Locals making local beer
A brewery experience that feels like home.
Making Our Dream A Reality
In the Beginning
Adam developed an early passion for the art of brewing. His father started a homebrew club that became nationally accredited for its skills and practices. It won the 1996 National Homebrew Club of the Year Award when Adam was only 5 years old. However, his father took a hiatus from brewing until the kids came of age.
As Adam grew up, he pursued other passions and forgot about the art of brewing.
2017
When Hannah was perusing garage sales one afternoon, she came across home brewing equipment. Before jumping all over the deal, she called Adam, which led to Adam calling his father. By the end of the day, Adam and his father created a plan to brew a beer.
That first beer, a pale ale made with Cascade hops, was BAD. But learning from mistakes is what life’s about, right?
That first beer gave Adam A LOT of opportunities to learn and pushed him to pursue brewing for a living. The next day, he started Googling the cost of starting a brewery.
2018
We dug deep into what it took to create a brewery and explored many options — brewing out of our shed, mobile brewery truck, you name it.
2019
Adam contacted over 20 banks while working with the Kansas Small Business Development Center to start the process of building our business. Hannah was there to motivate (read: push) and support him along the way.
2020
The dreaded COVID-19 broke out and everything shut down. It caused numerous setbacks in our progress.
2021
As everyone settled into a new normal, we continued to experience setbacks with securing financing and getting construction going on our original location. Unfortunately, it ended up falling through.
2022
By God’s Grace everything came together and our dream finally became a reality. First Man Brewery was born.
We’re the only brewery in derby, Kansas!
First Man Brewery is family-owned and Catholic-owned, which comes through in the subtle aspects of our branding and beers. We’re also the only brewery in Derby, Kansas!
We love Derby, and it’s the home to our budding family of 7. But as our family grew, we longed for the freedom to easily grab a beer and visit with friends or family outside of their homes. (And let’s be honest, no one wants to load up five kids to trek into Wichita just for a beer.)
We wanted to give other Derby families that freedom too — a convenient place to grab a beer that’s welcoming to kids. So opening First Man Brewery in Derby was a no-brainer. Being located across from Madison Avenue Central Park makes it the perfect place for you to enjoy a cold one after a fun-filled day at the park.
About Us
Adam is the perfect example of fulfilling childhood dreams. He’s passionate about serving people and loves when people can enjoy his craft.
His favorite thing about brewing is it fulfills his passion for creativity, science, and numbers.
Favorite Beer: Pale ale made with Idaho Gem hops and Omegas Bananza yeast
Owner, Master Brewer, head honcho
Hannah is the faith-focused, family-centered rock of the household. She’s passionate about using her God-given artistic gifts, whether it’s helping families capture memories they can treasure through photography or designing a welcoming, cozy brewery atmosphere.
Favorite Beers: Belgium Quad or any of Adam’s Brown Ales
Owner,
Photographer & Marketing Director
About the beer
First Man is all about easy drinking. Beers are brewed with a hop influence to be smooth and not too bitter or sweet. We experiment with yeast and hops, not crazy flavors. (We won’t sell you a maple bacon breakfast stout.) That means you can expect consistency within our line-up that’ll leave you saying “that’s a damn good beer.”
Check out what’s on tap.