West Bottoms

a spirit still in copper

From the Still to the Barrel

Go behind the scenes with the Shannon family’s Restless Spirits distillery in North Kansas City. Michael Shannon explains the history, and Benay Shannon, the metro’s only female head distiller, puts on her pink boots to walk us through the how-to. The Shannon’s deep connection to Kansas City — and its sordid political history — can be seen on the labels, and we…

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Brendan Gargano, Micah Weichart, Melissa VanGoethem, Greg Bland, and Ray Kerzner behind the bar at Stockyards Brewing Company. (Photo: Jonathan Bender | Flatland)

A Familiar Space Becomes A Beer Place

Heavy trucks, laden with construction materials, thud down Genessee Street in the West Bottoms. The trucks roll past storefronts covered in butcher paper and the old site of the Golden Ox, which is now set to be reborn in two stages with two businesses. First up is the Stockyards Brewing Company (1600 Genessee Street, Suite…

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