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Free Beer?

Yup. I got some free beer a few weeks ago when my local beer monger got a few mixed eight packs from his distributor. Tallgrass brewing out of Manhattan Kansas has been brewing up tasty craft beer since 2007, yet the only reason I found them is because a distributor dropped off their beer after they stopped carrying the brand.

I’m not sure why Tallgrass stopped distribution in Colorado, other than the fact that this is a super tough market, but I’m certainly glad I got to try their beers.

Tallgrass, like so many small breweries, was founded on hard work and funding from friends and family.

After considerable amounts of planning and hard work, when the spring of 2007 rolled around Jeff Gill and his wife  Tricia were ready to speak with friends and family about investing in their dream to start Tallgrass Brewing Company.

With the money raised and a lot more hard work, the brewery was built just off of Green Valley Road at the edge of the Flint Hills. A beautiful copper-clad brewhouse arrived in June 2007 and the first beer was brewed in August 2007.

Their beer is now available on tap and in cans across the Midwest, Mississippi, Minnesota, and more to come!

The brewery describes the beers that I was able to try as:

OASIS (ABV 7.2%, 93 IBU) Oasis is a Double ESB/IPAish beer that came about from playing around with one of Jeff’s favorite homebrew recipes

BUFFALO SWEAT (ABV 5.0%, 20 IBU) We love this beer here at the brewery, and think you will have one of those “I’ve never-tasted-a-beer-like-that” kind of moments when you try it!

IPA (ABV 6.3%, 60 IBU) Our third beer, Tallgrass IPA, is an India Pale Ale that is rich, complex, and flavorful. We are proud to be the first brewery here in the Great Plains to have the first brewed, cans, and draft IPA out on the market!

ALE (ABV 4.4%, 22 IBU) Tallgrass Ale is the flagship beer of Tallgrass Brewing Company, and we think it will be your new favorite beer! Truly a craft beer, the recipe was first brewed by Jeff as a 10-gallon batch of homebrew. Of all his homebrew recipes, Jeff chose Tallgrass Ale as the flagship beer because of the beer’s surprising light body, extraordinarily smooth and balanced profile, great taste, and clean finish. The first time Jeff brewed Tallgrass Ale he thought it looked a little too dark, but after he kegged that first batch, the finished beer was really, really tasty! That first little 10-gallon batch of Tallgrass was gone way too fast!

While Tallgrass isn’t going to be very easy for most of us to find, I certainly recommend giving it a try when you do.

This little brewery on plains of Kansas is doing some good things!

Posted by Charles Hoffman at 10:23 AM Labels: Big Kahuna, Craft Beer, Free Beer, Kansas Beer, Tallgrass brewing


