If You're Out of Schlitz, You're Out of Beer

Sometimes things just sort of work out great. We had a team building afternoon this afternoon. We took a tour of the Federal Reserve and aside from seeing more cash than I've ever seen in my life, was pretty bored by the whole thing. We were done by 2:30 and were free to go to our individual offsite meetings. I decided to hold a mutual offsite meeting at Harry's Country Club with my workmate, Pale Ale.

I got over there just after 3 and couldn't find a parking place within a couple blocks. Usually at 3 I can park just across the street from Harry's. Not only were there no parking places but there were a whole bunch of 60's era cars parked out in front of the bar. After I parked and walked up to Harry's I noticed that the cars had Schlitz logos all over them.

Like Ace of Base, I saw the sign, and realized that Schlitz was having a relaunch party at Harry's. I walked in the bar and could barely make my way to the bar. They were giving away pints of Schlitz. I had to wait about 5 minutes before I could get to the bar and get one, but it was free so I didn't mind so much. Pale Ale showed up a couple of minutes later and got his beer from one of the scantily clad Schlitz Gusto Girls.

We made our way to an open table to sit down and enjoy our beers. The Schlitz was actually pretty tasty for an American Lager. It's not quite as good as a PBR, but has a good flavor, that's right I said flavor. Unlike Budweiser, Schlitz has some taste and it's pretty good. I could easily sit out on my front lawn in my Adirondack chair and down six Schlitz and not even think about it.

We got another round, some bottle openers and Schlitz stickers and discussed the issues of the day. Pale Ale told me the first time he got drunk he drank Schlitz (he's of the age where that is possible). I told him about my first drunk, when I was a batboy for the double-A team in Wichita and we won the Texas League Championship. I got drunk on champagne and beer flying through the air in the locker room. Pale Ale also discussed drinking in all the VFW halls near his hometown in nowhere, Iowa. Apparently an awful lot of VFW halls have free chicken gizzards to eat while you drink.

It ended up being a pretty good Harry's happy hour. The best part was the free beer. But it was fun listening to someone reminisce about Schlitz while we had a couple. I think that's what Schlitz might be shooting for.

The Schlitz Gusto Girls and Schlitz muscle cars are scheduled to make a couple of other appearances in town tonight and tomorrow:

Tuesday March 31: Kansas City

3:00 p.m. Harry’s Country Club – 116 E. Missouri Avenue

5:00 p.m. Waldo Pizza Tap Room – 7433 Broadway

7:00 p.m. Paddy O’Quigley’s – 11851 Roe Avenue (Leawood)

Wednesday April 1: Kansas City

10:00 a.m. Hy Vee – 1307 E. North Avenue, Belton, MO

11:30 a.m. Bar – 12804 Santa Fe Trail Drive, Lenexa, KS

1:45 p.m. Gomer’s Liquor Store – 3838 Broadway Street, Kansas City, MO

2:30 p.m. Red X – 2401 NW Platte Road, Riverside, MO

4:00 p.m. Dirk’s Bar & Grill – 8132 NW Prairie View Road, Kansas City, MO

Not Snowed In with Schlafly and Bell's

You know when you're driving around and you happen upon a construction zone or a little traffic jam and there's a guy with the stop/slow sign or just standing in the middle of the street directing traffic. I almost always follow this random person's direction, whether it be stop (even though the light is green) or turn or whatever. Then afterward I'm curious as to why I respected that guy's authority. He wasn't a 5-0 or anything, if I disobeyed his commands there would be no consequence. Respecting his authority could cost me in any number of ways; a ticket for running a red light, stopping for a long time etc. Yet, I still almost always do what they direct me to do and so does everyone else.

All this past week, we've been bracing for a spring blizzard. The weathermen/women were all atwitter with the chance to get major airtime because of the chance of snowfall. How did we respond KC, we stocked up on groceries and snow supplies even though the snow was going to start melting off within a day or two. People endured long lines at the grocery just because of the chance of being inconvenienced by snow for a day or two. I was no different, I went to the liquor store and picked up a couple of sixers to help me get through the snowstorm, a sixer of Bell's Kalamazoo Stout and a sixer of Schlafly Scotch Ale.

Now, as we wake up on Saturday morning with the streets bone dry and no snow in sight, the weathermen are morose as they tell us we're only going to get about 2 inches of snow later this afternoon. We've once again ceded control over our lives to someone who should not have any control over our lives. To me, this is a little distressing that We the People are so willing to let someone, anyone, tell us what to do.

At least I picked up a couple of pretty good beers to help me drown my shame. The Bell's Kalamazoo Stout, at $9.29/sixer, is one of the cheapest beers in the Bell's family of beers. It says on the bottle that it is brewed with brewer's licorice, a substance I had never heard of, I trust this doesn't mean that the head brewer didn't drop some Good N'Plentys in the brew pot. I really liked the Kalamazoo stout, and at 6% ABV it's a little easier to drink a couple and not feel funny. But, it's not quite as tasty as the Schlafly Extra Stout which is only 20 cents more for a sixer. I think that in the future I'll get the Extra Stout and deal with the extra alcohol.

I got the Schlafly Scotch Ale largely because Scottish ale is one of Stella's favorite styles. It had a good bit of malty goodness, but was just a little lacking. It's an average beer, but since it was on sale at Gomer's Midtown for $6.49/sixer I was pretty pleased with the purchase. Those who really like a Scottish Ale, not the easiest style to find, might really enjoy this beer.

Now that it is raining a little bit, the KC metro is much more likely to stay in because of the threat of 2 inches of snow. If we had been told that we may get 2 inches of snow in the first place, virtually none of us would have done anything differently (I did get to see Lezak standing in front of a radar picture that looked just like a vagina, I didn't think I'd ever see Lezak that close to an exposed vagina). Of course if they had predicted 2 inches of snow, we probably would have gotten a foot. But, I ask you, which is worse, preemptively canceling your weekend plans because of a threat or postemptively canceling your weekend plans because of an actual foot of snow? Either way your weekend is ruined and either way the weatherman draws your ire. If you decide to not cede your authority to a third party, at least you've got a shot at doing what you want. When you find yourself cursing the weathermen, you should really blame yourself for listening to them. They are only acting in their best interests, by escalating threats, you're to blame for believing them.

In my case, I have a couple of decent beers to drink over the weekend as I watch a little bit of precipitation fall outside my windows. I don't have much to be upset about.

Schlafly Extra Stout

When Stella called me from the Beer Cave yesterday to ask me if I had tried the Schlafly Extra Stout, I told her that I hadn't and probably should try it. At the time I was in my backyard wearing shorts and pushing my kids on the swings. I don't know about you, but nothing about a nice day when we can play outside screams “I want a stout”. I was a bit taken aback by the very question simply because I wasn't expecting Stella to be in a liquor store at the time and had given no thought to any evening beverages. After contemplating calling her back and telling her to get something lighter, I decided ah what the hell, I can drink a stout or two tonight.

When she got home a short time later, I got the burgers out of the fridge to throw on the grill and cracked open one of the Schlafly's. Because I was going to be grilling while drinking it, I decided to drink it from the bottle, which I hardly ever do, but I can be a philistine every once in a while. The first taste I had was exquisite, almost perfect. I'm not kidding, I was ready to anoint it the best stout around. It could have been because I'd been swinging for an hour and nothing makes you quite as thirsty as a little swinging. I was really enjoying the bottle while I was grilling the meat.

Once the burgers were done I came inside and poured the rest of the bottle into a pint glass. The Schlafly is a very nice dark brown color with just a hint of redness. I let Stella try a little of the stout knowing she wouldn't like it, but I'm always hopeful that she will. She just doesn't like stouts. Well, dear readers, she liked this stout, “It's not as bitter or coffe-ey as all the other ones”. And she's right, it has a nice chocolatey sweetness and doesn't have a super bitter aftertaste. Stella liked it so much she popped open a bottle for herself to go with her fried egg topped bacon cheeseburger.

After dinner Stella made some oatmeal cookies, one of my favorites. Even though it was a balmy 72 degrees in the Bull E. Vard mansion and running the oven didn't help, I decided to crack open another stout to drink with my oatmeal cookie. Ohhh, that was inspired. Actually it wasn't, even someone impressed with triple hop brewing could have come up with that pairing. I wish I would have tried the Schlafly Extra Stout earlier in the year when it was still cold out, but for one warm March evening at least, it was the perfect choice.

Welcome to KC

This is dedicated to the Clemson Rally Cats I saw downtown today admiring the hardest working marching band around, the Marching Cobras. It occurred to me we're about to have 20,000 people (or more) descend upon our downtown to enjoy some NCAA regional action. Not many of these people have ever been to KC nor did they really wish to come to KC, they're just following their favorite college basketball team. So they're probably looking for something fun to do.

The obvious thing to do is go to the Power & Light District since it is right across the street from the Sprint Center. But, that would be a mistake. None of the bars in the Power and Light with the exception of the Flying Saucer are worth you spending your hard earned money on. The Power and Light District's only function is to get out of towners to spend their money. It's overpriced, lacks any soul and is full of douches.

I'm assuming if you're coming to town, you're probably going to go to the games, at least the session your team is playing in. The rest of the time you're going to want to be near the Sprint Center. So click the links to read a little more and go if any of these places strike your fancy.

A great place to watch other games and grab a beer and a bite to eat is just across the highway (to the south), a place called Willie's. It's a sports bar that is a little Mizzou centric but don't hold that against it. It's also 25% cheaper than anyplace in the Power and Light and a lot more enjoyable. Just about a block further south is a place called Czar Bar. I don't have anything to say about their food but they have bands and is generally a nice night spot for after the evening session of games.

For the adventurous who want to go to a locals place, you may want to try Zoo Bar. It's tiny, narrow and full of nice people. You'll love it and you'll meet real live Kansas Citians. It's only a block or two away from the Sprint Center and is great to pick up a couple of beers. Another locals bar of note is The Brick which is likely to be somewhat empty of college basketball fanatics but is full of $1 PBR cans and really good bar food.

Also within a couple of blocks of the Sprint Center are JP's Wine Bar if wine is your thing, The Bulldog for a pretty good meal and nice cocktails and the Martini Loft for cocktail hour.

Stretching out the boundaries a little for those willing to go on a good walk from the Sprint Center and love beer. You may want to head south and check out Grinders (as seen on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives) where you can get cheesesteaks, pizza and wings as well as select from over 20 high falutin' beers on tap. If you want to head north, go to the River Market and check out the best bar in town, Harry's Country Club. You will be able to get any beer that strikes your fancy as well as some good hamburgers, chicken and other bar favorites. The aforementioned Flying Saucer is also good for over 100 beers on tap and some average German pub inspired food (the French Dip with Guinness au jus is fabulous).

On Friday, your off day, you may want to try some of Kansas City's world famous places. In the barbecue arena we have 3 superstar barbecue restaurants that have this town torn over the favorite; Gates, Oklahoma Joe's and Arthur Bryant's. Arthur Bryant's is more of a Carolina style barbecue but made KC famous for barbecue and is located downtown. Gates is a local favorite that kind of defines KC barbecue and Oklahoma Joe's, my favorite, is the newcomer with the best pulled pork sandwich in the world (and that is not an exaggeration, it may not be true, but I don't think anyone would exclude it from the conversation). No matter which one you go to, I think you'll be impressed, but you MUST go to 1 of the 3.

If you're looking to watch the Friday and Sunday games or games out of your sessions, you're probably going to want to go to a sports bar. I would make Willie's the number 1 place to go. If you're really into watching every game you might try the 810 Zone in the Plaza (which can be pricey) or any of the local Tanner's.
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I know I'm leaving stuff out so check out the comments section and the great KC Beer Blog readers will point you to some other local favorites. I try to keep a list in my head of all the places an outsider must go to in KC if they're visiting and this is my list for the downtown visitor (the area of town of which I'm most familiar). Unfortunately, this list is chock full of my biases and faulty memory. The commenters, I'm sure, will come up with something that I've missed. You may also want to check out any of the bars from the KC Beer Blog Downtown Pub Crawl. All the bars are local and KC Beer Blog approved.

One last thing, drink Kansas City's own Boulevard beer, Missouri's largest brewer. It's so good you'll want to take some home (unless you're from Cal, in which case you have access to some of the best breweries in the world and don't need no high falutin' midwestern beer). If you're from Cal, pick me up a sixer of 21st Amendment Watermelon Wheat cans and email me (bullevard73@gmail.com). I'll trade you a really great Kansas City beer for it.

Enjoy Kansas City, we're happy to have you here and best of luck to your team.

Irish Bean Stew

Do you know why there are only 239 beans in an Irish bean stew? If you added only one more, it would make it two-fharty.

So raise yer glass o' Harp with a toast to the Irish and have a happy St. Paddy's Day!

Kennedy's Rising

Kennedy's Bar and Grill in Waldo has finally reopened in their new permanent spot. It's been over 2 years since the big Waldo fire and that area is finally made whole (although it's a little uglier) with the bar reopening. The temporary space they were using just made me kind of sad. I hope the new space serves them well.

The Horse and the Chicken

A horse and a chicken are drinking some Giddy Up! while playing around in a meadow. Suddenly the horse falls into a mud hole and starts sinking. He tells the chicken to go and get the farmer to help pull him out to safety. The chicken runs to the farmer, but the farmer can't be found.

So he drives the farmer's Mercedes back to the hole and ties some rope around the bumper. He then throws the other end of the rope to his drunken friend and drives forward saving the horse from sinking.

A few days later, the chicken and horse are enjoying some PBR tall-boys while playing in the meadow again, and the chicken falls into a mud hole. The chicken tells the horse to go and get some help from the farmer. The horse says, "I think I can get you out."

So he stretches over the width of the hole and says, "Grab hold of my 'thing' and pull yourself up." The chicken does this and is pulled to safety.

Moral of the story: If you’re hung like a horse, you don't need a Mercedes to pick up chicks.

John's Big Deck is OPEN for bidness!

Good news, downtowners! A little bird told me tonight that the beloved Big Deck is re-opening FRIDAY under new management. Their liquor license is good-to-go, and the place has been spiffed-up.

I understand that there will be a "limited menu," sanded and polished floors, a remodeled kitchen, a freshly-painted stage area on the upper deck, and black felt pool tables on the middle floor. The little bird told me that, "it hasn't been this clean in fifty years!"

I'll be there (in line) at 10:00 AM.

Bargain Bin Beer

I never got around to writing about how much I liked the Southampton Altbier, it just got a mention in another post about Boulevard (I'm really not a shill). But, I had the altbier at the Flying Saucer one night and really liked it. Then I found it in sixers at Gomer's midtown and bought it a couple of times. I liked it as an everyday type beer but it fell out of the rotation for one reason or another and I never got around to writing about it.

The past couple of times I've been to Tipsy's, I've noticed that they had sixers of the Southampton Altbier in the bargain cart along with such unpopular beers as the Schlafly Christmas Ale and the Pyramid Snow Cap Ale. The best thing about the bargain bin is that these beers are $5.99 a sixer. A better deal cannot be had for a pretty good beer. It's only marked down because it got lost in all the selection and no one's ever heard of Southampton brewery. Let me tell you, pick some up and see if you enjoy it. I think you will.

Bringing Breweries to Missouri

Mike over at STL Hops had a poll recently asking his readers which breweries they would like to see in STL (like typical St. Louisians they didn't care about the rest of Missouri) and the top three were Dogfish Head, Russian River and Stone. You may quibble with their St. Louis tastes (such as the abomination that is St. Louis pizza), but those would be 3 welcome additions to the KC beer scene.

So Mike is asking his readers to write to the breweries and ask them to come to Missouri. I think a couple of well placed emails might actually put Missouri in these breweries' plans. The emails are below.
email@stonebrew.com
info@russianriverbrewing.com
http://www.dogfish.com/contact-us.htm

If you're really interested in Dogfish Head and haven't joined my Facebook group Bring Dogfish Head to Missouri, you only have yourself to blame. Do it now.

Smokestack Seasonals

Happy days. Owen is reporting that Boulevard is coming out with 3 new beers over the next year. But, they're actually coming out with 4 Boulevard Smokestack seasonals.

First up is a Saison that Boulevard says is going to be the first Smokestack Series beer to be on tap. This formulation of the Saison will replace the current Saison Smokestack and will have a different name and label. I look forward to drinking some over at Harry's sometime soon.

Servers came by carrying glasses of a new saison based on the Saison-Brett. "You are drinking what will be our first Smokestack series on draft," Pauwels said.

Currently nicknamed "Tank 7," the beer is heading to bars in April. With the hops and yeast and slight fruit hints, it had something for everyone. And at the end of the night, when Pauwels had people vote on their favorite, Tank 7 won easily.

The second beer on tap (get it?) is a witbier, dubbed Two Jokers Double-Wit. I like witbiers quite a bit as well, but only in the summer or an unseasonably warm day. Boulevard is reading my mind by releasing this as a seasonal Smokestack around the same time frame as Zon.

Not mentioned in Owen's story, is another seasonal Smokestack, a dopplebock, to be released around the same time as Bob's 47. I think Oktoberfest is going to be just a little better this year.

To continue the seasonal Smokestacks, Boulevard will be releasing a wheat wine (which is supposedly similar to a barleywine) at around the same time as Nutcracker. Similar to barleywine = Bull no likey. But, for those who like barleywines have at it. The wheat wine will be a limited release similar to the BBQ and will be priced similarly.

Then one other great piece of news is that they are working on a rye beer, which I'm assuming would be the last seasonal Smokestack to be paired with the Irish Ale. I have volunteered my tasting services to the Boulevard brewers. I love rye beers and they are severely underutilized by breweries. I'm glad Boulevard is throwing their hat in the rye ring.

When the first Smokestack beers came out in the fall of 2007 I said that those were their first salvo in becoming the best craft brewer in the U.S.. I think this salvo of seasonal Smokestack brews will put them in the conversation now, assuming they live up to my Boulevard standards. It looks to be another good year in Boulevard country.

Owen has his tasting notes out on the Saison and wheat wine.

Pub Crawlin' in Mission

We finally got around to actually doing the Mission Twitical Pub Crawl on Saturday. Because of the locale I rode my bike over. I completely misjudged how long it would take to ride my bike one hour so I showed up to Lucky Brewgrille really early. Note to Mission, if you want your town to be pedestrian friendly put a couple of bike racks around. I rode all around the Mission Mart and couldn't find anywhere to lock up my bike. I had to lock it to a metal staircase.
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So I got to Lucky Brewgrille about 20 minutes early. I was glad to have the time to catch my breath and take in just how desolate Lucky Brewgrille is early on a Saturday (about 11:40). Chimpo showed up shortly after as I was about a quarter of the way through my $4 Boulevard Pale Ale Pint. DLC arrived and we had a nice discussion of Chimpo's “I don't s*** like this” t-shirt that was inspired by the DLC's comment on Hot Blog on a Stick. A couple of other Twitter people showed up along with Wes Port and Average Jane. Owen from Fat City also rode his bike over, though his ride was a much longer distance. He had an interesting solution to the no bike rack problem, he just brought his bike into the bar, slammed it against the wall and said to the host “I work for the Pitch, I do what I want!” (only part of that is true).

Much of our early discussion centered on a Twitter hot topic, the movie “Watchmen”. Every 3rd tweet we see when any comic book movie comes out is about said comic book movie. Comic book movies nearly make Twitter unusable. It was a shame that all of these people went to see a movie on a day as nice as Saturday when they could have just as easily gone on a pub crawl with us. Chimpo shared with us a bar strategy that I had never heard of, take Immodium AD before a day/evening spent in a bar. As Chimpo astutely pointed out, no one wants to drop a deuce in a strip club (that is the first time the words Chimpo and astute appear in the same sentence).

Once everyone got at least one beer in, we moved on across the street to JJ's Other Place. We had a group of around 14, once we got to JJ's they had a crowd of about 16. I think the bartender thought we were there to rob the place. That probably wouldn't have been a great strategy since we'd only walk away with about $2 each. I made a mistake and ordered a Guinness. Guinness isn't a mistake, but paying $5.50 for a bad pour in a dive bar is. C'est la vie. JJ's is surprisingly small and is more of a game bar than anything. At the front of the bar was 4 or 5 dart boards, along the side walls were a couple of video games and a digital jukebox. They also had a back room type area with a pool table. The back room did have a feature that can not be found in most bars, leaves. If you like having leaves crunch at your feet while you play pool, JJ's is your place. In their defense, it was such a nice day and JJ's had their doors open so the leaves flew in.

We settled in around the bar and jukebox (where @sjwaters chose perhaps the worst song ever and then Piano Man). Chimpo, his friend and I were keeping an eye on the Dominican Republic – Netherlands World Baseball Classic game. When The Netherlands sealed the deal, Chimpo yelled across the bar Dutch! Dutch! Dutch!. I yelled back ICH BIEN DER NEDERLANDER! JJ's regulars contemplated their decisions up to that point in their life. I had a second beer, I think it was a Miller Lite and it was only $2.25 I think. A couple of other people joined us, we listened to some Metallica, finished up our beers and left (presumably to never come back).

After a stop at the Werner's sausage cart and all the sausage jokes that could be told, we moved down to RJ's Bob-Be-Cue. I was the first to arrive, I seem to be a fast walker, and told the hostess there was about 15 of us. She looked at me and said “you're joking right?”. Luckily, a member of the RJ's staff, Dave, knew of our pub crawl and he guided us to sit on the little deck that RJ's has added. We had it all to ourselves and Dave went inside to prepare us 16 hillbilly margaritas (when only 15 were needed). What's a hillbilly margarita, you ask? Well it's a margarita made with Mountain Dew. Sounds gross right? Well, it is the best margarita made with Mountain Dew I've ever had and I think it will be the last margarita made with Mountain Dew I'll ever have. I believe there's a reason Mountain Dew has never been in any margarita recipe I've ever seen. Dave was a bit embarrassed that he miscounted and made an extra margarita innocently stating that he must have counted someone twice. I said he probably counted Chimpo twice (because he's the size of 2 people).

After choking down the hillbilly juice, we worked our way back up Johnson Dr. to the Keyhole Tavern. Where is everyone in Mission on a Saturday afternoon? Well they're at the Keyhole Tavern. Keyhole and Tavern both imply small, which certainly is a word that should be used to describe the Keyhole. I didn't think all of us would fit. Someone found a back patio (porch? Deck?) that was able to fit us in. Keyhole is also one of those places that doesn't take credit cards. Wes and I were stuck with $1 between us so we had to have sponsors buy us a beer until we got to the next bar when we could pay them back. We got some $2 PBR (everyday special, the house wine is the Macaroni Grill Chianti for $3 which is another good deal) draws in nice Houlihan's pint glasses and headed out to the deck. We had to be careful to not knock over the hot crock pots. Apparently the Keyhole is one of those neighborhood places that lets users serve themselves from crock pots. Makes me wish I lived in the neighorhood.

Once settled in on the deck, the group began making friends. And this is what I like about the Keyhole. Their patrons really worked on selling us on the bar and they were just friendly. They appreciated having us come in and actively engaged us in conversation. One guy came back to the deck and told us that he had read that Ashton Kutcher (though he called him Demi Moore's husband) uses Twitter. This guy also pointed out the owner of the Keyhole and listed off the owner's movie credits (he was Huck Finn AND young Clark Kent). Our second round of beers was served in red Solo cups. I don't know how the 2 bartenders could possibly have had time to keep any glassware clean. At least 40 people were in the bar when we were there and that is a lot to handle with only 2 or 3 people working. Sadly, our time at the Keyhole had to come to an end. We staggered out of the Keyhole like a bunch of drunks and made our way over to the Clarette Club.

We had to make our own fun at the Clarette Club. They did have $2.50 PBR bottles (which I poured in a glass). Talk earlier in the day centered around a reuben eggroll on the Clarette Club's menu. Chimpo, DLC, Owen and @cgiffin went in to get an order of this disgusting sounding food. They looked like little reuben rolls (like pizza rolls) with a tortilla wrapper. DLC nearly had to go home after receiving third degree burns in his mouth from the hot cheese. I don't know that anyone enjoyed them, though I think Wes Port had 2 (he gets hungry after drinking all day). It was nice to wind down a little at the Clarette before we crossed over to the Mission Bowl.

Once again I was the first over to the Mission Bowl where I bought a pitcher of Miller Lite for about $8. Chimpotle made some joke about wanting sausage and the guy at the counter was quite ready to trade sausage jokes. I believe Chimpo did get something else to eat amazingly. Stella joined our group, making us about 16 or 17 at this point. We had picked up several people along the way while a couple of people dropped out along the way. We got some bowling shoes, 3 lanes and bowled. I have no idea who did well and who did poorly, I rolled a 90.

On the whole it was a fun day. I think we had fun at every bar no matter what. It was great to meet those that showed up and I think I talked to everyone somewhere along the way. I've heard much talk of making this an annual event and that might be fun, but let's try out this thought “Merriam Pub Crawl”. How does that strike you?

If this sounded like fun there is another Mission Pub Crawl on March 28(not affiliated with the KC Beer Blog) that benefits the Kansas City Chapter of the Dream Factory. Buy your tickets and go.

Update: There are many more pictures up at the DLC's Flickr site.

Aluminum Revisited

I decided to do some extensive investigative work to research Boulevard's decision to use aluminum bottles. It turns out they are using bottles because they work on the new bottling line, cans do not.

Regarding cans versus bottles, the decision to go with bottles was because they worked with our new bottling line — a rather large investment for the brewery. The addition of a separate canning line was cost-prohibitive, and there is no space in our current facility that could accommodate one. This option was also preferred because of the move to 16 vs. 12-ounces for large venues.

It is true we had a posting in our FAQ regarding cans, though after years of technology improvements can/bottle liners, sustainability awareness and other business factors, aluminum became a viable — and more acceptable — option for our beers to reach more consumers.

Boulevard Aluminum

Boulevard is going to start packaging some Boulevard Wheat in aluminum bottles.

Boulevard announced today that its wheat beer will be available soon in the new 16-ounce containers. That will give Boulevard entre to golf courses, concert venues, swimming pools and other glass-averse places.

Besides such access, "the environmental advantages of aluminum were an important consideration," said John McDonald, Boulevard's founder and president. The asthetics also weren't lost on McDonald, an art school graduate.

I guess this means you won't get to buy a sixer of aluminum at the liquor store. But that would be nice because I really don't like tailgating with glass bottles. It seems after 10 beers, your pal Bull E. Vard, has some trouble holding onto his bottles while playing washers. I don't like being a pest by breaking glass in the parking lot. But it will be nice to drink a couple of bottles of Wheat out on the golf course and not having to settle for Mark Teahen.

Update: I was wrong, they are going to sell the aluminum bottles in the liquor store. Yea for tailgating, boo for my reading comprehension. Click here to see a 360 view of the bottle.

Best Bar in the World

Three Irishmen were sittin' in a bar.

The first says: "Aye, this is a nice bar, but where I come from, there's a better one. At MacDougal's, you buy a drink, you buy another drink, and MacDougal himself will buy your third drink!"

The second then starts: "That sounds like a nice bar, but where I come from, there's a better one called Quinn's. At Quinn's, you buy a drink, Quinn buys you a drink. You buy another drink, Quinn buys you another drink."

Then the third pipes up. "You think that's good? Where I come from, there's this place called Murphy's. At Murphy's, they buy you your first drink, they buy you your second drink, they buy you your third drink, and then, they take you in the back and get you laid!"

"Wow!" say the other two. "That sounds fantastic! Did that actually happen to you?" "No," replies their friend, "but it happened to my sister!"

Sami - What! Chlaus Malt Liquor

When the beer weighs in at 14% ABV all I can do is rap:

Lazy Sunday, wake up in the late afternoon.
Call Wes Port just to see how he’s doing.
Hello?
What up, Wes?
Yo Bull E., what’s crackin?
You thinking what I’m thinkin?
Malt Licqa!
Man, it’s happenin!
But first my hunger pains are hurtin like anal.
Let’s dig out the muffin pan and cook some bacon egg cups
No doubt those cups got all the mad lushness
I love those bacon-egg cups like the Dude loves White Russians.
Two! No six! No Twelve! Bakers Dozen!
I told you that I’m crazy for these egg cups, cousin.
Yo, where’s the malt licqa at?
Vegetable crisper.
Well, let’s find some pint glasses to pour into
I prefer goblets.
Those are good, too.
Pilsner glasses are the best.
True that.
Double True!
Open and pour.
Tip the glass, dude.
How does it taste, Wes?
Like Purple Passion mutha @$!#@!
It’s the Sami- What! Chlaus Malt Liquor
Yes, the Sami - What?..Chlaus Malt Liquor!
We love that Sami - What?..Chlaus Malt Liquor!
Pass that Sami (what?)..Chlaus Malt Liquor!

It’s the Sami- What! Chlaus Malt Liquor
Yes, the Sami - What?..Chlaus Malt Liquor!
We love that Sami - What?..Chlaus Malt Liquor!
Pass that Sami (what?)..Chlaus Malt Liquor!

Don't Lose Out on St. Paddy's Day at Lew's

Lew’s Irish Hooley
Presented by Scion
March 17th, 2009

Lew’s Grill & Bar in Waldo is hosting their 5th annual Lew’s Irish Hooley, Kansas City ’s Largest St. Patrick’s Day Party. This year the Lew’s Grill & Bar Irish Hooley is on Tuesday, March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day. Live music includes The Kelihan's, Disc O’ Dick & the Mirror Balls, Jonathon Ramsey, D.J. “Lew” and many more.

Food, drinks, live music & fun will be available ran or shine. Ticket info, follow this link.

The festivities start for breakfast at Lew's starting at 9am. Watch the Parade live on the Jumbo Big screen outside in the heated tent or inside Lew’s. Live music starts at 1pm and goes until the wee hours of the night around 3am.

Lew’s Irish Hooley Schedule of Events:

9:00am Lew’s Opens for Breakfast
11:00am Jumbo Tents & Beer Garden Open.
1:00pm Live Music begins….
1:30pm Jonathon Ramsey (Irish Folk)
5:00pm The Kelihan's (Irish Rock)
8:00pm Disc O' Dick & the Mirror Balls (70’s Disco)
11:00pm D.J. “Lew” till 3am!

Tickets go on sale March 1st.
Pre Sale $5.00 / Day of $10.00 / VIP $25.00
Tickets may be purchased at Lew’s or www.lewsgrillandbar.com
Media Contact - Chris Lewellen - chris@lewellen.net - 816.695.3576



Lew’s Grill & Bar
7539 Wornall Rd. Kansas City , Mo 64114
www.lewsgrillandbar.com

Saturday Afternoon Bar-hopping

Our day of debauchery began around 2:30 in the afternoon with a trip to The Cellar Rat for a quick wine-tasting, where we enjoyed one of the best Malbecs ever to cross the lips of humankind. That moment of bliss sent our group of three (Weston, Chambord, and myself) off on a whirlwind tour of bar-hopping, that actually only ended up including three other bars, so I guess it wasn’t much of a whirlwind--rather whirlpool--of beer and drunken fun.

Stop number one, was the Bristol Seafood Grill in the Power & Light District. I’ve only been one other time, for a drink, but this time we were going to have some food with our beverages. It was 3:00 pm and the doors had just opened for the day. We were the first souls inside the restaurant, so our options for seating were pretty much open. Naturally, as any good drunks would, we headed straight for the bar.

We all enjoyed beers from the tap, which weren’t anything spectacular, unless you consider Stella, Sam Adams, and Guinness unique and exciting. We paired those with petite appetizers with huge-ass prices. I think our tab was nearly $80 for a few drinks and 4-5 small “starters” to nibble amongst ourselves. Don’t get me wrong—the food was exceptional. Just pricey and tiny. I probably wouldn’t go back to dine, as I’m not too terribly heavy on the wallet side most of the time…and I prefer to get a little more for my money. Chambord says she always will err with quality over quantity, but damn, sometimes a boy's gotta eat!

Stop number two takes us, of course, to The Flying Saucer. Our favorite downtown spot for beers, now that Tanner’s has long-since gone the way of the dodo. Chambord and Weston each had a pull from the tap; I was feeling like a surprise, so I asked the waitress to kindly choose five “amazing beers” of her choice for a sampler. It was just like Christmas! I was so excited!! Betty, that’s what we’ll call her, didn’t disappoint. She brought me a tray with five, ok maybe four, exceptional beers. I wasn’t too fond of the pear cider, which had the aftertaste of a wax candle. But the other four beers offered a very nice variety. I especially enjoyed the Left Hand Stout. I mean, come on. Anything with your left hand’s gotta be good! I would wholeheartedly recommend asking your waitress to bring you a surprise tray of sampler beers the next time you hit up the Saucer.

We played two games of (real) darts and then headed out for our next bar, with a quick stop-in at CostCo to get our hands around a $1.50 sausage. I felt so durty. But oh well, we were still hungry after our billion-dollar kibbles and bits over at Bristol.

Stop number three took us to Crosstown Station, the bar we hardly visit enough. Again, we find ourselves to be the only people in the bar, except for a few lonely guys setting up for a stage show. We had some beers from the tap—I had PBR, of course---and Chambord ran out to the truck to grab Uno Attack! Can’t imagine a better way to enjoy my Pabst, than with a raucous game of Uno Attack. By the time we’d finished a couple games, the bar had started to fill with band-like groupies. The stage had been set and the musicians were tuning their tools. I’m glad the P&L hasn’t yet scared off this unique local bar. We need more people to get out there and support the little guys to keep our hometown charm somewhat in tact…

To top-off the evening, I went home and threw up. Have I really become THAT much of a lightweight?! I'm blaming the sausage.