Our story
About Border
A Kansas City brewery built on chemistry, community, and the radical idea that good beer should be made by people who actually drink it.
Founder
Eric Martens.
Chemical engineer.
Brewer first.
Eric started Border Brewing Company in 2015 with a simple plan: build the brewery he wanted to drink at. A chemical engineer by training, he treats every recipe like a problem worth solving twice — once on paper, once at the bar.
The result is what you taste in every glass. Beer that's technically clean, balanced for the way Kansas City actually drinks, and made small enough that the brewer still knows everyone's first name.
Brewed in KC since 2015 Why we do this
Three things we believe
Beer should be brewed where you drink it.
Freshness isn't a marketing claim — it's geography. Our brewhouse sits behind the bar. The beer in your glass took thirty steps to get there.
The taproom is a living room, not a stage.
We don't do velvet ropes or attitude. The patio is for parents, kids, dogs, after-work crews, first-timers, and the regulars who taught us their drink order years ago.
Make the beer you actually want to drink.
We brew what we'd want to come back to. That's why our flagships have stayed flagships for ten years — and why the seasonals shift every time the brewer gets bored.
The timeline
A decade of small batches
Border opens its doors
Eric Martens, a chemical engineer who started homebrewing on weekends, opens Border Brewing Company on 18th Street.
Strawberry Blonde becomes a flagship
What started as a summer experiment becomes the most-poured beer at the bar. Still is.
Lima Fresca lands
Our German Kölsch with a citrus twist takes over patios across the Crossroads.
Easy Landing IPA joins the rotation
A West Coast IPA that drinks like a love letter to dry-hopped clarity.
Baseline NA series launches
Kansas City's first craft non-alcoholic beers — full flavor, no compromise.
World Cup HQ
Border becomes Kansas City's beer-and-soccer headquarters for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The faces that built Border.
A note from Eric
"I built Border so I'd have a place to drink with my neighbors. Ten years in, I still walk in some Saturdays and recognize half the patio. That's the only metric I actually care about."
— Eric Martens
Come Visit
Pull up a stool.
We're easy to find — corner of 18th & Locust, in the heart of the Crossroads.
Address
512 E 18th Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
Hours
- Mon – Thu4:00 PM – 9:00 PM
- Fri – Sat12:00 PM – 11:00 PM
- Sun12:00 PM – 8:00 PM