Red Crow Brewing Company will open in Spring Hill this summer

Beer brings people together. People like Mike Denny, the founder of Artistic Concrete Surfaces, and Chris Roberts of the Red Crow Brewing Company. Denny needed a showroom for his concrete design and build firm. Roberts needed a tap room for the family-run microbrewery he’s been planning to open for several years. And come this summer, both will have what they want in Red Crow Brewing Company’s new facility in Spring Hill, Kansas.

“We’re going to be a destination brewery. I think we have great beer and we’ll be one of those fun places to go,” Roberts says.

The brewery will be located on the same property that houses ACS’s new facility. The frame of the building is up and Roberts is looking to open somewhere between June and July. The brewhouse will be about 1,000-square feet with a 7-barrel system. It will be attached to a 1,700-square foot tap room that also has an outdoor patio featuring ACS’ molded and stamped concrete.

A Belgian Blonde will be Red Crow’s flagship brew, but Roberts is also eager to see what the public thinks of the brewery’s Belgian IPA.

“Our Belgian IPA has a little rye in it and I love that slick, peppery character of rye in beer. It’s a combination of lesser known hops so it’s nice and fruity and there’s some mango and stone fruit in there,” Roberts says.

The brewery gained a following on the local beer festival circuit and convinced Roberts, along with his wife Mistie and her parents, Joe and Loretta Fisher, that the beer he was homebrewing could be the foundation for a new brewery. While Red Crow will definitely be at the Parkville Microbrew Fest in April, Roberts plans to slow down on the festival circuit in the beginning of the year as they prepare to get the brewery open.

“At this time next year, I’m hoping we’ll have one, two, or three beers ready to go out the door,” Roberts says. “I want to people to see Red Crow on tap and have that memory of the brewery.”

On the food side, Roberts is talking to several area food trucks and eateries in Spring Hill. He hopes to host beer dinners, in addition to the snacks served with the brews. Red Crow is also in the process of applying for the licensing needed to operate a microbrewery.

“We’ve been so busy with getting the doors open, that I’ll just be giddy to brew the simplest beer,” Roberts says.

[Images via Red Crow/ACS]