A former Aero Plains Brewing competitor in Wichita is planning to revive some of its beers
One of the last pieces of bad news Wichita received before the truly bad news of COVID-19 settled in last year was that Aero Plains Brewing at 117 N. Handley was closing.
But now, there’s some happy news for fans of the defunct brewery’s beer.
On Wednesday, an online auction of the Aero Plains assets was conducted, and one of its former competitors — Wichita Brewing Company — purchased the rights to the Aero Plains beer brands.
That means that WBC now can brew and sell Aero Plains beers, and owner Jeremy Horn says he plans to do just that. In a few weeks, he hopes to start brewing Wingman Wheat and Aero Vice Tart Ale.
If all goes as planned, Horn said, he could have kegs ready to go by late February or early March and get the beer back in restaurants and bars. He also plans to get cans back on liquor store shelves.
“Aero Plains had a loyal following,” Horn said. “They had a really good presence in restaurants and bars. Anywhere you went, there was an Aero Plains tap handle.”
This isn’t WBC’s first foray into rescuing a beer brand. In March of 2020, owners signed a licensing agreement to start brewing Tallgrass Brewing Co.’s once-popular beers. The Manhattan-based brewery went out of business in 2018.
Now, WBC regularly produces at its brewing facility at 727 E. Osie Tallgrass beers 8-Bit Pale Ale, Buffalo Sweat and Raspberry Jam, all of which are still in high demand.
“It’s gone exceedingly well,” Horn said. “We send more beer to the Kansas City market in a month than we used to in a year with the addition of Tallgrass.”
Aero Plains Brewing, which opened in 11,250 square feet in Delano in October 2016, closed in early February after facing a “series of unfortunate events,” owner Lance Minor said at the time. He listed the brewery for sale and the building has been vacant ever since.
Horn said that WBC owners decided they had the room in their production facility to brew the beer, though they can likely make only a couple at a time. Other once-popular Aero Plains beers might be rotated in later, he said.
“It worked out well,” he said of the purchase. “We saw value in those brands.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2021 at 2:47 PM.
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