Ribbon Cutting: Fields and Ivy Brewery

At Fields & Ivy Brewery in Lawrence, Kansas, we are committed to sharing the story of how our beers are intertwined with Kansas agriculture.

 

As you probably know, beer choices in our American Midwest have changed enormously during the past 30 years.  I turned 21 almost 30 years ago. At that time, beer choices were somewhat limited; and, today’s 21 year-olds would be sadly shocked at how bad it was.  I turned to wine in my 20s because I was interested in growing things and the thought of growing grapes then, turning mother earth’s bounty into a compelling liquid, seemed like a perfect combination of art and science.  This was my dream while I began my career in agriculture, and eventually, in finance.

 

In the 1990s I tried my first big craft beer while visiting a friend in California, everything changed at that moment.  Discovering that beer could have big taste—extravagant taste, even—was the first holy sh*t beer-moment for me.  The second holy sh*t beer moment was learning that, unlike wine, world class beer can be manufactured by almost anyone because, world class beer ingredients are shelf stable and available just about everywhere.  In fact, we grow world class wheat right here in my home state of Kansas and many world class beers are brewed with -wheat!! 

 

Despite all that, I settled for learning how to home-brew in our basement in Atlanta and dreamed of one day opening a brewery while we worked our “real” jobs.