TIE AND TIMBER: More than just beer
Oct 21, 2022 01:57PM ● By MARIE EDINGER
“Once I saw what went into it— creativity and great ingredients—I ended up taking over the brewing,” explained Jennifer.
Jennifer makes beer she would want to drink and that she thinks other people would like too. She tends to include a lot of fruit but offers a wide variety of flavors and styles. She says she’s often inspired by cocktails and desserts; using a book called The Flavor Bible to find pairings that work well together.
The couple started entering their beer into competitions, and winning. Soon, what started out largely as a hobby started shifting into a possible business venture.
“We had a few areas we wanted to look at. We knew we probably didn’t want to stay in Colorado. We just kind of wanted a change, although it’s hard to leave – it’s beautiful out there. But just the cost of living and property was on the rise,” Jennifer explained. They’d go to Springfield on visits and started to notice a desire and demand for craft beer that outpaced supply.
The building they landed on was a right-place-right-time scenario. Jennifer and Curtis found a property nestled right in the middle of a historic neighborhood, giving them a unique opportunity.
“One of the questions we had was, ‘Are they going to be okay with this? Are they going to support having a brewery right in the middle of their neighborhood? Especially Roundtree,’” said Jennifer. She explained, the community is fairly protective over their neighborhood. “And, yes, they were very supportive of having a brewery.
Tie and Timber opened in 2018 and things have been going great ever since.Tie and Timber does more than beer. They also host frequent concerts and parties with local bands performing live music. They also offer multiple festivals each Summer; the most recent one was called Hermonious and celebrated female musicians from the area.
“One of the things we were looking for from the beginning of this journey was something to allow us to be involved in this community.”
The brewery has leaned more into sours, which was unique when they first opened up. She tries to keep a wide variety with 18 taps available, but dealing with hundreds of pounds of grain is not the easiest task.
“It’s really important to us that we make beers that are welcoming to everybody. I don’t expect everybody to like every beer on our menu, but I hope I make a wide enough variety so that people can find something that they like.”
For Jennifer though, she says the process of creating the recipes and brewing the beer is somewhat Zen. “You get a good flow. I just really enjoy seeing how the vision of a beer turns out in the end – you know, from creating the recipe to the end of fermentation.”The reward, Jennifer says, is seeing the reaction people have to her beer.
“You get so busy as a business owner that you forget to kind of relish in that,” said Jennifer. “Every now and then I do try to step back and look around and see, ‘These are people that are enjoying a product that I made.’”
Tie and Timber has grown quite a bit through the years. They also offer cocktails and mocktails. It has a beer garden and plans to expand to a neighboring building next year. They’re still working on design but hope to break ground in February of 2023.
Tie and Timber Beer Company
1451 E Cherry St.
Springfield, MO 65802
(417) 429-9131
