History of Diamond Bear Brewery
Diamond Bear Brewing Company is Little Rock's first production brewery in over 15 years. Diamond Bear started brewing on September 21, 2000, and started distribution on October 17, 2000 with the Flying Saucer (Downtown River Market District) being the first establishment to carry our product. We have since been expanding our market steadily. Our styles of beer are produced in the old time honored traditional methods of European brewers, using only two-row malted barley, hops, yeast and great Arkansas water. Being brewed locally gives the beer a great advantage in "freshness" while still capturing some of the worlds most famous styles of beer without the use of adjuncts or preservatives!

You may be wondering where our name came from. Diamond Bear is brewed in Arkansas which is the only state to have a diamond mine. This is where the first part of our name came from. As for the bear portion of Diamond Bear, Arkansas was once home to a large population of bears. In fact, during the pioneer days Arkansas was known as the Bear State. Therefore, we combined the two to create a name that is distinctly Arkansan, Diamond Bear!
Russ and Sue Melton, Founders of Diamond Bear Brewery, are pictured here with Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe at the Governor's mansion, where Diamond Bear is now proudly served.
Governor Mike Beebe and Matt DeCample, who is the Governor's Spokesman, watch as Russ Melton explains Diamond Bear's recycled packaging. It proudly wears an environmental identity graphic and the message; "Another World Class Product From Arkansas."