Great Escape Beer Works

Great Escape Beer Works was started by Jen and Jake Duensing, who met as freshmen at Mizzou and spent college sampling beers together and comparing notes. Jake brewed his first beer at 12 with a kit from his sister, and after a year of medical school he chose brewing instead. In Boulder, Colorado, he took up homebrewing, then moved from a brewery canning line to head brewer, and later brewed in Washington state. He still counts Colorado as the main influence on his style, which the couple brought back to Missouri in 2017 to open their brewery in Springfield. The name reflects their love of the outdoors, a tradition of pairing hikes, rides and camping trips with craft beer, and the Duensings invite guests to find their own escape. The Springfield taproom has closed; the brewery is now on Highway 60 in Brookline, with scratch-made pizza and event space.