UPDATED: Ozark, Fossil Cove plan new additions to canned beer lineup

Thirsty locals will soon have yet another option when choosing a regionally-produced canned beer.

Just weeks after Bike Rack and New Province announced their entry into the canned market, Ozark Beer Co. is poised to begin canning its IPA.

The brewery yesterday installed a new 60-barrel fermenter purchased from Seattle’s Freemont Brewing. According to an Instagram post from Ozark, the new tank will increase fermentation capacity by 21 percent, allowing for the release of a new canned offering. The post’s #IPA hashtag makes it pretty clear what’s coming “very, very soon.”

Conveniently, the packaging art for Ozark’s IPA has already been approved, according to the database of beer labels approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB. The art looks to be another one of BLKBOXLabs’ hand-drawn designs that fits right into the Ozark core lineup.

It will be the Rogers-based brewery’s fourth year-rounder to be packaged into cans, alongside Ozark’s APA, Belgian Golden and Cream Stout.

UPDATE 7/12/17: It looks like Fossil Cove will beat Ozark to the punch when it comes to canning an IPA. Less than 24 hours after this story was published, the folks at Fossil Cove announced the release of their IPA #3 into cans starting immediately. This is Fossil Cove’s eighth beer to hit cans, along with their Paleo Ale, LaBrea Brown, The Blizzle (black IPA), Hoppy Wheat, Coffee IPA, and The Whizzle (white IPA).