s flagship product, Pale Ale, has won two gold medals at the World Beer Cup, along with gold and silver medals at the Great American Beer Festival.

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