Mountain Fork Brewery (MFB) was founded in 2015 and has charted an impressive course since then. The brewery is nestled between the Ouachita Forest and Beavers Bend State Park in Oklahoma.
The MFB team started homebrewing with friends out in the forest. At the time, there was not a lot of craft beer selection in Oklahoma due to the 4.0% ABV law. Fast forward to 2018 when the 59-year-old law changed…finally Oklahoma beer lovers were able to enjoy cold, full-strength MFB beer as well as other offerings that could be purchased in liquor stores, C-stores, and grocery stores. Prior to the law change in 2018, as per Prohibition-era alcohol laws, full-strength beer could only be purchased at room temperature in liquor stores; cold beer was only available through C-stores and grocery chains and was limited to 4.0% ABV. The new law also changed operating hours and mandated training for all employees that sold or served alcoholic beverages.
MFB figured that a location near the famous Broken Bow Lake was just about the best place in the world to build a 20-bbl. brewhouse. They have a 20-tap bar in the restaurant above the brewery. The brewery offers tours at certain times with reservations requested for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Broken Bow Lake is celebrating more than 50 years as a premier recreation destination in the southeast corner of Oklahoma. It’s a 14,000-acre lake with over 180 miles of shoreline. Broken Bow Lake, along with the Ouachita Forest and Beavers Bend State Park, are especially popular with tourists from Texas looking to get away from the big cities. Tourists come from many other areas as well. MFB’s next-door neighbors include a distillery, a winery, a bar, and four other food options.
MFB’s Brewmaster Johann Fultz said “We believe that from a good source comes a good beer. Thus, we almost exclusively use Briess Malting for our malts. Our water is minimally treated per style, and we mostly use American-grown hops. Mountain Fork’s beers do not follow the latest trendy craze. We honor traditional beer styles, adding new innovative techniques to create unique craft beer flavors for our guests.” Check out their website for current beers.
MFB won numerous awards for their beers at this year’s Craft Beer Contest at the Spears School of Business (Oklahoma State University):
- Gold: Three Rivers
- Gold: Wee Heavy
- Silver: Pappy’s Bucksnort
- Silver: MFB 9.0
- Bronze: Timber Creek
- Bronze: Rooster
- Bronze: MFB Light
MFB chose to participate in the “One in Four” beer project in support of Domestic Violence Awareness month in October. The Briess malts they used to make their version of One in Four beer were Ashburne® Mild Malt, White Wheat Malt, and Pilsen Malt. It’s estimated 50 breweries nationwide participated in this event and donated a portion of beer sales to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
If you find yourself even remotely close to Broken Bow Lake, then Mountain Fork Brewery is a Must-Stop. Better yet, plan a trip to the area and enjoy some nice brews.
Cheers,
Dan