How to Get Border Brewing on Tap: A Guide for KC Bars, Restaurants & Retailers

If you run a bar, restaurant, or bottle shop in the Kansas City area and you want local beer people actually recognize on your list — here’s how to put Border Brewing on it.

There’s a moment every KC bar owner knows: a customer scans the tap list, and their eyes stop on the local name. Not the national macro lager they can get anywhere — the one brewed a few miles away, in the Crossroads. That recognition is worth something, and it’s exactly what a Border Brewing tap handle brings to your bar.

We’ve been brewing in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District since 2015. Our beer is on tap and on shelves across the metro, and we’re always looking for the right accounts to grow with. If you’re a bar, restaurant, taproom, event venue, or retailer thinking about carrying Border, this is the practical guide: what we offer, how the formats work, and how to get connected.

Why stock a local Kansas City brewery

Before the logistics, the case — because “support local” is a slogan, and you’re running a business.

Local sells. Kansas City drinkers seek out KC beer. A local tap handle signals that your bar knows the scene, and it gives regulars a reason to order something with a story instead of defaulting to a national brand. The margin on a recognized local craft pour beats a commodity macro pour almost every time.

Freshness is a real advantage. Beer is perishable, and distance is the enemy of flavor. Beer brewed across town and delivered through a local partnership reaches your lines fresher than something trucked in from three states away. Your customers taste the difference even when they can’t name it.

You’re carrying a name with a following. Border has spent a decade building regulars, an Instagram audience, and a reputation in the Crossroads. When people see us on your list, some of that recognition transfers to your bar. That’s marketing you don’t have to pay for.

Range covers your whole room. We don’t just brew one style. Flagship ales and lagers, hard ciders, hard seltzers, and Kansas City’s first craft non-alcoholic beers — the Baseline series. One supplier can cover the IPA drinker, the seltzer crowd, and the designated driver who still wants something good.

The formats we offer

We keep it simple. Three formats cover most accounts:

½ Barrel Keg — 15.5 gallons. The standard full keg, roughly 124 pints. This is the workhorse for restaurants, taprooms, and large events — anywhere a beer moves fast enough to justify the full size.

⅙ Barrel (Sixtel) — 5.16 gallons. About 41 pints. The sixtel is the right call for smaller bars, kegerators, rotating-tap programs, and private events. It lets you carry more variety without committing a full keg to each line — ideal if you like to keep your list moving.

Cans (12 oz), 6-pack. For on-premise sales and to-go, with broader retail distribution coming soon. If you’re a bottle shop or a bar with a cooler program, cans put Border on your shelf.

Not sure which format fits? That’s a normal conversation — most accounts run a mix. A restaurant might take a half-barrel of a flagship and a sixtel of something seasonal. We’ll help you figure out what makes sense for your volume and your crowd.

What’s available to carry

Our lineup gives you range across the whole drinks menu:

• Flagship craft beers — our seven year-round ales and lagers, from the easy-drinking Backyard Lager to the Shiftie Imperial IPA, plus rotating seasonals.
• Hard ciders — gluten-free, off-dry, made with real fruit.
• Hard seltzers — light, gluten-free, low-calorie, for the crowd that’s moved on from beer.
• Baseline non-alcoholic — Kansas City’s first craft NA beers. The NA category is one of the fastest-growing segments in the industry, and carrying a local NA option sets your bar apart.

You can see the full current lineup on our craft beers page, and the live list of what’s pouring right now on our What’s On Tap page.

How the process works

Getting connected is straightforward. Here’s the shape of it:

1. Reach out. Email us at info@borderbrewco.com or call 816-469-5287 with your account name, location, and what styles you’re interested in carrying. Tell us whether you’re thinking kegs, cans, or both.

2. We connect you. We’ve moved to a distribution partnership, which means once we understand your needs, we get you set up through the right channel for ordering and delivery. You don’t have to navigate a complicated wholesale system — we point you where you need to go.

3. You get Border on your list. Kegs get delivered, tap handles go up, and your customers start finding the local name they’ve been looking for.

That’s it. No lengthy application, no minimum you have to guess at blind. Just a conversation about what your bar needs.

Who we work with

We’re a good fit for a range of Kansas City accounts:

• Restaurants building a beer list that reflects the city they’re in
• Bars and taprooms that want a rotating local presence
• Event venues needing kegs for weddings, corporate events, and festivals
• Bottle shops and retailers stocking local cans
• Kegerator and private-event customers who want the good stuff at home

Whether you’re a high-volume restaurant that’ll move a half-barrel a week or a small spot that wants a single sixtel on rotation, there’s a way to make it work.

Let’s get Border on your tap list

Kansas City’s beer scene is one of the best in the country, and the bars that lean into local are the ones customers remember. If you want a Border tap handle — or a shelf of our cans — the next step is a two-minute email.

Email: info@borderbrewco.com Call: 816-469-5287 Find us: 512 E 18th Street, Kansas City, MO 64108 — in the Crossroads

Tell us your account, your location, and what you’d like to carry. We’ll take it from there.

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Related Reading

• Sales & Distribution — Formats, sizes, and the quick contact form.
• Craft Beers — The full flagship lineup.
• What’s On Tap — See what’s pouring at the taproom right now.
• The Baseline Series — KC’s first craft non-alcoholic beers.
• Breweries in Kansas City — Where Border fits in the KC beer scene.

Cheers!