Tallgrass Brewing Company Explained

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

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

• 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]

Further resources

• Web site: Brewing TV - Episodes - Brewing TV - Episode 64: Tallgrass Brewing Company. 2015-05-07.

Notes and References

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