ONEIDA | It’s already been a big week at Big South Fork Brewing. But it’s about to get even bigger, as the company prepares to do something that’s never been done before: tap a keg of beer brewed commercially right here in Scott County.
It’ll happen Saturday evening as part of Big South Fork Brewing’s one-year birthday bash. The company, located in the old First Trust & Savings Bank building in downtown Oneida, has been celebrating all week, and will crank up the festivities Saturday with live music and free tastings of the new beer.
It’s called Peanut Butter Addict, and it is brewed by Scott County brewer Cade Bryant as the first product born from a brand-new collaboration between Bryant and Big South Fork Brewing owner Jimmy Barna.
“It’s got the nice, toasty grains that you enjoy in a porter, but then we add the peanut butter in there in fermentation,” said Bryant. “It just has that nice peanut butter aftertaste without it sticking with you too long.”
The recipe was served during Big South Fork Brewing’s soft opening last year and received a strong response from customers, leading Barna and Bryant to select it as the first beer to be produced professionally at the brewery.
“The ones who tasted it last year for the soft opening, everybody liked it,” Barna said. “That’s why we decided it was going to be our first professionally brewed one.”
Barna and Bryant sampled the finished batch for the first time Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s ready,” Bryant said.
A sense of place
Jimmy Barna has a strong sense of place. He got that from his father, the late log home mogul Jim Barna.
The elder Barna was a Hungarian native who moved to Scott County and grew what would become the world’s largest manufacturer of custom log homes, working out of the facility that is now Timber Rock Lodge on Oneida’s north side. Although he wasn’t originally from Scott County, he named each of his log home models after communities in Scott County — “Pioneer,” “Helenwood,” and the list goes on.
So for the younger Barna, Big South Fork Brewing has become a nod both to his father and to his hometown. Jimmy Barna grew up here, left for a career in federal law enforcement with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and then came back home, where he eventually opened Big South Fork Brewing in September 2025.
“I want this to be all about Scott County,” said Barna, as he showed off the revamped bank building in what was once the heart of Oneida’s retail district. He remembers coming into the bank as a child. He can point to exactly where an old marble-topped table used to stand by the main entrance when he was just a boy literally following his father’s footsteps. That same table is now a centerpiece of the taproom.
No surprise, then, that the first custom beer introduced at Big South Fork Brewing was O&W Lite, inspired by one of the national park’s most famous landmarks — the O&W Railroad, which had a depot just a couple of blocks away during Scott County’s coal and timber heyday. Many years later, Barna began his career as a park ranger at the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area.
For Barna, timing was everything. He was eligible to retire, so when the federal government offered employees a buyout, he took it. Meanwhile, voters in Oneida — and the rest of Scott County — had passed a referendum relaxing liquor laws.
“It was a great opportunity to do something like this,” he said.
Barna was not a home brewer, but he had developed an appreciation for craft beer while living in different parts of the country. He believed a similar business could work in his hometown, though the response has exceeded his expectations.
“It’s more than I thought it would be,” he said. “I didn’t realize to what extent people would be willing to venture away from their regular kind of beers and try craft beers. That’s what has surprised me the most.
Place is also important to Bryant. Like Barna, he grew up in Scott County, moved away for work, then returned home. He joined the U.S. Army after high school, earned a degree in criminal justice, and later attended nursing school. He worked in nursing for 15 years before deciding to pursue brewing professionally.
“I knew when I moved back here that I wanted to do the brewing, but I didn’t do it right away,” Bryant said. “I was afraid to make the jump. Then my wife (Jamie) actually pushed me to go to school about two years ago. She’s the one who pushed me to go in and get the further education I knew I’d need to do it professionally.”
Just the start
Peanut Butter Addict is a collaboration between Big South Fork Brewing and Bryant’s Thirsty Bear brand. Bryant describes himself as a contract brewer for Barna but said the two hope the partnership will grow, perhaps with an additional taproom and brewery in Huntsville.
In the meantime, their pilot system can produce an average of about one barrel per week. Each barrel contains 31 gallons. With four fermenters available, Barna and Bryant plan to introduce a new flavor every couple of weeks while determining which varieties customers prefer.
“We’re working off the pilot system so we can find out exactly what everybody wants instead of me just making what I want,” Bryant said.
More locally brewed varieties are already in production. An Oktoberfest beer has been transferred to a keg and is expected to be ready around the first weekend in October, just in time for the annual German-themed celebration. Bryant has also begun brewing a pumpkin spice latte ale, and the pair plans to experiment with a strong blonde ale made with crabapples from a tree that grows behind the taproom. There’s also a collaboration with nearby Gather Coffee, using Gather’s locally-roasted coffee beans in a beer.
Prior to the introduction of Peanut Butter Addict Saturday — the keg will be tapped around 6 p.m., with free tastings for customers — Big South Fork Brewing was simply a taproom. Barna currently has 14 beers and one root beer on tap. All of the beers are made in Tennessee, but Saturday’s release will be the first brewed in Scott County.
That local connection is particularly meaningful to Barna and Bryant, who both played high school football here — Barna at Oneida and Bryant at Scott High — and joked that they should brew in their old jerseys so that everyone will know Big South Fork Brewing is 100% Scott County.
“I’m just proud that it’s local,” Barna said.
The downtown location carries personal significance for Barna as well. He remembers visiting the area as a child, when downtown Oneida included businesses such as Western Auto and the movie theater across the street. He said Mayor Lori Phillips-Jones’ efforts to revitalize the downtown district also helped convince him it was the right place for the brewery.
“This is where I wanted to be,” Barna said. “I wanted to be part of this. I’m not moving. This is my hometown. This is where I’m staying.”
