Cinder Block Brewery

Cinder Block Brewery in North Kansas City bills itself as a foundation for craft beer. Owner and operator Bryce Shaffter spent his Iowa youth working at a tractor repair shop, then studied agricultural science but earned a business degree. Those skills came together when he took up homebrewing, welding his own first brew stand and learning about water chemistry and yeast propagation. After five years of brewing in his basement, he moved into commercial brewing, and Cinder Block opened a year later. The brewery runs a barrel program in which selected beers rest for three to 18 months in barrels chosen for their former spirit, wood type and toast level before blending or packaging, and some get wild yeast and bacteria for slow-aged sours. Besides the taproom, the brewery has The Commons, a neighborhood hangout with sandwiches from Bay Boy and the Reclamation Room.