Rock Bottom Biersch

Rock Bottom Brewery and Gordon-Biersch Brewery have combined to become Craftworks. There should be no change in branding of any of the restaurants already in existence. This makes Craftworks the largest operator of brewpub and craft beer focused restaurants.

To be honest, I don't think this is going to be a big deal to anyone. I'm just using the news to reiterate my wish for a Rock Bottom Brewery in town. We have a shortage of brewpubs in town with just Gordon Biersch, 75th Street, McCoy's, Granite City and Amerisports. Only 2 of those are locally owned and having another chain isn't going to make many craft beer drinkers happy but it will provide more choice.

Granite City, Amerisports and Gordon Biersch don't ever do any kind of outreach to the craft beer enthusiasts, aside from tapping new seasonal beers. You can live near one of these breweries and never hear anything about them. But, Rock Bottom reaches out to homebrewers and craft beer enthusiasts by holding special beer events for each. Maybe Gordon Biersch will learn from Rock Bottom and start doing a little something other than their seasonal tappings to generate enthusiasm for craft beer. Maybe not.

Rock Bottom has multiple seasonals so they have many tappings throughout the year. They have more selection of beers than the other chains that are in town. They're just a more interesting brewpub than the other 3 brands. I wouldn't mind if one of the Old Chicagos in town changed to a Rock Bottom. Better yet, though, I'd like to have one built in downtown Overland Park. Let's get this done.