The smell of hops wafts over the West Central neighborhood, a kind of yeasty-bready smell. To those in the know, it means that beer’s a-brewin’ at one of three breweries located in the neighborhood. The breweries –Springfield Brewing Company, Mother’s Brewing Company and the newest, Lost Signal Brewing Company – comprise Springfield’s emerging brewery district.
It all started in West Central about 140 years ago, when Sebastian Dingeldein signed a lease for what was then the Southwest Brewery, later renamed Springfield Brewing Co., located near the current site of the Birthplace of Route 66 Park on College Street. In 2014, while excavating the site, City workers discovered a series of underground rooms that were part of the brewery.
Dingeldein eventually bought the brewery and increased production to supply beer throughout southwest Missouri and northern Arkansas until closing in 1911 due to Prohibition.
In 1997, stainless steel equipment manufacturer Paul Mueller Company reestablished the Springfield Brewing Co. name – and craft beer brewing in Springfield – when it opened a brewery and restaurant at 305 S. Market to create a showcase for its products. In 2011, Brewmaster Ashton Lewis and a group of investors purchased the Brew Co. from Mueller.
In 2009, entrepreneur Jeff Schrag (pictured at left) decided to open Mother’s Brewing Company. He bought the old Butternut bread factory at the corner of Walnut and Grant in 2010 and served his first beer in May 2011.
According to Kyle Jeffries, brewery liaison extraordinaire at Mother’s, “What began as a bottling company became a production facility utilizing grain, yeast, and water; and here we are in 2017: a production facility utilizing grain, yeast, and water that bottles the final product. Consider the beautiful symmetry of this facility: Mother’s Brewing Company is truly a steward of the legacy of this building, downtown Springfield vitality, and pride in community.”
In 2012, Mother’s was recognized in The New Yorker as the seventh fastest growing first-year craft brewery in the nation.
This past February, Springfield’s fourth craft brewery, Lost Signal, opened up in the old KICK AM radio station on College Street, right down the street from Mother’s AND Springfield Brewing Company. White River Brewing Company opened on Commercial Street in 2013.
Owner Tyler Hoke says he chose the old radio station for a couple of reasons, including the history of the building and its location on Route 66. He also wanted to be close to downtown and the other breweries.
“I wanted to be as close to both Mother’s and Brew Co. because I wanted to help make this area the place where people can easily go if they are wanting to visit a brewery. I feel that being close to two very well-known and established breweries only helps with bringing in customers that are already in the mood to visit a brewery,” Hoke said.
How can three breweries survive in such close proximity? Each brewery offers something different for the craft beer aficionado. A visitor can start at Springfield Brewing Company and enjoy the year-rounder Walnut Street Wheat, then move on to Lost Signal for one of its specialty beers like the blueberry basil hefeweizen offered earlier this summer, and then hit up Mother’s Brewing Company for an Oktoberfest. And if there’s a food truck parked at Mother’s you can enjoy delicious eats at each location along with your beer. And you can walk the whole way!
“Springfield Brewing Company makes an IPA. As does Lost Signal and White River. As does Mother’s. The craft beer lover will insist on trying them all. And in between exploration of these unique breweries, that beer lover also experiences Springfield, downtown, and even our neighborhood, more intimately than someone merely on a Bass Pro pilgrimage,” Jeffries said. “The growth of a Springfield craft beer scene is growth for Springfield at large. The renewal of downtown, begun some 25 years ago, continues apace. Mother’s is proud to be a part of this movement and welcomes anyone, brewer or otherwise, who also commits themselves to the mission. After all, we brew love in downtown Springfield.”
Feel like a cold one? Head down to the West Central Brewery District and we’ll have one waiting for you!
Springfield Brewing Company
305 South Market Ave.
417-832-TAPS (8277)
Lost Signal Brewing Company
610 W. College St.
417-869-4755
Mother’s Brewing Company
215 S. Grant
417-862-0423