About
The Original Kansas Craft Brewery, since 1989. Serving fresh beer and daily specials in Lawrence. Currently distributing bottles/cans and kegs in Kansas and Missouri.
“Because without beer, things do not seem to go as well.”
In 1989, Free State Brewing Company became the first legal brewery in Kansas in over 100 years. Since opening the doors at our Mass Street HQ, we’ve been working day in and day out to be a haven for beer lovers, where good beer and good food can inspire lively conversations and memorable experiences.
Our 14-barrel brewhouse is made up of some of the best equipment available to the small brewer, but we still think the most important ingredients are the care and respect that our enthusiastic, knowledgeable staff has for each and every beer that we make. And now that we’re producing bottled beers in our expanded bottling facility, our attention to detail and dedication to great taste and quality can be experienced by people all over Kansas and Missouri.
“Because without beer, things do not seem to go as well.”
In 1989, Free State Brewing Company became the first legal brewery in Kansas in over 100 years. Since opening the doors at our Mass Street HQ, we’ve been working day in and day out to be a haven for beer lovers, where good beer and good food can inspire lively conversations and memorable experiences.
Our 14-barrel brewhouse is made up of some of the best equipment available to the small brewer, but we still think the most important ingredients are the care and respect that our enthusiastic, knowledgeable staff has for each and every beer that we make. And now that we’re producing bottled beers in our expanded bottling facility, our attention to detail and dedication to great taste and quality can be experienced by people all over Kansas and Missouri.
6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
10 oz pour at the brewpub. Pour is mostly clear brown with ruby highlights. Smallish off white head. Aroma of resin hoppiness, some earthy floral aspects as well. Fresh and inviting nose. Taste is bitter hops initially, with some resin, earthy almost malty peatiness. Interesting and unique. Palate is thin-medium, lingering bitterness. Nice one.
Tried
on 19 Nov 2008
at 13:34
8.3/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 8
Snifter pour at brewpub, 2005 vintage. Pours completely black with a strong brown head. Aroma is very boozy with lots of prune. There is also an alcohol licorice mix as well. The beer has an extremely viscous mouthfeel and really works well with this brew. The alcohol lets up in the flavor a bit as well. Has a thick black tea-roast-coffee thing. Love the mouthfeel but the alcohol is too strong on the nose. 7/4/8/5/16.
Oh, the 2004 vintage, about 7 years old, was sublime. The alcohol was not apparent at all in this batch. Chocolatey smoothness all around, a joy to sip on. Still has that great mouthfeel. 8/4/8/5/17
Oh, the 2004 vintage, about 7 years old, was sublime. The alcohol was not apparent at all in this batch. Chocolatey smoothness all around, a joy to sip on. Still has that great mouthfeel. 8/4/8/5/17
Tried
on 18 Nov 2008
at 00:46
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Growler shared by beastiefan2k at the 10/18 tasting. Pour is slightly hazed golden with a 1/2 inch white head. Aroma of bananas and cloves - a very Hefe nose. There is some buttery caramel present as well as some grassiness. Taste is wheat, rye, more of the sweet buttery caramel sensation. Palate is creamy and slick. No alcohol at all - if this is 8.5, I am not sensing it at all.
Tried
from Growler
on 20 Oct 2008
at 09:04
7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Growler, consumed hours after fill. Pours a completely clear dark golden color with a small head. Aroma is lightly sweet, light hops breaking through and its all mixed up with spiciness that I am interrupting as rye. Flavor is clean malts with hops and a rather assertive spiciness (light clove among other aspects). Its easy going down, clean malts, and deceptive if its really 8.5%.
Tried
from Growler
on 19 Oct 2008
at 22:18
7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Tap @ brewpub, pours with a beautiful completely clear amber color. Aroma is all hops, lightly resin-y and very sweet hops. Taste is all sweet hops but clean and well attenuated behind that. Just a bit of hop bitterness at the end. A very nice, standard brewpub hoppy brew.
Tried
from Draft
on 19 Oct 2008
at 22:04
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
2006 on tap @ the brewpub, 2 years old. Multiple snifter fills. The color is murky reddish brown, sometimes pours with a small but lasting head, other times no head. Aroma is is strong with sweet, malty, raisin bread with strong notes of rummy black bread. Not strong on hops but I have been told when fresh this is extremely hoppy. Its not over the top on the nose but its still strong. Taste is thick with light fruitiness (in a good way, not astringent or anything), thick maltiness, with some faint roast that works well, and a lightly bitter rosy rum. Alcohol there but works well with the bigness of the beer, does not stick out much. Mouthfeel is very full yet not dead. Just a bit of burn down the throat on the first sip. Velvet-y feel on the cheeks. I kept drinking it, so I guess I liked it a lot. Stands up to the hype.
Had some 2002 at the Anniversary party in 2011. Very strong cardboard present. Still a nice barleywine underneath but plenty of oxidation at this point.
Had some 2002 at the Anniversary party in 2011. Very strong cardboard present. Still a nice barleywine underneath but plenty of oxidation at this point.
Tried
from Draft
on 19 Oct 2008
at 21:49
7.3/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
Bottle at Fins ... Thanks to Fin for a great weekend and some Real intersting beers... Huge Thanks to Casey for this 3yr old Bottle ... But also a huge thanks to mcbackus who posted a thread in trade forum that made me realise i hadnt entered this and about a dozen others. ... Amber ... sweet malts tofeee and vanilla nose .. Rich deep toffee ... some vanilla again ... deep vine fruits ... For me much better balanced that alesmith numbskull..
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Oct 2008
at 16:09
7.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Pint pour @ brewpub. Color is clear dark brown. Aroma is light earthiness, with lightly bitter bark. Some earthy, green hops just scratching their way into the aroma. Just sticking its head out though the lightest smell of prune. Taste is less complex with more earthiness than anything else. Easy drinking yet has substance.
Tried
on 13 Oct 2008
at 12:04
7.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Growler courtesy of beastiefan2k. Pour is golden orange, with only a slight haze. Pours with some settling, building up a 1 1/2 inch off white head. Aroma of fresh malted cereal malt, slightly sweet grain and hay grassiness. Really fresh nose. Taste is the cereal grain malt, with the sweetness and the hay more in the finish. As with the nose, taste is fresh and clean. Palate is medium, thin and quite drinkable. Clean and crisp finish. None of the cloying sweetness that some Oktoberfest seem to have. This is not an overly complex beer, but is really solidly built and quaffable. Certainly my favorite of the style I have had so far. Thanks for hauling this to me Eugene.
Tried
from Growler
on 13 Oct 2008
at 10:44
6.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Growler picked up at the brewery for me by beastiefan2k. Pour is a hazed brown, copper ruby with pretty settling that created a nice one inch off-whte / tan head. Nice, sticky, lacing is left behind as the head falls. Aroma is initially banana yeastiness, sweet and ripe. Beneath is wheat. Taste is wheat, some caramel sweetness, and the banana sweet yeastiness from the nose. As Greg noted, there is also a peaty smokiness present in the beer that is interesting. Palate is medium, though is slickly drinkable too. The finish is a lot more of the smokiness, and is a dry ashiness which was really off-putting. Overall, a decent enough beer. Thanks for being my Free State mule, Eugene.
Tried
from Growler
on 08 Oct 2008
at 17:27