diff --git a/build.gradle.kts b/build.gradle.kts
index 15c73f56..516dc46e 100644
--- a/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/build.gradle.kts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 @Suppress("PropertyName")
-var VERSION = "3.6.1.8-SNAPSHOT"
+var VERSION = "3.6.1.8"
 
 plugins { // needed for the allprojects section to work
     id("java")
diff --git a/shared-jar/src/main/java/com/kamikazejam/kamicommon/amqp/RabbitMQAPI.java b/shared-jar/src/main/java/com/kamikazejam/kamicommon/amqp/RabbitMQAPI.java
index 11955dfe..33581583 100644
--- a/shared-jar/src/main/java/com/kamikazejam/kamicommon/amqp/RabbitMQAPI.java
+++ b/shared-jar/src/main/java/com/kamikazejam/kamicommon/amqp/RabbitMQAPI.java
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 import com.kamikazejam.kamicommon.amqp.data.RabbitStdConsumer;
 import com.rabbitmq.client.AMQP;
 import com.rabbitmq.client.BuiltinExchangeType;
+import com.rabbitmq.client.Channel;
+import org.jetbrains.annotations.ApiStatus;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;
 
 import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
@@ -169,4 +171,41 @@ public void publishFanout(@NotNull String exchangeName, @NotNull AMQP.BasicPrope
         manager.declareExchange(exchangeName, BuiltinExchangeType.FANOUT);
         manager.publishFanout(exchangeName, props, message);
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Declares a queue with a default TTL of 60 seconds (iff not declared already)
+     * @param queueName the name of the queue to declare
+     */
+    public void declareQueue(@NotNull String queueName) {
+        this.manager.declareQueue(queueName);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Declares a queue with a specified TTL (iff not declared already)
+     * @param queueName the name of the queue to declare
+     * @param TTL_MS the time-to-live of the queue (in milliseconds)
+     */
+    public void declareQueue(@NotNull String queueName, long TTL_MS) {
+        this.manager.declareQueue(queueName, TTL_MS);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Declares a queue with a specified TTL (iff not declared already)
+     * @param queueName the name of the queue to declare
+     * @param durable whether the queue should survive a broker restart
+     * @param exclusive whether the queue should be exclusive to the connection
+     * @param autoDelete whether the queue should be auto-deleted when no longer in use
+     * @param TTL_MS the time-to-live of the queue (in milliseconds)
+     */
+    public void declareQueue(@NotNull String queueName, boolean durable, boolean exclusive, boolean autoDelete, long TTL_MS) {
+        this.manager.declareQueue(queueName, durable, exclusive, autoDelete, TTL_MS);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the underlying RabbitMQ {@link Channel} for direct access
+     */
+    @ApiStatus.Internal
+    public @NotNull Channel getChannel() {
+        return this.manager.getChannel();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/shared-jar/src/main/java/com/kamikazejam/kamicommon/amqp/RabbitMQManager.java b/shared-jar/src/main/java/com/kamikazejam/kamicommon/amqp/RabbitMQManager.java
index f31b50cc..c533e167 100644
--- a/shared-jar/src/main/java/com/kamikazejam/kamicommon/amqp/RabbitMQManager.java
+++ b/shared-jar/src/main/java/com/kamikazejam/kamicommon/amqp/RabbitMQManager.java
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ private Connection getConnection() {
     }
 
     @ApiStatus.Internal
-    private Channel getChannel() {
+    protected Channel getChannel() {
         if (channel == null || !channel.isOpen()) {
             try {
                 channel = getConnection().createChannel();