October 20, 2024
When Kansas was being settled in the 1850s, before it became a state, Free Staters (peeps that believed human beings shouldn’t be owned by other human beings) started towns such as Topeka, Lawrence and Manhattan.
Of course we all are aware that pro-slavers (peeps that believed it was cool to own humans) tried to take over Kansas. Hell, in May of 1855 pro-slavers in Missouri stuffed the ballot boxes in Kansas in a successful attempt to get a pro-slave legislature.
But ultimately the Free Staters prevailed thanks to many, many people, including the “Free State Society” established in 1855 by a small group of men in Lawrence. Kansas became an official “free” state in 1861.
You can’t know where you are going if you don’t know where you’ve been.
Is it really all that surprising that the first brewery in the state of Kansas is in Lawrence, Kansas and it’s called The Free State Brewing Co.? Not really. It had to happen that way.
Free State Brewing was opened 134 years after (in 1989) the “The Free State Society” was established. Since Free State opened and had a food menu, there are a couple of items that have remained on the menu the whole time. Enter the Black Bean Quesadilla. If you haven’t had it before, I highly recommend it. I think it is the three cheese mix that ties everything together. It had been at least 10 years since I had ordered it, but when I took that first bite I was so glad I got it again.
If you haven’t been to Free State Brewing in a while or ever, go.
— TKG
