Stockyards Brewing Co. has been focused entirely on the Missouri side of the state line since it opened in 2015, but now plans to bring its beers to Kansas.
Located at 1600 Genessee St. in Kansas City's West Bottoms, the microbrewery set up shop in the Livestock Exchange Building that once housed the renowned Golden Ox restaurant. Soon after opening, Stockyards reached an agreement with North Kansas City Beverage Co. Inc. to distribute kegs of its beer to bars and restaurants, but its territory only covers five counties in Missouri. So Stockyards started working on an agreement with Crawford Sales Co. to bring its beers to Johnson County. The Olathe-based distributor also is part of the Kansas Craft Alliance, a network that could enable Stockyards to eventually distribute throughout all of Kansas.
"We're working with our distributor on a launch week," Stockyards owner Greg Bland told the Kansas City Business Journal. "We'll have a few events at the end of February with several different bars and restaurants. After that, you should be able to start finding us at all the typical craft beer-centric bars and restaurants in Johnson County."
Stockyards will begin distribution in Kansas with its three flagship beers:
- Hefeweizen
- West Bottoms IPA
- Cerveza Royale, a Mexican-style lager
Bland said he's looking into adding more fermentation tanks to help the company expand its distribution network and taproom offerings. The company currently lists 14 different beers on its website.
"We have growing demand in our taproom right now which is great," Bland said. "We'll have three or four beers in distribution to reach more people. The goal there is to keep people coming into our taproom to experience all the other beers we have. We always have between eight to 10 beers available in the taproom."