Ep. 104 - Layoff to Brewery: Dan Clous's Journey to Natural State Beer Company

You can learn a lot about a place by what it drinks and how it builds community around it. We sit down with Dan Clous, co-founder of Natural State Beer Company in Bentonville, to trace the unlikely path from a vendor career to homebrewing in a basement to opening a brewery right off the trails at Village on the Creeks. Dan breaks down why Arkansas is “The Natural State,” why their taproom is built around a “brew with a view,” and why they intentionally bet on lagers when so much of craft beer chases IPAs.Then we taste. We run a rating segment and work through a flight that hits multiple styles and moods: the Greenway light lager built for hot days, a hefeweizen with classic banana-clove notes, a Vienna lager that somehow pairs perfectly with pecan pie, a limited Irish red lager poured from a crowler, a schwarzbier that looks dark but drinks surprisingly light, and Arctic Juice, an 8.5% double India Pale Lager that brings the hop punch.We also get practical beer education without the snobbery: lager vs ale yeast, why lagering takes longer, what makes beer color change, and why growlers vs crowlers affects freshness. The conversation takes a serious turn at the end as Dan shares Hub of Hope’s work supporting survivors of human trafficking in Northwest Arkansas and details on the April 30 event, with tickets at hubofhope.org. If you like craft beer, Bentonville business stories, and local impact, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave us a review.