Manhattan Brewing Company settles on space for Wichita tap room, will open in late August
The owners of Manhattan Brewing Company — including Wichita native and former K-State football player Jake Voegeli — have settled on a permanent spot for their Wichita taproom.
Last week, I told you about the owners’ plans to open tap rooms in other cities besides Manhattan, where they launched their brewery in 2020. Wichita was at the top of the list, Voegeli said, not only because he grew up here and graduated from Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School but also because the brewery had put on a series of successful monthly popups in Wichita starting in May.
Now, the owners have settled on a permanent spot for their tap room, and it’s the same place they’ve been putting on their pop-ups: the former Aero Plains Brewing spot at 117 N. Handley in Delano.
Aero Plains closed and vacated the building in 2020, and it’s now the home of the
Slape & Howard law firm, where Voegeli’s brother, Jon, is a partner. Since taking over the space, the law firm has been using the former bar area as a lobby and as an event space that it could rent out. The firm kept the Aero Plains bar and named the space Sky Lounge.
Now, the firm has agreed to let Manhattan Brewing Company take the space over for its tap room, which will be called MBC Lounge. Voegeli and his partners will put on their final pop-up events there from 5 to 10 p.m. on Aug 16 and from noon to 10 p.m. on Aug. 17. The tap room will officially open Aug. 23.
At first, it will be open three days a week: from 5 to 10 p.m. on Fridays, from noon to 10 p.m. on Saturdays, and from noon to 8 p.m. on Sundays. The rest of the week, the space will still be available for event rental.
The new tap room will have eight to 10 beers on tap, including favorites like Tasty IPA, Townie American Wheat, Wabash Easy Drinking Ale and Tang Party Tangerine Sour.
In the meantime, the Manhattan Brewing Company owners will occasionally be at the Old Town Farm & Art Market on Saturdays selling four packs and bottles of their beers. They won’t be there this weekend but will for sure return on Aug. 17.
Voegeli played football at Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School in the early 2000s then went on to play at K-State, where he snagged a Big 12 Championship ring in 2003.
After he graduated from college, he moved back to Wichita to take a job at Spirit, where he worked for five years. He then started working in sales for Tallgrass Brewing, which was based in Manhattan until it closed in 2018. He also worked as national sales director at Tallgrass then moved on to Standard Beverage Corporation in Wichita.
Not long after, Voegeli was approached by his future Manhattan Brewing Company partners, brewers Adam Krebsbach and Garrett Paulman, asking if he wanted to join them in their new venture.
The owners also hope to expand into Kansas City and to possibly add another tap room in Manhattan.
This story was originally published July 31, 2024 at 10:44 AM.
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