Despite Kansas’ historical roots, a growing number of breweries in Kansas

It used to be, in a Kansas long after Carry Nation died, a thirsty Kansan would sip an occasional Coors, Budweiser or Schlitz.

That was before Free State Brewing Co. in Lawrence opened, followed by the Gella’s Diner & Liquid Bread Brewing Co. in Hays and Hopping Gnome in Wichita.

Now, it is all about the pale ales, lagers, stouts and malts.

According to the National Brewers Association, Kansas ranks 35th in the nation in terms of numbers of craft breweries. More than 36,248 barrels of craft beer are produced within our borders each year, bringing more than $383 million to our economy.

The irony in those figures is that this was prohibitionist Carry Nation’s home state. The fiery tempest from Medicine Lodge became world famous by smashing bars and saloons and preaching that families could come together by abolishing alcohol and cigarettes and avoiding coffee and tea.

Kansas was the first state in the nation to pass a constitutional amendment forbidding the sale and production of intoxicating liquors. Kansas had prohibition from 1881 to 1948 — longer than any other state — and continued to prohibit liquor by the drink in bars and restaurants until 1986.

First brewery in a century

In 1986, 105 years after the constitutional amendment forbidding the sale of alcohol was passed, Kansas erased some of the last vestiges of Prohibition, legalizing liquor by the drink in bars and restaurants.

Three years later, Chuck Magerl opened Free State Brewing Co. in Lawrence, becoming the first legal brewery in Kansas in more than a century.

“I started because I was researching an article on the history of brewing in Kansas and (discovered) we had this dominant immigrant surge in the 1870s with Germans coming to Kansas,” Magerl said. “They brought a lot of their customs with them, including brewing. A lot of the German population valued the brewery as part of the community. In doing this historical perspective in 1977, there were no small breweries opening in Kansas.”

Magerl found the culture was here. But the laws in Kansas prohibited breweries.

“I kept my eyes open. A few emerged on the West Coast,” Magerl said. “I decided it should happen in Kansas. I lobbied the Legislature and walked the hallways of Topeka. We got the law changed to have small breweries in Kansas.”

Now, 134 years after the beginnings of prohibition, Kansas has 30 breweries.

Why Kansas went dry

The population and culture in Kansas during the mid-19th century was largely European immigrants, many of whom brought their drinking customs and traditions with them.

German immigrants and brewers helped fuel the liquor potential in Kansas. In a recent exhibit on Prohibition at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, it was noted that the average person in 1830 drank 90 bottles of 80-proof liquor a year. Sometimes it was because the local water wasn’t safe or tasted bad.

Sometimes it was because the culture condoned it. In 1870, the town of Girard, in southeastern Kansas, was reported to have a saloon for every nine dwellings. That area – Crawford, Cherokee and Bourbon counties – is known as the Little Balkans because so many of the residents originated from that region in southeastern Europe. Many came to work in the coal fields of southeastern Kansas. It was hard work and little pay. A good spirited drink offered respite.

But there was a temperance movement afoot in Kansas — prayer-chanting, hymn-singing men and women who saw how too much alcohol destroyed families. John St. John, a strong supporter of prohibition, was elected Kansas governor in 1879 and led the state into banning alcohol. “The eyes of the whole people are turned toward Kansas,” he was quoted as saying.

But once Kansas banned alcohol, that did not mean it was completely dry.

It was legal to purchase liquor in Kansas City, Mo.

There was bootlegging.

And, there was also a loophole – the Kansas prohibition constitutional amendment made provisions for the sale of alcoholic substances in medicine. Local drugstores in the late 19th and early 20th century did a booming business. Druggists could sell liquor to anyone who signed a statement testifying to their disease and the amount of alcohol they desired. No prescriptions were needed.

Alcohol was thought to treat rheumatism, nervousness, diarrhea and asthma.

There was even a cure-all for “feminine troubles” – Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound contained 18 percent alcohol, slightly more than a bottle of wine, according to a Wichita Eagle article in October 1986.

Although Prohibition lasted only 13 years nationally, it lasted much longer in Kansas, technically more than a century until many of the restrictions were lifted.

Even today, Kansas is one of only about a dozen states where grocery stores are prohibited from selling wine and spirits. It’s also among only about half a dozen states that limit grocery and convenience stores to selling 3.2 percent beer and wine coolers, not stronger beer.

News of good beer

Microbreweries are popping up across Kansas, in rural and urban centers. Some of them are mom-and-pop ventures, others are full-scale businesses, but all are registered with the state of Kansas.

Magerl, owner of the Free State, said: “There are probably more breweries in Kansas. … Now, that’s not a huge accomplishment given what’s happened in the intervening decades. We have yet to emerge in a way that some other states have – and develop designated beer or wine trails. But the news of good beer and good wine gets around. People know what’s out there. Secrets don’t stay secret very long.”

So, after all these years what makes a good beer?

“That is the question that keeps all of us in business constantly challenged,” Magerl said. “My answer is probably different than the person down the sidewalk. I think it takes an adventurous amount of flavor that is well crafted and balanced.”

Recently, one of Magerl’s beers won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival.

“This was a gold medal for a beer that had basil, juniper and cucumbers in it,” Magerl said. “We knew at the time we made it that this is not everybody’s idea of a great beer. But the international judges said it is the best example in the United States. We are proud of it and proud that it is a local product using produce that came off the farm.”

Gella’s in Hays was begun in 2005 by Gerald Wyman of Brownell. A longtime farmer, Wyman had been making home brew for years. Then he and his wife, Janet, met Chuck Comeau of Plainville – an entrepreneur who has several businesses, including Dessin Fournir Cos. Gella’s Liberty Stout and Oatmeal Stout have consistently won at the Great American Beer Festival. In 2013, Wyman was named Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year.

Back in 1975, when Wyman was growing up, there was no such thing as a Christmas ale.

He makes a Christmas ale now that is spiced with cinnamon, honey and brown sugar.

“What’s happened in the craft brewing industry is that people are pulling away from commercial beers such as Budweiser and Coors – they still make good beers,” Wyman said. “But the beers are hoppier and have more flavor. There are so many different styles of beers now.”

This story was originally published December 26, 2015 at 8:05 PM with the headline "Despite Kansas’ historical roots, a growing number of breweries in Kansas."