Transport Brewery

Transport Brewery is Shawnee’s first craft brewery — a community taproom opened in 2019 by four Johnson County homebrewers in a century-old building on Johnson Drive, serving eclectic craft beers and functioning as a neighborhood gathering anchor in downtown Shawnee.¹²

Description

Transport Brewery holds a simple distinction: it was the first craft brewery to open in Shawnee, Kansas.² Located at 11113 Johnson Drive in a historic structure that dates to the early 1900s — originally a law office along the Nieman Road corridor — the taproom opened to the public in early 2019 after several years of planning and setbacks.²³ The brewery operates a six-barrel system and typically runs 12 taps serving beer, wine, and cider, with a rotating roster of house-brewed styles.⁴

The brewery was conceived as more than a production facility — its founders positioned it explicitly as a community gathering place for Shawnee, with family and pet-friendly policies, live music events, food truck programming, and an atmosphere calibrated to neighborhood regulars rather than destination tourists.³⁵ A second location subsequently opened in Gardner, Kansas (131 E Main St), extending the model to another Johnson County community.¹

The building’s history and the founders’ deep local roots — all four original co-owners were Johnson County residents and members of the Johnson County Brewing Society homebrewing club — give the brewery an organic connection to the community it serves.²³

Ownership and history

Ownership

Period	Owner / Operator	Notes
2019 → present	Jason Leib, Mike McVey, Tim Squires, Jonathan Williamson (+ additional partners; seven total)	All four original founders are Johnson County residents23

Founding story

Jason Leib and Mike McVey first developed the brewery concept in October 2015 (per original reporting; “2016” founding cited elsewhere reflects early LLC/planning activity). The initial plans stalled when their first building fell through. Reconnecting with Tim Squires and Jonathan Williamson — both met through the Johnson County Brewing Society homebrewing club — revived the project. The four scaled their plans from a 15-barrel to a six-barrel system and secured the historic Johnson Drive space in 2018.²

Mike McVey was raised in NE Johnson County and is a graduate of Shawnee Mission North — a detail that gives the founding team demonstrable KC-metro roots.³ Jonathan Williamson had previously co-founded Sandhills Brewing Co. in Hutchinson, Kansas, bringing professional brewing experience to the venture.² The brewery officially opened in early 2019, with the taproom debut announced for February 8, 2019.⁴

The Shawnee Chamber of Commerce recognized the brewery’s community impact, with McVey noting: “The brewery could not have been developed and continued to thrive without the support of the Shawnee Chamber and the City of Shawnee.”³

Links

• Official site: https://www.transportbrewery.com/
• Shawnee taproom page: https://www.transportbrewery.com/shawnee

Sources

Disputes

None at this time.

Footnotes

1. Transport Brewery official website — https://www.transportbrewery.com/ — asserts: name, Shawnee address (11113 Johnson Dr), Gardner second location (131 E Main St), active operating status. ↩ ↩²

2. Feast Magazine — “Transport Brewery, Shawnee’s First Brewery, Set to Open This Summer” (June 2018) — https://www.feastmagazine.com/travel/kansas-city/transport-brewery-shawnees-first-brewery-set-to-open-this-summer/article_3bd06b72-6a67-11e8-bcca-33d98dcfc84b.html — asserts: “Shawnee’s First Brewery”; four co-founders (Leib, McVey, Squires, Williamson); planning began October 2015; Johnson County Brewing Society connection; 6-barrel system; historic early-1900s building. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

3. Shawnee Chamber of Commerce — “Profile in Commerce: Transport Brewery” (April 2026) — https://www.shawneekschamber.com/2026/04/30/profile-in-commerce-transport-brewery/ — asserts: Mike McVey raised in NE Johnson County, SM North graduate; opened early 2019; seven total owners; McVey quote on Chamber support. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

4. Flatland KC — “Tap List: Transport Brewery Opens in Shawnee” (February 2019) — https://flatlandkc.org/eats-drinks/tap-list-transport-brewery-opens-shawnee/ — asserts: taproom opened February 2019; 12 taps; signature CarHop Berliner Weisse; food truck programming. ↩ ↩²

5. Yelp — Transport Brewery Shawnee — https://www.yelp.com/biz/transport-brewery-shawnee-shawnee — asserts: active, 81 reviews updated May 2026, address confirmed. ↩