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Casual Animal Brewing Company is an independent, locally owned craft brewery and taproom in the Crossroads Arts District, founded by husband-and-wife team Kyle and Lara Gray. Built on a “give back to the community” ethic, the brewery is best known for its Local Motive charitable tap, which has channeled more than $100,000 to Kansas City nonprofits.

Description

Casual Animal Brewing Company is a small, independent craft brewery and taproom occupying a former commercial garage at 1725 McGee Street in the Crossroads Arts District. Kyle Gray designed a back-of-house brewery paired with a front-of-house taproom, performing much of the interior buildout himself with help from family. Kyle handles brewing — recipe development, brewing twice a week on a 7-barrel system, canning, and label/merchandise design — while Lara runs front-of-house operations, staffing, marketing, events, and distribution to local bars, restaurants, and liquor stores.12

The brewery was founded on the principle of creating a social community space and then giving back to it. Its signature expression of that ethic is Local Motive, a rotating “give-back tap” in which the beer style and beneficiary change every two months and $2 of every pint sold is donated to a selected Kansas City nonprofit.34 Casual Animal has also collaborated with KCUR, Kansas City’s NPR member station, on a public-radio partnership beer.5

Ownership and history

Casual Animal is owned and operated by Kyle and Lara Gray. Kyle is a University of Kansas graduate with Kansas City roots who worked at Lawrence’s Free State Brewing Co. after graduation before relocating to Fort Collins, Colorado; Lara is a Colorado State University graduate. The two met in Fort Collins, where they lived for roughly eight years and bonded over craft-beer culture and coaching Special Olympics sports.2

The couple moved (back, in Kyle’s case) to Kansas City in 2014 when Lara took a job opportunity; Kyle has cited the 2014 Royals World Series run and the city’s emerging craft-beer scene as catalysts for starting the brewery. As of a June 2017 Feast Magazine report, the Grays had just closed on the 1725 McGee property and planned to open within the following year. Casual Animal opened its doors in early February 2018.267

The Local Motive program was, per the owners, “non-negotiable” from the brewery’s earliest planning. Since launching in 2018, it had donated approximately $110,000 to Kansas City-area nonprofits as of late 2025, supporting 30-plus organizations. Six nonprofits are selected annually through staff voting; each receives a dedicated two-month featured beer, typically yielding $1,500–$4,000.34

See also

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Casual Animal Brewing Co. — official site. https://www.casualanimalbrewing.com/ — asserts: brewery/taproom at 1725 McGee St, KC MO 64108 (East Crossroads); 7-barrel system; “Local Motive” nonprofit-donation model; current hours. ↩

  2. Feast Magazine — “Casual Animal Brewing Co. Aims to Bring the Spirit of Fort Collins to Kansas City” (June 2017). https://www.feastmagazine.com/?q=casual+animal+brewing — asserts: founders Kyle & Lara Gray (Kyle a KU grad + ex–Free State Brewing; Lara a Colorado State grad); Fort Collins years; 2014 move to KC; 1725 McGee purchase. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. Casual Animal Brewing Co. — “Local Motive.” https://www.casualanimalbrewing.com/local-motive — asserts: $2/pint donation, two-month rotation, six nonprofits/year, ~$110,000 donated since 2018. ↩ ↩2

  4. Crossroads Arts District — Casual Animal Brewing Company listing. https://kccrossroads.org/explore-the-crossroads/casual-animal-brewing-company/ — asserts: East Crossroads brewery; community/donation model. ↩ ↩2

  5. KCUR — “A beer for public radio: KCUR partners with Casual Animal Brewing” (Aug 31, 2022). https://www.kcur.org/ — asserts: public-radio collaboration beer. ↩

  6. Feast Magazine — “Casual Animal Brewing Co. Now Open in the Crossroads” (Feb 2018). https://www.feastmagazine.com/travel/kansas-city/casual-animal-brewing-co-now-open-in-the-crossroads/article_ef10a268-158c-11e8-a9d9-03562bffbbfd.html — asserts: opened early February 2018; East Crossroads. ↩

  7. Yelp — Casual Animal Brewing Company. https://www.yelp.com/biz/casual-animal-brewing-company-kansas-city — asserts: open/active, updated June 2026. ↩

See also

Categories
  • Locally owned
  • Crossroads