Friction Beer Co

Friction Beer Co. is a Shawnee brewery and taproom that describes itself as a music-soaked beer experience. Its lineup keeps changing and runs from hoppy beers to stouts and lagers. Co-founder Nathan Ryerson, an avid homebrewer and beer reviewer, had long planned to open a brewery and already had a name in mind, but he shelved the idea when life got in the way. At one of his weekend soccer watch parties, Brent Anderson showed up. Anderson had recently left his job as creative director at Boulevard Brewing Company, and before the match ended the pair agreed to revive Ryerson’s plan together. Years of searching for spaces, gaining and losing investors, pouring at beer festivals and riding out a pandemic followed before the brewery opened in Shawnee. The name nods to the idea that friction is where the spark comes from.