🍺 Historic Water Department building

The historic Water Department building — 201 Main St. — was originally built in 1905. The main floor had a 40-horse stable, space for 35 buggies, a harness room, wash rooms and a furnace room.

🍺 About River Bluff Brewing

River Bluff Brewery opened their 1st location in St. Joseph in 2018 — occupying a renovated 1860’s building. The company has since won the Great American Beer Festival’s Silver award for its Sandy Dunes Saison. Other staple beers include:

Arrowhead Red — a dark amber ale with rye
Speedliner IPA — a transparent, juicy IPA
River Cream Ale — a light, crisp ale

Picture of new fermenting tanks at River Bluff. Photo by the KCtoday team.

🍺 The expansion

River Bluff leaders looked at ~20 spots but kept coming back to the Water building. They said the River Market fit their brand and allowed them to reclaim + preserve history.

“It always came back to, ‘Let’s go to the River Market.’ It just felt like us.” — Co-founder Chris Lanman

🍺 Opening + future plans

River Bluff tentatively planned to open in October. Leadership was hopeful, but they had been set back considerably due to pandemic supply chain issues.

Leadership now plans to open sometime in February, CityScene KC reported. You can follow updates on their Facebook page.

Brewmaster Joel Cummings said the KC location will have a lot of unique brews. Ideas include a dark wheat, a New England hazy IPA, + experimental sours. Thanks to their small batch setup, they plan to rotate the taps weekly and collaborate with other metro breweries.

Hungry for more? The brewery also plans to open an independently-contracted kitchen a few months after opening.

Find more sneak peek pictures on Facebook.

Picture of River Bluff team. From the left: From the left: Joel Cummings, Chris Lanman, Edison Derr + Hootie Wales. Photo by the KCtoday team.

🚴‍♂️ Cycle City moving in next door

Here's a Q+A with Joe Fox — owner of Cycle City KC — who will share the Water building with River Bluff.

When do you plan to open in the Water Department building?

“We plan to open early November.”

Why did you choose that location as a good expansion?

“There’s a big hole in the Kansas City market in and around the River Market and the surrounding areas. Our experience will go a long way to serve that booming part of Kansas City.”

What do you hope to contribute to downtown KC?

“We’ll have many group rides each week. We will partner with River Bluff for events and local coffee shops to bring riders to their locations and keep the local excitement growing.”

Picture of the Cycle City sign via Cycle City on Facebook.