World Cup Drinking

The games are upon us. Unfortunately since they're in South Africa a good portion of the games don't lend themselves to drinking while watching (unless you're a morning drinker in which case you've got a different set of problems). But, there will be plenty of 1:00 and 3:00 games that just scream beer drinking game. So the question is, where are you going to watch the biggest sporting event in the world?

The KC Wizards are hosting watch parties for all the games at the Living Room in the Power & Light district. I'm sure there will be plenty of hooligans around for that. The Gaf is also hosting watch parties and may be the place to go to drink some fine drinks and good Irish food. 810 Zones (Leawood and the Plaza) each have their own watch parties, but since they never talk about soccer on any of the 810 sports shows, it seems to be a half hearted effort. All the Buffalo Wild Wings locations in town are also having watch parties. In fact, the Vard family will be watching the big England vs. USA game tomorrow at 1 from the Buffalo Wild Wings in Overland Park. Stella got some coupons for free wings during the game, I just hope I don't throw up again.

If you're going to watch one game during the World Cup, I would make it the England vs. USA one. But, you really should check out any of Argentina's games (they have the best player in the world). The Ivory Coast has an entertaining team that is a dark horse candidate to win the whole schmeer and has one of the most exciting players, Drogba (if he's able to play), in the World Cup. Brazil is usually a good team to watch, but I think this year's Brazil team isn't going to be quite as much fun to watch. The games are on in the morning so you can have them on while you're doing other stuff, just give it a shot and you may find a team you like watching. That's what happened to me in 2006 and now I couldn't be more excited about an event. Just imagine what it will be like when/if KC is hosting games in 2018 or 2022.

If you know of any other watch parties or good places to catch some games, let us know in the comments section. If you're interested in finding other locations you can use the event finder at the GO USA bid site.

The Return of Two Jokers

Boulevard's Two Jokers returned to store shelves again earlier this week. In some places it may have never went away... so if you're on the look out for a fresh bottle be sure to check the date. Two Jokers is one of my favorite Smokestack beers because it combines two things I love, Belgian Wit and Belgian Wit. It's more than just the sum of its parts though, the Two Jokers isn't just a Zonier Zon... it's a richer, citrusier, spicier, sweeter big summer beer.

If you enjoyed the Two Jokers last year you'll be glad to know you can now get this beer on tap in Kansas City. I don't have a list of bars getting kegs but I did see Two Jokers on tap at Barley's in Overland Park last night. I suspect the Flying Saucer will have it, possibly as a "Rare Beer Night" tapping.

Your liquor store of choice should have Two Jokers in stock now. I picked up my bottle at Top Cellars on 119th.

If you've seen Two Jokers (09 or 10) on shelves or on tap in the metro, let us know in the comments below.

Listen All of Y'all, this is Saboteur

Odell Brewing brewmaster Doug Odell is hitting the KC circuit this week with their latest release, Saboteur. Saboteur is a brown ale dosed with brettanomyces and aged in oak barrels. If you'd like to try it out, the Overland Park Barley's Brewhaus at 119th & Quivira will have a tasting (no ticket required) on Wednesday at 6:30. If that doesn't work for you, head down to the Flying Saucer on Thursday night around 7PM when they will be tapping it as their rare beer of the night.


Not known for my patience, I decided to crack open a bottle of Saboteur that I picked up in Omaha a few weeks back. The first mistake I made was drinking a bit right out of the fridge. The second was finishing the bottle by myself. It may have been the 10% ABV getting to me, but I'm really impressed with the quality of bottle Odell uses for these 750 release. You could seriously knock multiple people out in a bar fight without any worry of breakage.

The beer itself helped me come to the epiphany that while I may say that I am a fan of browns, I'm more of a nut brown kind of guy. The Saboteur really strikes out as a sour brown from the first whiff. After letting it sit for a bit, the flavor goes from sour fruit (almost pineapple) to oak barrel and finishing with a hint of malt. The brett funk was definitely noticeable from the moment it hit my mouth. While it is definitely worth checking out at one of the local events, my opinion of the beer would be a lot higher had I stopped at one glass as opposed to downing the whole bottle. A nice, complex, one pour kind of beer.

Scottish Highland Games this weekend

Did you know Kansas City had it's own Scottish Highland Games? Me neither... I can't decided whether that makes me a bad Kansas Citian or a worse Scotsman. I'll go with horrible Scotsman since I don't think I'm even the slightest bit Scottish. I can't do the accent and I've never sat through all of Braveheart. Nonetheless, I plan on doing a bit of penance this weekend as I partake in more Scottish activities than I probably should.

Kansas City's Scottish Highland Games is a three day long event full of bagpipes, kilts, bagpipes and even KILTS!!! There's an extensive list of Scottish themed bands and sporting events going on in Riverside this year. What caught my attention was that it was within stumbling distance of Riverside Red X (the best pseudo-truck stop liquor store in the metro) and it's the only place in Kansas City you'll be able to find Schlafly 80 Shilling. That's right, Schlafly is going to be in attendance and they're bringing kegs of their 80 Shilling Ale, some seasonal Scotch Ale and probably a few other beers.

Not big on dudes in kilts throwing stones and telephone poles around but you still wanna enjoy a Schlafly 80 Shilling? Not a problem, it sounds like there is plenty going on to entertain the rest of the family while you drink yourself Scottish at either the Schlafly booth or the Whisky tasting on Saturday. There is a mead workshop, "live steel sword fight," wool weaving seminars and something called "Uncle Dirty Toes."

The highlight of the event, for me, has to be Dan Kopman's Scottish brewing history seminar. Kopman, Vice President of the Saint Louis Brewery, used to work for Young's in London and spent several years in Scotland. I plan on grabbing a pint or two of 80 Shilling and learning about the Scottish brewing tradition. It sounds like as good a way as any to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Tickets to the Highland Games are $10 for Friday and Sunday, $15 on Saturday. Kopman's Scottish Brewing talk will be held at 2:30 on Sunday, just after the amateur telephone pole throwing competition.

Bootlegging

Well, it was some hard work bringing 2 cases of the finest beers available in Texas and not in Kansas and Missouri the 500 miles so I can drink them at home, but we got it done. It wasn't as impressive as the Bandit and Snowman, but the haul was a hell of a lot better than 300 cases of Coors. The Shiner Smokehaus was only included because I was hot down there, I think Mercury has cooler days than what I was subjected to down there. In any case, I won't be getting to Tipsy's anytime soon as I have a fridge full of Stone, Dogfish Head and Real Ale sixers to polish off.

Happy Amber Day

Boulevard Amber is finally upon us... sort of. Today is June 1st, the day bottles of Amber should start showing up in 12-pack Boulevard samplers. If you'd prefer getting your Amber on draft you'll need to drive up to Omaha or Lincoln. Nebraska should be getting their kegs today as well, there is no word on when we'll see Amber on tap in Kansas City. I've heard the reason behind this is that Omaha drinks a lot more amber beer than KC does, so if you really really really want Boulevard to throw some kegs our way you might have to start buying a lot more Fat Tire...

Boulevard gave me a couple bottles of their new Amber last week, here's what I thought of them. I'm looking forward to getting a pint of Boulevard Amber on draft at some point this summer, hopefully that means I won't have to drive all the way up to Omaha.

If you spot Boulevard's new Amber in the wild be sure to let us know in the comments below.