Tallgrass Brewing Company

Tallgrass Brewing Company is a brand of beers brewed and distributed by the Wichita Brewing Company and a former craft brewery that was located in Manhattan, Kansas, that operated from 2006 to 2018.[1] At the time of its closing, Tallgrass was the largest brewery in Kansas,[2] and was distributed in 18 states.[1] In August 2018, Tallgrass announced that it would be shutting down operations indefinitely. In 2020 Wichita Brewing company signed a licensing agreement and began brewing and distributing four beers formerly brewed by the company under the Tallgrass Brewing Company brand.

History edit

The brewery was founded by Jeff Gill in 2006.[3] Gill was a former geologist, who had learned brewing as a homebrewer.[4] Though initially the beers were bottled, the brewery switched to cans in 2010 for environmental and quality reasons.[3][5][6] In 2014, the Brewery moved from its original warehouse space, to a warehouse space near Manhattan Regional Airport.[7] The expansion increased the brewery's capacity from a Tallgrass record 365,000 gallons produced in 2013, to the ability to brew 3 million gallons per year.[4]

At the same time, Tallgrass opened a brewpub, called Tallgrass Taphouse on Poyntz Avenue in downtown Manhattan.

In August 2018, Tallgrass announced that it would be shutting down operations indefinitely,[1] although the Taphouse brewpub remains open.

In 2020, Wichita Brewing Company signed a licensing agreement to revive the brand and start brewing once popular beers from Tallgrass.[8] The beers are brewed using original equipment from the Tallgrass brewery that was purchased in 2015.[9]

Beers offered edit

  • Buffalo Sweat – oatmeal cream stout (now brewed by Wichita Brewing Company)
  • Vanilla Buffalo Sweat – oatmeal cream stout with vanilla beans
  • 8-Bit pale ale – hoprocketed American Pale Ale (now brewed by Wichita Brewing Company)
  • Ethos IPA – American IPA
  • Key Lime Pie – sour Berliner Weiss with lime peel (now brewed by Wichita Brewing Company)
  • King Buffalo – an Imperial Oatmeal Cream Stout
  • Pub Ale (previously Tallgrass Ale) – an English mild
  • Raspberry Jam – a sour Berliner Weiss with raspberries (now brewed by Wichita Brewing Company)
  • Velvet Rooster – Belgian-style tripel
  • Zombie Monkey – Robust porter first released in 2014 [10]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Furnari, Chris (August 24, 2018). "Tallgrass Founder Performing 'Triage' as Kansas Craft Brewery Ceases Production and Lays Off Workforce". Brewbound. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  2. ^ Hoedel, Cindy (April 12, 2014). "With throwback strategy, Manhattan's Tallgrass Brewing cans a winner". Kansas City Star. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Tallgrass History". Tallgrass Brewing Company. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Tallgrass Brewing to open 60,000-square-foot facility this spring". CJOnline.com. Retrieved 2015-05-07.
  5. ^ "Canifesto". Tallgrass Brewing Company. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  6. ^ "Tallgrass Brewing Company makes the move to cans". Pitch. Retrieved 2015-05-07.
  7. ^ Hoedel, Cindy. "Kansas' Tallgrass Brewing Company plans expansion in Manhattan". Kansas City Star. Retrieved 2015-05-07.
  8. ^ Neil, Denise (March 6, 2020). "A Wichita brewery is about to bring Tallgrass beer back to life". The Wichita Eagle.
  9. ^ "WBC Craft Beers | Tallgrass Beer". Wichita Brewing Company. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
  10. ^ "Zombie Monkie Porter by Tallgrass Brewing Company is LV's October 2014 Brew of the Month". Little Village. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 2015-05-07.

Further resources edit