The Free State Brewing Company is a

microbrewery Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

based in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...

. It opened in 1989 as the first legal brewery in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

in over 100 years. It is named after the legacy of the free state movement during the Antebellum period of

Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War, was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...

. In that interest, the Company uses as their mascot the

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

John Brown as depicted in ''

Tragic Prelude ''Tragic Prelude'' is a mural painted by the American artist John Steuart Curry for the Kansas State Capitol building in Topeka, Kansas. It is located on the east side of the second floor Rotunda (architecture), rotunda. On the north wall it depi ...

'', a

John Steuart Curry John Steuart Curry (November 14, 1897 – August 29, 1946) was an American painter whose career spanned the years from 1924 until his death. He was noted for his paintings depicting rural life in his home state, Kansas. Along with Thomas Hart B ...

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

in the Kansas State Capitol building. In 2010, the brewery announced plans to expand to distribute to vendors in Kansas and

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, and as far east as

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. On May 21, 2010 Free State Brewery began to distribute bottled beer to stores in Lawrence, Kansas. Four bottled beers were released: Copperhead Pale Ale, Oatmeal Stout, Ad Astra Ale, and Wheat State Golden.

Beers

The first beer Free State Brewing Company made, Ad Astra Ale (which takes its name from part of Kansas's state motto), won a Bronze Medal at the 1991 Great American Beer Festival.

External links

Free State Brewing Company

References

{{reflist Beer brewing companies based in Kansas 1989 establishments in Kansas Lawrence, Kansas