The Wait is Over

What better way to finish up Cyber Monday than with a big ol' bottle of BBQ? Luckily that will be possible with a little bit of detective work because Boulevard's Bourbon Barrel Quad will be in some stores today. The BBQ goes pretty quickly so you'll be wanting to pick some up this week.

Call it out in comments as you're finding the BBQ. It should be priced around $11.99/bottle. Later this week, Tank 7 should be hitting stores so this is going to be a good Boulevard week.

World Cup in KC

A couple of weeks ago on a Saturday we went to Oklahoma Joe's for lunch. As expected the line snaked almost out the door by the time we got there. While I was waiting in line, 7 or 8 guys dressed in Chargers gear came in and got in line. The Chargers were in town to beat the Chiefs that weekend. When I got to a point in the line where I could talk to the Chargers fans I asked if they were from San Diego. Of course they were so I told them that their KC research was about to pay off, because it doesn't get any better than Oklahoma Joe's. They wondered what they should order so I gave them my OJoe's tips (get something with pulled pork and split the fries). Through pure chance, they sat down at the next table over so I talked with them during lunch about how much I like the Chargers (I've had LT on my fantasy team since he was a rookie and I've had Phil Rivers and Vincent Jackson for 3 years now so I follow them closely) and what they should do in KC.

I love having new people in town because I love having conversations like that. While I like to make fun of KC's ability to turn a perfectly good property tax paying business downtown (where I got my tux for my wedding) into a financial boondoggle that bleeds all over the city's financial statements and other missteps such as a part of town with weekly sometimes daily homicides that no one (media, government, citizens) seem to care about. I also appreciate and love the fact that Kansas City has a lot to offer visitors, from great food and great beer to unique attractions and shopping. I lived half of my adult life in Wichita which has none of those things so I appreciate living someplace that does and sharing it with others.

Which brings me to last week when I got an invitation to go out to the Wizards' practice facility to see a presentation about bringing the World Cup to KC in 2018 or 2022. Soccer's World Cup is the world's premier sporting event. Some may say the Olympics hold that torch, but that's BS because no one gives a flip about rowing or swimming the other 3 years, they only minimally care about them in the olympiad. But soccer is the world's premier sport and the one more people on this planet are passionate about 365 days/year every year.

The US is bidding for the World Cup in 2018 and in 2022 and we have a great chance to get the World Cup in one of those years. Because of the number of games many sites are needed in the host country and Kansas City is one of the finalists to be a host site.

What does this mean for us? It means we get to host a one month party. It means we'll have an influx of soccer fans from around the world bringing with them their cultures, food and best of all beer. It means billions of people will see world class soccer played in Kansas City at Arrowhead. And best of all it means we will get all of this without spending (more than a negligible amount) a taxpayer dime. We're not going to get a better deal than that. We didn't get a deal like this from the Chiefs or the Royals, no they wanted to force you to spend your taxpayer dollars on their venue improvements (whether you voted for the new tax or not).

In addition to filling up Arrowhead for several World Cup games, the World Cup also requires venues for a FIFA Fan Fest. KC's organizers will use the Liberty memorial and possibly the Sprint Center to host this Fan Fest. There's nothing quite like these, you can see the Hamburg one in the video below.

This won't be just a one week event either, it will several weeks. As Doug Frost would say, we get great bang for our buck on this deal. All you need to do right now is sign a little World Cup petition. It's an official thing, not some weird petition you get from your liberal friend every other day. The World Cup people use this petition to make their decisions. We need to be #1 in signatories to assure KC will be a finalist so put down your beer and sign the thing and we'll have a party in 9 years.

If you want some additional information about the bid go to The Back Post, he has a wrapup of the presentation.

Surly Delivery

I got a nice hand delivered Surly package today thanks to JJS in KCK. Not only is JJS a nice enough guy to bring this back from Minny for me, he's one good looking son of a bitch to boot.

BTW, if you're going to rob one of us, I happen to know he has $200 worth of Minneapolis available beers. You know the right thing to do.

Nutcracker Special Reserve, Irish Rye and Test Brew #2

I spent part of my Saturday doing the Boulevard Brewery tour with some friends from out of town. The tour itself hasn't changed much since earlier this summer, but now they have a slick new video about the brewery and the brewing process. The highlight of the video had to be Trip Hogue's "Trip Down Memory Lane." I was a little surprised to see the barrels in the aging room of the old brewhouse didn't seem to have changed at all in the past five months. I realize that's the idea when you lager beer... but I was expecting to see some new names written in chalk on the wooden barrels. Amongst all the "6th" and "Imperial Stout" barrels I did notice is that the "RYE" barrels were still there, and they've been lagering since March. The tour guide said that the barrels were old Jack Daniel's barrels that they use to age Sixth Glass, Bourbon Barrel Quad and the Imperial Stout. I asked him what was in the Templeton Rye barrels at the end of the room and he said it was an Irish Red Rye. He didn't elaborate on whether this was a new Rye beer aged in whiskey barrels, or if it was just last year's Irish Ale that was aged in Templeton Rye barrels... so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

In the tasting room at the end of the tour there were a couple more surprises. In addition to the usual lineup there was still Tank 7 which seems destined to spend it's days on tap, rather than in a Smokestack bottle. Rumors have been circulating for quite a while that Tank 7 would replace the original Saison Smokestack but there seems to be some reluctance to make that a reality. I mean, Tank 7 has been on tap at the brewery for about six months now... As a side note, only two people out of our group of nine preferred the Tank 7 to the original Saison. Not a scientific study by any means, but it echoes what I've heard from other people who've had the Tank 7.

Also on tap was the Nutcracker Special Reserve. Perhaps better known as the Nut Sack, this beer is the left overs from the stuffed pantyhose hopping process. I'm a big fan of the vanilla Nutcracker (ie plain jane Nutcracker, although a vanilla version of Nutcracker sounds really good) and I like this hoppier version quite a bit too. Being a dark and malty beer, the Nutcracker can handle a strong hopping better than other styles might. The official name of this beer is Nutcracker Special Reserve, but everyone seemed to refer to it as the Nut Sack. If you get a close up look at the tap handle you'll even see a pair of dangling cherries, nice...

Lastly, there was a test brew on tap in the tasting room. The tap handle just said "Test Brew #2" and we were told it was an experimental Amber. The beer was definitely red but had a little dark orange haziness to it. It tasted... like an Amber, oddly enough. The only remarkable quality that I noticed was that this beer wasn't as hoppy or as bitter as other Ambers I'd had, which made it smooth and easy to drink. I started off with the Amber so it'd be the first thing on my palate and then had two more glass of it at the end of our session. I was a bit underwhelmed with this test brew, but it's something the brewers are still tinkering with so we'll have to wait and see how it turns out.

I asked around about the Bourbon Barrel Quad but no one would give any specifics on a release date. I'd heard previously that it'd hit the market shortly after Harvest Dance so it may reach a liquor store near you sooner than you think.

Here's to Twenty More!

Big cheers are in order because today marks the 20th birthday of the Boulevard Brewing Company. That's right, twenty years ago today Boulevard's first keg of Pale Ale was tapped and sold to patrons at Ponak's Mexican Kitchen on Southwest Boulevard. The picture above is from the Immaculate Tapping of the Virgin Keg all those many years ago. Twenty years later Boulevard has seven year round brews, an impressive selection of seasonal beers and the delicious Smokestack Series. One thing that hasn't changed in the past two decades... the mullet is still as rockin' as ever.

So here's twenty more, Cheers!

Time to Dance

It's been a long wait, but the time is here. Boulevard's Harvest Dance Wheat Wine is on the distributor's trucks right now and getting delivered to your local liquor store today. You may want to call your favorite store to make sure they're getting their Boulevard delivery today before you drive over.

I'm not much of one for barleywines so I'm hoping the wheat wine is a little better. I've already decided it will be my Thanksgiving beer if I like it. From the reviews I've read I think I could have missed the pain of waiting but really don't want to miss the dance.

Framboz In

The yearly holiday struggle has begun. No, not Christmas shopping or finding a good turkey. It's the annual Frambozen hunt.

As regular readers know, I loves me some raspberry beers and Frambozen is one of the best around and my favorite. Thanks to Rod_Leviathon I found out that Hy-Vee Wine and Spirits has about 6 cases of Frambozen left (after my purchase). I hope you didn't think I would tell you before I got me some. $9.99 a sixer is a little steep, but, truth be told I'd buy just as much at $12.99/sixer.

If you see Frambozen somewhere else let us know in comments with the prices. I think it might be a little more available this year simply because I don't think any stores even got 6 cases of Frambozen last year if they got any. You better get yours before Chimpotle buys up all the Frabozen in town again.

You can't judge a drinker by his beer

Well, according to this "study" maybe you can judge a person's personality based solely off of what they drink...

Allow me to save you a few minutes and sum it up:

• Drinking Anheuser-Busch products means you are grounded but probably don't jive with authority figures, prone to "frat boy-like personalities" and generally suck at planning ahead.
• If you drink Heineken you are a pompous show off who is easily distracted by luxury items.
• Blue Moon drinkers are non-voting hippies and bad parents who too busy smoking the pot to realize Blue Moon is owned by Coors.
• And finally, if you like craft beers it just means you are horrible with deadlines, don't have a great sense of responsibility and you love to watch "The Office."

Like any broad generalization, there is plenty of room for exception. I know a couple craft beer drinkers that don't care for The Office, it just so happens that neither is very responsible and deadlines aren't really their forte... so make of that what you will.

It's almost too easy to make jokes about the Bud and Bud Light findings. I mean, drinking Red White Dynamite makes you 42% more likely to drive a truck? Who knew? It also means you're more likely to use breath freshening strips to cover up the your Bud Breath...

I'm not sure I buy the assumption that Bud Light drinkers are easy to get along with. It's been my experience that if you aren't wearing a wicked sweet Ed Hardy shirt or in the same frat as a Bud Light drinker, then you probably won't get along very well.

I'd love take a dig at the Apple laptop using, Prius driving Blue Moon drinkers but I've gotta go choose what movie we're going to see at the theater tonight.

The only thing scarier than the Karaoke was the beer

Like most red blooded 'mericans, I too went to a Halloween party this weekend. It wasn't a terribly big to-do, just some friends in ridiculous costumes eating, drinking and carrying on. We arrived at the party just in time to catch the first round of SingStar '90s Edition. For those of you who are unfamiliar, it's basically karaoke on the Playstation 2 with your favorite hits from the '90s, like Chumbawamba and Chumbawamba... Honestly, you haven't lived until you've heard Tubthumping sung by grown man dressed as Tweedledum.

As you can imagine, I was ready to hit the ground running. The host of this shindig had a nice basement bar where everyone was congregating near the tap. Great, a keg! I tried not to get my hopes up but there was a Boulevard Wheat taphandle so without even asking what beer they had I reached for a plastic cup and got down to business. But of course there was no Boulevard keg... this was Bud Light. Awesome...

It was about this time that Sixpense None the Richer came up on the karaoke and I was transported to another time and place. That time and place was college. Before I knew it we were playing cards and yelling out orders to drink. After more Bud Lights than I care to admit, I remember that I'd brought a beer of my own with me. Actually, it was part of my costume. I went as a member of the Dharma Initiative from Lost. Part of my costume was a bottle of Left Hand Sawtooth that I slapped a Dharma logo on.

In the pantheon of great beers Left Hand's Sawtooth Ale is placed in the back corner, kinda by the bathroom. It's not my favorite beer, but tonight it was a lifesaver. Given the choice between an ice cold Bud Light and a slightly warmer than room tempurature ESB, I'm gonna take the ESB. If you've never had Left Hand's Sawtooth, it's got a nice toasted grain flavor but finishes quite bitter. If I'd rated this beer during the Halloween party I would've given it 110 points and a smiley face with a plus sign, it really hit the spot.

That just about sums up my Halloween this year, good friends and bad beer. Actually, that pretty much sums up my college years as well...