5 questions with … Chris Rausch

People used to walk into Chris Rausch’s What’s Brewin’ shop and ask her where the coffee was.

With more people drinking home- or craft-brewed beer, she doesn’t get that question nearly as often.

What’s Brewin’, 720 W. Douglas in Delano, carries beer and wine-making equipment, and soda extracts and kegging equipment.

Rausch opened her shop in 1981 and is one of the reasons that beer culture has arisen in Wichita. She has had a booth at the Midwest Beerfest, going on this weekend at Century II, since it started in 2001.

She runs the shop with her daughter, Hilary Rausch.

Q. How did you get into the business?

A. Company would come over on Sundays and hang around for our home brews, so we started putting beer kits in the upholstery shop. It’s a lot easier to lift a beer kit than couches, so that was a no-brainer.

Q. Is interest in home-made beer picking up?

A. Oh yes. I‘d say on the beer part, probably more than 50 percent even than in the last five or six years. What’s helped that a lot is how craft brewing has grown. People are realizing they can make beer that tastes just as good as they can buy.

Q. What kind is the most popular?

A. It’s seasonal. … So it’s going more toward porters and stouts, and brown ales for winter.

Q. How close is home-made beer to commercial beer?

A. You can make beer taste just as good, or better. You can control the alcohol, the flavor, the body with the malt, the bitterness with the hops.

Q. How much beer do your drink?

A. Not so much anymore. Maybe two or three times a week.

This story was originally published October 15, 2014 at 3:57 PM with the headline "5 questions with … Chris Rausch."