This profile is in active compilation — some details are awaiting a cited source.

Smoke Brewing Company is a family-owned brewery and barbecue restaurant on Main Street in downtown Lee’s Summit, founded by the father-and-son Edwards family in 2017. It pairs house-brewed craft beer with championship-style competitive barbecue inside a renovated century-old building, anchoring the city’s revitalized historic core.

Description

Smoke Brewing Company is a brewery and barbecue restaurant at 209 SE Main Street in downtown Lee’s Summit, Missouri. It fuses house-brewed craft beer from a 10-barrel brewhouse with competition-style barbecue — brisket, ribs, burnt ends — alongside a chef-driven menu and cocktails. The concept grew directly out of the founders’ competitive barbecue team, “Building Smoke BBQ,” and a decade of homebrewing experience.12

The taproom occupies a renovated century-old building with Edison lighting, a Main Street-facing garage door, a quartz bar, and wood accents. House beers have included the Keltic Kross Irish Red and Black Udder Stout, and the kitchen offers weekend brunch in addition to its core barbecue lineup.13

Ownership and history

Smoke Brewing Company is family-owned, founded by the Edwards family of Lee’s Summit. The father-and-son team of Jeff Edwards (“Papa Smoke”) and Josh Edwards — both veteran homebuilders — built and opened the brewery together after roughly a decade of homebrewing and competitive barbecue. Josh Edwards has lived in Lee’s Summit his entire life; Jeff is a retired Marine who personally led construction of the Main Street location. Josh’s wife, Lanni Edwards, manages front-of-house operations, and Jeff’s wife, Renee, has assisted with marketing.21

The brewery soft-opened in spring 2017 (March/April), joining a wave of new downtown businesses — including Fringe Beerworks, Long-Bell Pizza, and The W cocktail lounge — that drove the revitalization of historic downtown Lee’s Summit. Brewmaster Bert Lightle oversaw the original 10-barrel brewhouse.2

[!note] Seed discrepancies corrected Intake seed listed founded 2019, website smokebrew.com, and phone (816) 246-5990. Research corrects these: founding/opening was 2017; the official site is smokebrewingcompany.com (smokebrew.com does not resolve); and the verified phone is (816) 525-2337.

See also

  • lees-summit
  • Registry

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Smoke Brewing Company — official website, smokebrewingcompany.com (accessed May 2026). Concept (“house-brewed craft beer, chef-driven menu and damn good cocktails”), Edwards-family about section, menu/beer details. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. Tyler Shane, “Smoke Brewing Co. Brings Beer and BBQ to Lee’s Summit,” Flatland KC (Kansas City PBS), April 4, 2017 — https://flatlandkc.org/eats-drinks/smoke-brewing-brings-beer-bbq-lees-summit/. Founders Jeff and Josh Edwards, homebuilder/homebrewing background, Lanni Edwards FOH, brewmaster Bert Lightle, 10-barrel brewhouse, century-old building, downtown Lee’s Summit revitalization context. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. “Smoke Brewing Co. to Open in Lee’s Summit by December,” Feast Magazine, 2016 — https://www.feastmagazine.com/travel/kansas-city/smoke-brewing-co-to-open-in-lee-s-summit-by-december/article_9c15dadc-9159-11e6-9bbc-ef0368af1aa8.html. Pre-opening coverage of concept and location. ↩

  4. Chamber of Commerce business directory listing, chamberofcommerce.com (accessed May 2026) — verified phone (816) 525-2337 and 209 SE Main St address. ↩

  5. Yelp business listing, “Smoke Brewing Company,” 209 SE Main St, Lee’s Summit (accessed May 2026) — https://www.yelp.com/biz/smoke-brewing-company-lees-summit. Active operating status, address, and reviews. ↩

See also

  • Registry
  • lees-summit
Categories
  • Locally owned
  • Lees Summit