Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Luke Mahin, Irrigation Ales
At a glance: Luke Mahin of Courtland enjoyed home brewing so much that he and his wife started their own craft brewing business known as Irrigation Ales, in honor of the significance of surface irrigation in their region. One of their creations was recently named one of the world’s top nine beers of 2024.
More information: Ron Wilson, rwilson@ksu.edu, 785-532-7690
Photos: Ron Wilson | Luke and Jennifer Mahin
Website: Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
May 21, 2025
By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
The results are in: Beer Connoisseur magazine has announced that the world’s top beers of 2024 come from Germany, Belgium, California, Rhode Island, Maine, a few others, and….Courtland, Kansas.
Today we’ll meet this remarkable brewing company in rural Kansas.
Luke and Jennifer Mahin are the founders and owners of Irrigation Ales, which produced this award-winning beer.
At right: Luke and Jennifer Mahin | Download this photo
Luke grew up in Courtland where his father was a ditch rider and maintenance foreman for the Bostwick Irrigation District. After graduating from Fort Hays State, Mahin returned to Courtland where he most recently served eight years as economic development director for Republic County.
In 2012, Mahin noticed that the State of Kansas had legalized home brewing clubs. He gave home brewing a try and found he enjoyed creating craft beers. Eventually he and some friends formed the Courtland Fermentation Club, which attracted even more participants than they had expected.
In 2018, Mahin and family secured a downtown Courtland building which they used to expand their brewing capacity. Luke and Jennifer were married in 2019. In 2022, they opened the brewing business full-time.
They chose to name the business Irrigation Ales in honor of the vital significance of surface irrigation in the region. The Bostwick Irrigation District is believed to be the largest surface irrigation district in the state. The water is sourced from nearby Lovewell Lake and the Republican River.
Irrigation Ales opens its taproom on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. On certain weekends, they also offer the unique experience of touring the irrigation canals that transport water to the fields.
“We roped my dad into helping,” Mahin said. Bill Mahin retired from Bostwick in 2022 and helps out with the brewing.
“We’ve been slow and methodical but resourceful,” Mahin said.
For example: They were able to repurpose milk tanks from dairy farms to be used as brewing equipment. They also acquired a refrigerated semi-truck that serves as their cold room. With a lot of elbow grease, they were able to make it all work.
“I call it agrarian ingenuity,” Mahin said. They seek to brew the beer using locally sourced ingredients like Kansas-grown malt, hops, fruits, veggies and herbs. They even use creative flavorings from cedar tree berries and sumac.
Today, Irrigation Ales offers eight craft beers plus a line of merchandise, and frequently hosts community events at their building. “We’ll host a hundred or more events a year,” Mahin said.
In the last three years, Mahin estimates that Irrigation Ales has brewed 80 unique beers and nearly 70,000 pints. What’s more, the business has had visitors from seven countries and 47 U.S. states, missing only Kentucky, Mississippi, and Delaware.
Irrigation Ales is a member of the From the Land of Kansas program and the Kansas Craft Brewers Guild. “Kansas Tourism has done a great job of highlighting us,” Mahin said.
The brewers have experimented with different styles, such as light beers and sour beers. They’ve even made a cherry kolache flavor to honor the Czech heritage in the region.
A friend with a vineyard provided grapes for a beer and wine flavor mix that they aged in wooden barrels. “It’s a darker, richer beer that has kind of a chocolate covered raisin vibe,” Mahin said.
They named it Grape Expectations.
“We figured we would submit it for competition because the judges usually give good feedback,” Mahin said.
Then they received word that their beer was ranked number nine among international competition for the best 100 beers of 2024. That’s remarkable for a craft beer maker in a rural community such as tiny -- but mighty -- Courtland, population 294 people. Now, that’s rural.
“I love being creative and communicating something of value to other people,” Mahin said. “There’s more to rural Kansas than people think.”
“In the end, beer is a medium to share our rural culture with others. It gives us license to do a lot of fun things.”
For more information, go to www.irrigationales.com.
We commend Luke and Jennifer Mahin, Bill Mahin, and all those involved with Irrigation Ales for making a difference with creative beer-making. They’ve been able to achieve Grape Expectations.
Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at www.huckboydinstitute.org/kansas-profiles. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit www.huckboydinstitute.org.
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