The Brewmeister

At a tiny little brew house in Cabool, Chad Frederick is cooking up some tasty local flavors.

On a bumpy gravel road in Cabool called Dallas Lane, there’s a tiny little sign with a picture of a four-fingered, cartoonish hand pointing to the left with the words “Little Yeoman.” When you see the four-fingered, disembodied hand, you know you’re on the right track. But it doesn’t feel, at first, like you are. To get to Little Yeoman Brewery from Springfield, you have to take Highway 60 to Cabool, then a smaller street, then an even smaller street before you even get to that bumpy gravel road called Dallas.
The day 417 Magazine headed out to Little Yeoman Brewery, we arrived to find no visible people and only the sounds of running water, friendly chatter and country music coming from inside the brew house. We knocked. Nothin’. So we marched right inside to find owner Chad Frederick bottling the Little Yeoman Porter (one of his five brews) with his two friends, Michael Everett and Rocky Beltz. He says that he bottles 1,400 beers per week and sells out regularly.

Little Yeoman Brewery was orginally located in Willow Springs and was run by Stephen Markley since 1994. Last year, after Markley retired from the beer business, 30-year-old Frederick bought him out and has been running the business in Cabool on his family farm. Now Little Yeoman is Frederick’s full-time job, and he’s been attracting visitors with events such as last year’s Oktoberfest, when he served up beer and hand-made bratwurst with a side of live music. It’s a wonder anyone can find Little Yeoman. It’s pretty far out there in Cabool. But Frederick says he gets visitors from all over the country. They’re the types of people who find microbreweries like Little Yeoman on beer-enthusiast sites such as beeradvocate.com (where users can submit reviews of craft beers) and make pilgrimages in search of America’s tasty brews.

Frederick says he hasn’t bought one store-brand beer since he started brewing his own for Little Yeoman, a process that takes nine days from start to bottle. If you want to taste his creations for yourself, pay him a visit. The beer is sold on-site right now, but Frederick says he’s in search of a distributor for his newly acquired business. (Little Yeoman Brewery. Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. 12581 Dallas Ln., Cabool, 417-926-9185)

What Little Yeoman Tastes Like

Cream Ale
“Our lightest beer, with a sweet back finish with some wheat.” — Frederick
“Just enough hops to dry the finish a little.” — from beeradvocate.com

Pale Ale
“Slightly hoppy. Copper in color with a malty finish.” — Frederick

India Pale Ale
“My favorite. A big hoppy flavor. Bold and semi-citrusy.” — Frederick

Porter
“Medium body that improves with warming.” — from beeradvocate.com

Stout
“The big boy. A thick flavor, bold and very dark, black even.” — Frederick
“Lots of good aromas of dark chocolate, coffee, molasses, burnt toast and bread.” — from beeradvocate.com