Popination Emancipation

a series of unhinged personal essays disguised as pub reviews. Today: Wichita Brewing Company.

You may be thinking: Just a minute, why is Jenn popinating in Wichita again? Why is she not regaling us with her observations of that weird sounding Metal themed brewery with the LOTR movie playing, like she teased us with in Notes? 

Well, first: I am in fact good at the art of the tease, and secondly: I’m not in Wichita again, I just neglected to write about this particular place last time I was there. It occurred to me to write about Wichita Brewing Company for today because I’m recording a podcast episode this evening with Friend JQM, whom you’ve heard me mention before, and it reminded me that the pics of WBC were still languishing on my to-do list. Plus, this brewery was not part of the Wichita pub crawl, but was a separate trip we took the day before, mainly for the food, as I was hungry getting off the plane and I had remembered it fondly from my previous visit. Each time I come to Wichita, I request a visit to WBC. I was going to say I like this place best of all Wichita Popinations, but since the pub crawl, I’ve come to love Hopping Gnome, so it’s a close thing.

Wichita Brewing Company is a sprawling, pleasant place with a classic brewery look that I’ve described before: it’s wide open, clean smooth cement floors, exposed stuff in the ceilings, visible brewing equipment, lots of metal bars involved in the composition of its tables and chairs of all heights. Except in WBC, it’s less steel than it is copper: the owner is known also for designing all this cool copper decor and bar ( the which was inspired by Avery Brewing Co. in Boulder, which I’ll have to popinate again and write about for you sometime soon, as that was another pivotal popination of my past). Including a copper statue of their mascot, John Brown, who resides at their new East branch of the brewery.

There’s images of John Brown everywhere at WBC. Why? Well, he’s their mascot, and the outer wall as well as all their glassware is bedecked with his image from a famous painting, except instead of a gun and a bible, he’s wielding large beer mugs in his defiant fists. Why is John Brown their mascot? Um, I never was able to find out specifically why, other than that he’s a Wichita folk hero, and an anti-slavery activist who murderously kicked butt in the name of abolition. In this case, I did for a brief moment violate my no-research rule to try and find this out, but no dice. JQM, if you’re reading this, let me know what I missed.* Or is it just that simple—that he was cool and they wanted him as their image?

I have a couple favorite beers at WBC, though I’ve only gotten through a couple of them. My first fave is an IPA called V.6 (I think after the engine type? But I forget), and I also very much enjoy that one Pale Ale I forget the name of, from Tallgrass (an aligned brewery). I have sampled a few more and they’re all great, honestly—they’ve pretty much got everything for any taste in beer you might have.

But WBC isn’t just known for its beer—it’s also got really good pizza. Like, really good. Like, their lunch deal of a half salad and personal sized pizza, I would probably literally do every day if I lived there. Some of them boast strange toppings, too, that are surprisingly good together: some really good white pizza combos, an insane pickle-lover’s pizza which I must try next time I’m there, an even more insane grilled cheese concoction where the crust is a layered dough with cheese between… or you can choose your own adventure. I think I’ve become Pavlov’s dog when it comes to Wichita Brewing: every time I land in that airport I suddenly salivate for that pizza.

Really good food, really tasty beer, really nice atmosphere. My kind of brewery.

*UPDATE:

I decided to text JQM and ask why John Brown, why this brewery, and this is his reply:

John Brown was one of the main leaders in Kansas during the border war with Missouri called "Bleeding Kansas" when KS fought to enter the Union as a Free State. After they fought off the Missouri ruffians, [Brown] took his abolitionist fight on the road and got caught in the raid at Harper's Ferry. He is the raging, blazing-gunned symbol of KS stubbornness and dedication to freedom.

When pressed, JQM confirmed there’s no connection besides just that: that John Brown was a Kansas badass. And, honestly, what more reason do we need?