Kansas City musician hopes new brewery can bring people together in Jazz District

When Kansas City musician Kemet Coleman joined the craft brewing scene eight years ago, he was fascinated by the industry norms that are rooted in collaboration. Competitors shared ideas and recipes and worked together to solve problems.

That sense of community that surrounds a pint of beer — even before production — is what Coleman and partners Woodie Bonds Jr. and Elliott Ivory hope to cultivate at Vine Street Brewing.

Slated to open in Kansas City’s 18th & Vine Jazz District in 2022, Vine Street Brewing would be the first Black-owned brewery in Kansas City, Coleman said.

“It’s an additional place that could be an asset for the community, but most importantly it’s another place where we can share the stories and legacy of jazz heritage and all the cultural history that’s really soaked into the soil at the Jazz District,” he said.

Coleman said Vine Street Brewing will be housed in a historic building within the district. The details of the location will be unveiled in upcoming weeks.

Ahead of their opening next year, the team is in the process of developing a base recipe before establishing the beverages that will be on their menu.

Bonds, known for his adventurous flavor blends, and Ivory, for his chemistry background and consistent style, are working together to develop the formulas that will make up the technical base of their beers.

Crafting community

As a professional rapper, frontman for The Phantastics and a founding member of Brass & Boujee, Coleman has built and engaged community through his music, including his song “Get Out,” released in collaboration with KC Streetcar.

Opening a brewery became a dream of his after he started working at Boulevard Brewing Company where he was hired for a guest experiences job. Having minimal knowledge about craft beer, Coleman said he instantly fell in love with the variety of brews and the communal experience of sharing a beer.

“I feel like people were at their happiest moments when they were having those beers and around people. That’s been one of my dreams — how do we bring people closer together and what does it take for us to do that?” he said.

Since then, Coleman has attempted to open a brewery at least three times, but, for one reason or another, his plans fell through.

When he partnered with Bonds and Ivory, Coleman said it was like the “stars aligned.”

Like Coleman, Bonds was astounded by the synergy that exists between competitors within the craft brewing industry.

“It’s literally like the Chiefs and the Raiders calling each other saying, ‘Hey, you know, I got this issue with my offense. How can you help me?’ And for them to even respond — that’s crazy,” Bonds said.

Bonds co-founded the annual Hip Hops Hooray craft beer festival about three years ago. He said he’s found some of his lifelong friends while sharing a beer.

“So many people that aren’t a part of this community think that going to a brewery or drinking craft beer is just about beer, but it’s about a whole lot,” Bonds said. “It’s about friendships. It’s about relationships. It’s about being able to talk to people that you may not think that you would be able to talk to.”

A reintroduction to beer

For the trio, being Black in the predominantly white brewing industry has frequently meant being the only Black person in the room.

According to a 2019 Brewers Association report, 88% of brewery owners who responded to a survey were white. Less than 4% of owners were Black.

When it comes to craft beer drinkers, 85.5% are white, 2018 Brewers Association data found.

Vine Street Brewing is striving to expand that demographic to include more people of color, Ivory said.

“That’s what probably excites me the most about Vine Street: just widening that demographic of craft beer drinkers,” Ivory said. “I think it’s important for the industry as a whole. And I think it’s just important, in general, that when you go into any craft beer bar that it can appeal to multiple different groups of people.”

Part of that is about educating customers about the beers they’re consuming, Ivory said. That includes providing information about the ingredients, the different styles of beers and how to drink and pour them.

“This is exciting actually because now if these people could be this happy with this beer, I know that my people can be this happy with this beer, especially because Black people invented beer,” Coleman said. “This came out of Africa, so this is not something new for us. It’s just we’ve just been disconnected … I see this as an opportunity for the African American community to be reintroduced to beer.”

Vine Street Brewing plans to partner with African American businesses in the city to make sure their beers are available there.

“I’m not sure if I’m too wrapped up in being the first. Honestly in the future, I just hope we’re not the only Black-owned brewery,” Ivory said. “Hopefully it sparks a subculture within the craft beer industry that is maybe more focused around Black culture.”

This story was originally published June 9, 2021 at 8:09 PM.