Exploring Life & Business with Sara Charlson of Rockcreek Brewing Co.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Charlson.

Sara, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Rockcreek was started by a group of friends who all worked together for 20+ years at Cerner Corporation. We began home brewing together and during those sessions we frequently discussed starting our own brewery… Over the course of a couple of years we searched for the right location and finally landed in Mission, KS. We ended up in a perfect location for the type of brewery space we wanted to create. Being part of the downtown city of Mission and within walking distance for so many of the locals in the neighborhood is an added benefit. Our initial concept was to make great beer that we love and could share with friends and the community – that part hasn’t changed.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Like any small business, we’ve had our share of challenges. We opened our doors in May of 2020 – but had to adjust our model and only sell cans to-go because of COVID-19. In May, COVID-19 was still relatively unknown (as far as the overall impact). Two weeks later we closed to regroup, and finally on June 4th we reopened to serve beer in our taproom – following all of the social distancing and masks requirements. The silver lining of COVID-19 for us is that we were allowed to covert our large outdoor space into a full patio, which previously had been restricted by both the city and the state of Kansas.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Rockcreek Brewing Co.?
Our goal is to be a neighborhood taproom that serves really great craft beer. We love the Mission community and are excited to be a part of it. We spent about 18 months renovating our space prior to opening. We have a very open and airy taproom, with an adjacent patio. We have 3 garage doors that allow us to create an indoor/outdoor space (when the Kansas City weather permits). And because of the pandemic, we accelerated our plans to use our entire paved area outside, including a large fenced patio area. Our overall vibe is neighborhood, family-friendly (and our patio is packed with dogs) with regulars returning week after week! We have the best partners with local food trucks who show up to serve guests on the weekends.

Our head brewer, Trent Wiegers, creates delicious and diverse small batch artisan ales & lagers. We aim to keep 12 different beers on tap with a rotation of styles. Our two flagship beers are: Beverly Ave Belgian Blonde & Vegas Daze Hazy IPA. But, we have a lot of fan favorite beers that we continue to rotate based on customer requests!

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Like some other area breweries, we also have a ‘tipping donation’ program. This means, that in lieu of using tips for our staff salaries, we donate tips back to a local charity, and our customers love this program. Our goal is to keep the organizations as local to the city of Mission as possible. We are proud of the organizations we’ve been able to support including: Kansas Special Olympics, Rushton Elementary, Prairie Village Alzheimer’s, Tyler’s House KC, Sunflower House, The City of Mission Family Adoption Program – and many more.

It is not uncommon for a customer to read about a charitable organization we are donating to and then ‘tip extra’ when they check out – mentioning they are supportive of that organization and/or know someone who works there or know someone who has benefitted from it. Our gift back to the community via our customers’ tips is something that has been very rewarding. We are grateful that we have been able to continue the tradition, even in challenging economic times. Since opening, we’ve donated a total of $171,702.20.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rockcreekbrewing.square.site/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rockcreek_brewing/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rockcreekbrewingco/
• Twitter: KCRockcreekBeer
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/rockcreek-brewing-company-mission