Vine Street Brewing Co. | Kansas City, MO

Beer Trip: Vine Street Brewing Co. in Kansas City, Missouri

Though we are self-proclaimed brewery connoisseurs, it took us far too long to make it to Vine Street Brewing Co. right here in Kansas City! This place opened as the first black-owned brewery in the state of Missouri and offers awesome beer and vibes rivaling any other stop in town. Located in the historic Jazz District in KCMO, Vine Street does an incredible job at integrating local history and cultural heritage to create a lively, inclusive space.

*Even the window artwork was immaculate!*

The Brewery

Vine Street is located in an awesome, 150-year-old limestone building with plenty of street parking out front. They share the building with a few other businesses, including an art gallery next door featuring artwork from local black artists. It’s inferred that the brewery and gallery are intertwined, as the brewery has the coolest artwork of any tap house in the city, with designs covering their front windows, the main bar, and even the tops of each table! Their logo itself is also a work of art - it took us about an hour into our visit to realize that the face of the woman in their logo is actually a pint of beer.

*Seating in the downstairs area overlooking the patio*

The brewery occupies two different floors with a bar on each level. The upstairs section has about a dozen tables and chairs with a half wall looking down into the brewing operation itself. The lower section, “The Groove Room,” seemed to be set up more for private events and also had about a dozen tables. Perhaps the best feature of Vine Street is its huge outdoor patio located behind the building. There are countless picnic tables and even an elevated stage section where they host live music. The entire patio offers awesome views of the downtown Kansas City skyline in the distance.

The Beer

Vine Street maintains 10 - 12 different beers on tap at any given time. During our visit, we were rather impressed with the varying styles of brews they had to offer, including an IPA, sour, Kentucky Common, and Belgian Dubbel (just to name a few). We were told that they maintain 4 - 5 flagship taps and constantly rotate out the rest of the menu as things run out.

We hadn’t heard much about the beer here before showing up, but will certainly be talking about it moving forward. We were extremely impressed with their beer quality and everything we sampled was top-notch. One that really stood out was the Jazzman, which is a dark lager and one of their flagships. They actually slow-pour this from the tap (~5ish minutes!) to ensure it is enjoyed properly. With faint malty hints and a perfect roasty taste, it’s a perfect and unique brew. Another one worth mentioning is the cream ale, the East 71. This one provides a rich and smooth creamy taste along with a mouthcoating vanilla finish.

Food, Merch, & More

While you won’t find a kitchen at Vine Street, they do partner with food trucks to cure your hunger. One was outside during our visit and it seemed to be a hit with patrons.

If beer isn’t your thing, they have you covered here too with offerings of canned cocktails, ciders, and a few non-alcoholic beers. During our visit the merchandise section was limited to only one sweatshirt; however, this seemed to be an anomaly as they have a ton of gear on their website including shirts, hats, bags, glassware, and even shoes! In addition to this, a lot of their beer is available to go in pre-canned crowlers.

Vine Street hosts countless events including meet-ups, comedy nights, BINGO, jazz festivals, live music, and brewery tours. Needless to say, we can’t wait until our next visit. We can’t say enough good things about Vine Street Brewing Co. This place exceeded our expectations in both beer and atmosphere.

Cheers!

Chris & Morgan

Vine Street Brewing Co. | Kansas City, MO

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