Fans bid farewell to Kansas City’s Bier Station after ten years

When? Bier Station Jason and Michelle Rohlf, who opened their doorways for the final time on Saturday, had been there to say goodbye.

They had been first clients and have been regulars ever since when the craft beer bar and bottle store opened ten years in the past.

“We like it right here. It’s household pleasant and we will stroll right here,” he stated. “It will be freezing chilly and they’d placed on social media what they had been considering of opening at 4 o’clock and 100 would come.”

Jason Rohlf praised the store for supporting many neighborhood causes over time and stated the employees had been “excellent”.

Inside half-hour of the Saturday midday opening, the place on bustling Gregory Avenue, the border between the Brookside and Waldo neighborhoods, was full of different followers for the “kill the keg” closing occasion.

However founder John Couture ran out of the barrel after it ran out throughout Friday’s closing celebrations.

Couture opened Bier Station at 120 E. Gregory on December 27, 2012. She shortly grew to become a neighborhood favourite but in addition attracted so-called beer geeks from all around the space. She provided 36 beers and wines on faucet and a whole lot of various kinds of takeaways. It has expanded over time by taking up a retail area subsequent door and providing extra menu objects.

A couple of years in the past, the homeowners City Barrel Brewing Co.. He approached Couture on the crossroads and stated they might be eager about taking up if he needed to proceed. They stayed in contact and some months in the past, Couture reached out after the profitable Josh Hawley Enjoyable Run fundraiser. The occasion mocked the Missouri Republican senator whereas elevating funds for progressive causes.

“We have held many political and social occasions, and my coronary heart actually lies right here,” he stated on Saturday. “I am joyful to do one thing I need to do and the neighborhood will profit from that as a result of Metropolis Barrel’s imaginative and prescient is an ideal match for this area.”

“And I can go in and work with my laptop computer and never fear in regards to the cooler breaking down or the roof leaking.”

Buyer Lindsey Day stopped by Saturday along with her husband Reid and one-year-old daughter Lily. Brookside residents had been month-to-month regulars for Lindsey’s varied beers to select from throughout her being pregnant, in addition to non-alcoholic choices.

Followers additionally left a whole lot of feedback on Bier Station’s Fb web page, together with:

▪ “Thanks in your nice contribution to the neighborhood during the last ten years! Your location has been MANY totally different companies over time. It was nice to see somebody who suits the realm completely. Greatest needs to you in your new profession! CHEERS!”

▪ “Sigh. That is actually bittersweet information. I’ve tears of joyful and unhappy tears working down my face proper now. The crew at Bier Station, the environment, the neighborhood cohesion, the pure feeling that all the pieces belongs to is one thing most companies would solely need to create. John and his workforce I bear in mind strolling in there 10 years in the past, strolling John out to the car parking zone and exhibiting him he can see our home and reassuring him that I will be a salesman however a good friend and supporter first. The snow days won’t ever be the identical. I do not know how you can inform the boy who asks if we will go.”

▪ “Thanks for constructing a spot that’s a lot greater than good beer. It was actually a spot for civic engagement. Preserve combating for causes that all of us really feel so captivated with.”

Along with the enterprise, Metropolis Barrel homeowners Joe Giammanco and James Stutsman additionally purchased the 5,000 sq. foot constructing from Couture. Bier Station has 3,000 sq. toes and a dental follow 2,000 sq. toes. It additionally has a car parking zone and they’re going to hire different parking areas as properly.

After a renovation, they plan to open Metropolis Barrel Pizza + Patio within the space subsequent summer season. They may even develop the patio space and maintain the second-floor beer backyard as a group area.

Metropolis Barrel Pizza + Patio will serve specialties reminiscent of New York-style pizza, wings, sandwiches, salads and chips, in addition to Chicago-style and Sicilian-style pizzas, together with Metropolis Barrel beers and signature cocktails. It plans to be open for lunch and dinner each day.

Giammanco lives close by and the Rohlfs used to take their canines to Pooches Paradise Day Care & Resort in Waldo. He bought the enterprise however 5 years later he can nonetheless identify his pets – Reggie and Morty.

“I like the neighborhood. “I fell in love with the power of the neighborhood,” he stated. “We need to be certain that we maintain the identical (Bier Station) group spirit. We actually hope it is a clean transition.”