Jason Bice and the front bar of Fly Over State Brewery.

By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Jason Bice, of Milton, has always had an interest in knowing things. If he doesn’t know something, he will study and study it until he does.

So was the case of brewing beer. Ten years ago, he got fascinated with how it was made.

“I’m a numbers guy as well,” Bice said. “And brewing is about temperature, weight of grain, water usage, how it absorbs.”

Come sometime in February, Bice will officially showcase his brewing skills when he opens Fly Over State Brewery in Wellington at 1403 W. 8th St. Most people will know it as the old Taco Bell building on the west side of town north of the golf course.

No longer “proposed.” Here is the location of the Fly Over State Brewery ready to open in February.

Fly Over State Brewery will feature an array of beers with eight taps coming from 30 kegs. He will have over 165 recipes ranging from IPAs and Belgian Tripels to Stouts. There will be a low-alcohol beer at 2.5 percent, compared to a powerful 12.5 percent. He will take requests.

The brewery will include snacks such as pizza and deep-fried fare. The one thing you won’t get at Fly Over State Brewery: Bud Light. Sorry.

Over the past decade, Bice has honed his craft by assisting with Walnut River Brewing Company in El Dorado during a brew day.

All of his brews will be made in-house. He is not importing any beers from other places. He has a couple of fermenters, metal vessels used to produce the beer, and has 30 kegs for every special recipe.

Thirty kegs will be ready to serve soon.

One can say Bice is a tinkerer. For instance, he is already preparing for Valentine’s Day, where he will have a chocolate stout with strawberries in one keg and cherries in the other. He said there will be request cards on the table for customers. Like every good businessman, Bice aims to please to see what Wellington likes.

“One of the biggest questions I get is if the water is filtered, because many people don’t like to drink Wellington water,” Bice said. “All of our beer will be brewed using a water filtration system.”

Bice is looking forward to the summer, when the craft beer industry flourishes. He wants to produce a cool vibe atmosphere where people feel comfortable enough to drive in on their golf carts, bring their dogs (provided they are on leashes), and chill. There are also plans to have an outdoor venue for those wishing to drink their beer outside.

But for those who want to have some beer at home, there will be a drive-thru and crowlers.

Bice thinks the brewery will have a clientele split evenly between Wellington and out-of-towners. Fly Over State Brewery will be serving a sizable selection of beer that may be even more diverse than that of other community craft breweries.

“Some breweries are fine with brewing three or four different kinds of beer,” Bice said. “I like to experiment with different varieties – see what beer works.”

The brewery will be open Thursday through Sunday from 2:30 to 8 p.m. There will be three televisions. One will show a commercial flight tracker, and the other will have a menu.

“I have always been fascinated with aviation,” Bice said. “So I thought it would be a perfect name for this brewery.”

This was the inside look to the south on Jan. 6.

Bice grew up in Kansas and has lived in the area his whole life. He knows all too well that the state is considered a fly-over state for travelers heading from the East Coast to the West Coast.

But he finds it affectionate, especially in an area rooted in aircraft.

“I never worked at Boeing or Cessna,” Bice said. “But I have had a fascination with aviation. I could sit at a terminal in L.A. and watch planes take off and land all day long if I could.”

Several varieties of grains will be used to produce the homemade beer.

Bice had his sights on opening a brewery in Wellington for some time and had been earnestly looking for the past two years. He estimated he looked at 25 to 30 buildings in town.

“But I kept coming back to the Taco Bell building, because of its walk-in coolers and drains in the floor,” Bice said. “You can’t find many buildings with floor drains anymore.”

He said floor drains are essential because to brew, you need plenty of water.

Bice, with his state license in hand, could start brewing.

It’s been a long time coming to open the brewery. First, the purchase of the building took longer than expected. Then there was the zoning issue with the city (see the story here), and the federal licensing was delayed by the government shutdown.

Finally, he has the paperwork in order. He got his state license approved on Jan. 14.

“People keep telling me they can’t wait to drink some beer,” Bice said. “I can’t wait to get brewing.”

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