Barleywine Week

Can you feel it in the air? The crisp cool air, mixed with the faint smell of Spring mixed with an overwhelming desire to drink strong ales can only mean one thing. That's right it's Barleywine Week!

The Flying Saucer is celebrating Barleywine Week by tapping a current or vintage barleywine every night at 7 PM. As if the tappings weren't enough, Saucerites will receive a punch card that will be stamped with each visit to Barleywine week. The lucky SOB that has the most punches (on the card, not in the face) will get his pickings of the rare barleywine bottles for sampling, most come, first served.

The action starts tonight at 6:55 with a Barleywine Week address by Beerack Obama with the tapping of Great Divide Old Ruffian following. The rest of the lineup is 2009 Schlafly Oak-Aged Barleywine on Tuesday; Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale on Wednesday; Anchor Old Foghorn Ale on Thursday; Lagunitas Brewing Company Olde GnarlyWine on Friday; Sierra Nevada Jack and Ken’s Black Barleywine on Saturday; and Sunday will feature 2010 Big Sky Olde Bluehair Barley Wine and 2009 North Coast Barrel-Aged Old Stock Ale.

The Matts are keeping tight lipped about the rare bottle selections on Sunday but, if every previous Saucer experience is a guide, it promises to be quite exciting. Get thee to the Saucer this week and get your punches. This may be your only chance to get some of these barleywines on tap.

Barleywine Week is a creation of The Flying Saucer, there will be no Barleywine Week address by Beerack Obama. Beerack Obama is a creation of Bull E. Vard. DOB's are also eligible for getting the most punches.

Start Doodling

Big news for KC this morning, Nick Vaughn delivered his first case of Doodle Dubbel to Grand Slam Liquor this morning. Will this delivery be part of KC lore in 10 years like the first keg of Boulevard being tapped at Ponak's or will it be more like wherever the first case of Weston brew was sold. I'm certainly hoping for the former.

Vaughn promises more cases will be delivered in the northland this week. Help a guy out by requesting your favorite Missouri liquor store carry Doodle Brewing and buying it when you find it. It's been a long road for Vaughn, I don't think it's too much to ask for Kansas City to welcome Doodle to town the best way we can, by buying it all and requesting more from the store.

Raspberry Love

It's no secret to regular readers here that I love raspberries in all forms. I try just about every raspberry beer I see and make a huge deal of Frambozen's arrival into KC every year. But, I don't typically like lambics because I find them too syrupy and sweet.

I got a bottle of Wittekerke Framboise recently and thought it was going to be another super sweet raspberry lambic. I put it off for a couple of weeks but I finally cracked it open this weekend. Best decision of the weekend.

The Framboise was definitely raspberry centric. It's definitely a one note beer and if you don't like fruit beers or raspberry, you're not going to enjoy the Wittekerke Framboise. But, if you're like me and love raspberries, the Wittekerke Framboise should definitely be on your must drink list. It's not overly sweet and has a little wheaty backbone with a little bit of sour at the end. I didn't spill any on my hand so I can't tell you if it's sticky or not, but I would guess it's not.*

*Does sticky beer bother anyone else? Sixth Glass is exceptionally sticky (I always overflow my chalice when I pour Sixth Glass) and it bugs me having my glass all sticky. No one ever mentions stickiness as a criticism but it bothers me.

Wittekerke Framboise is a niche beer, not something you're going to grab when you want something hoppy or something malty. Framboise is something to grab when you want something a little different, maybe to go with your dessert or have a bit of a sweet craving. It's pretty cheap too, it can be found around town for $6.99/sixer but will probably be closer to $9.

Disclaimer: I received a bottle of Wittekerke Framboise free from a representative interested in selling more Wittekerke Framboise. This freebie did not influence the review, my love of raspberries did.

Beertickers

I absolutely love British movies like "Snatch", "Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels" and "Sexy Beast". One of the great things about them is just the Britishness of them. The SNL trailer above for "Don' You Go Rounin' Roun to Re Ro" is an absolutely spot on spoof of these movies.

What does that have to do with anything? Well, virtually nothing, just wanted to set the mood for the Britishness that is the documentary "Beertickers: Beyond the Ale". Never heard of 'beerticking'? I hadn't either, it's basically writing down the name and ABV of every beer you have and trying to collect 'em all. One of the characters in the movie is a seemingly normal older Brit who has 40,000 unique beers.

The American equivalent to the people featured in this movie can be found nightly at the Flying Saucer trying to get unique beers for their saucer on the wall. While the Saucer people are just fine, they're, for the most part, not British, therefore inferior for my viewing pleasure.

If you're interested in British beer culture and the wide array of beers they drink (and a large majority of them are cask or "real ale"). I really enjoyed the documentarian trying to get a Tommyknocker Maple Nut Brown Ale at a beer fest for a beertick, one of only 4 American beers mentioned in the movie.

"Beertickers" isn't a real easy movie to find however. It's not available yet on Netflix or even more mainstream outlets to an old fogey like me. You can download it on your XBox or Playstation machines or on ITunes. I liked it much more than I thought I would. It took me a couple of weeks to give it a shot after I got the email with the free download code from Phil the documentarian and star of the show. But, it was definitely worth the little over an hour that I spent with it.

More on the 3.2

It always warms my heart to read "economic freedom is generally a pretty good idea" as I did in Dan's post this morning about KS SB 54 which will allow wine, liquor and full strength beer to be sold in convenience and grocery stores. Unfortunately, even with the caveat "economic freedom is generally a pretty good idea", Dan still couldn't give his support to the bill. But, he makes some good points which I will try to dissect.

But that’s where reality steps in. In reality, liquor stores are some of the classic mom-and-pop small businesses that stand little chance of surviving when mega-corporations step in. In reality, that laid-back store you visit with the bell that tinkles when you open the door will get squeezed out by a corporate convenience store domiciled in Delaware pushing cardboard boxes of Natty Light along with a taquito, served up by minimum-wage servants while the profits go to international bank accounts. Reality is a lot uglier than theory.

This bill, without a doubt, will have an effect on mom and pop stores, everyone concedes this. But, "economic freedom is generally a pretty good idea" and these mom and pop stores only exist because of the economic restriction. This bill doesn't only allow the grocery store to sell liquor, it also allows the liquor store to sell snacks, mixers, fruit etc. Everyone is on a level playing field. It's not as if Missouri doesn't have little liquor stores, they do. These stores just have to figure out a way to compete, either through a good location, good service, good selection, whatever. Without a doubt, some will not survive, but owning a business is a risk and if your business can't compete, it's best for consumers for it to fail.

Also, the law set the stage for these mom and pop businesses to thrive. It's a shame that someone will lose a rather large investment taking advantage of the incongruity in licensing. But, their existence is not a reason to not fix the law. If we got rid of the tax code and went to a flat tax or consumption tax, the existence and ultimate failure of H&R Block should not be an argument against changing the tax code. If we reduce military spending, the firms that would go out of business because their goods are no longer needed should not be considered because reducing military spending is the goal, not the survival of military suppliers.

I care about craft beer, not mega-brands, and that’s where things get tough to figure. In Colorado, they’ve been fighting this battle for years, and the craft brewers have lined up on the side of the status quo. Micro-breweries don’t get deals with Quik Trip or 7-11 – they get deals with the mom and pop store that is responsive to the local community. The big grocery store chains and convenience store chains aren’t going to carry their products – especially not the nano-brewery that can only crank out a few hundred barrels a year. Small stores are better for small brewers. Think small.

Again, this is an argument I could get behind, but it also kind of negates Dan's first concern. The big grocery chains aren't good at beer retailing. And they really have no incentive to be. 90% of their sales are going to be the BMC triumvirate so that's what they will focus on. True, liquor and wine sales will take place at the grocery and that will undoubtedly hurt the little guys. But, they can make up for those losses by increasing their craft beer presence and offering expertise in that area. Or they can increase their wine section, focusing on smaller, high rated brands. Liquor stores could become the quality provider of alcoholic beverages. There's money to be made offering premium products.

Craft beer distributers and manufacturers will see a little bit of consolidation in their sales efforts, many stores will go away, many will merge, there will be less of them. They can focus their efforts a little better and maybe even get an exclusive with a large state retailer, "Price Chopper, your exclusive provider of Odell".  I don't know, anything can happen in the free market. The laws shouldn't exist to favor one industry over another, it should be a level playing field "economic freedom is generally a pretty good idea".

Lastly, this isn't covered in Dan's post or in my previous post, buying beer and wine at the grocery store is anathema to a Kansan. Being a lifetime Kansan, I don't think I've ever bought beer in a grocery store. It would take a while to get over that, let alone buying my Glenlivet or Maker's Mark at the grocery. Smaller retailers can take advantage of this time retooling for their new competition. Shielding mom and pop stores from competition only benefits those mom and pop stores. SB 54 will benefit consumers because "economic freedom is generally a pretty good idea". 

I'm sure your elected KS state senator or representative would love to hear your thoughts on this issue, you can find the contact information for your elected congressperson here. Drop them a line and tell them your thoughts.

Shaking the Peche Tree

Remember how much fun we all had a couple of weeks ago looking for Chocolate Ale? Well you can recreate that experience this week looking for Odell Avant Peche. It's about twice the price Chocolate Ale was a couple of weeks ago (1/3 of the price Chocolate Ale is now on the secondary market) at about $13-$16. But, it may very well be worth it, especially if you love peaches.

Avant Peche is an Imperial Porter aged in oak barrels with Colorado peaches and some wild yeasts. Avant Peche promises to be a very interesting beer with some sour flavors, peach flavors and the roastiness commonly found in a Porter. Like Chocolate Ale, Avant Peche is going to be fairly unique and may be just as accessible to the novice beer drinker.

Avant Peche has only been spotted a couple of places on the Kansas side. You can find out where it's been seen at OnTapKC. But, it's probably in all the better stores in Kansas today but it's definitely at Rimann Liquors. I don't think it will last long, you're probably going to want to get some before it's gone.

Bloody Missouri

Free State bottles have been freed from Kansas and are making the trip across the state line to Missouri for the first time. For all the silly Missourians who are afraid to cross over into the hallowed ground of Kansas, a trip to your neighborhood package store or even grocery store* is all you need to do to get your hands on the wonderful brews from Free State.

*Kansans, you too can take part in this buying real beer in your local grocery store if you call your state representative and tell them to eliminate 3.2 beer sales in the state. It's really that simple, they're all ready to vote on it, Senate bill 54 is being debated now.

The Legend of Curly's Coffee

Spalding "Curly" Landecker is a legend around Montana. Curly grew up in upstate New York in the 1820's (records of his birth are long since lost from the famous Albany city records building fire of 1835). His father was a state congressman for New York and also owned a fairly successful printing press repair business. The Landecker's never really wanted for money and had over 20 servants. Curly was mostly brought up by his French nanny Dominique. Curly really bonded with Dominique and followed her around constantly.

Curly Landecker

Dominique died when Curly was just 16 years old. Her death sent Curly into a tailspin and he could no longer focus on his studies in school and much to his father's discontent, Curly headed west to the frontier territory of Montana, the big sky country. He had no real goals in mind, he just wanted to be in nature and somehow make a living doing what Dominque loved and he had learned to love, cook.  The only problem with that plan was that Curly was mostly an awful cook. But he had learned one great thing from Dominique, how to make a great pot of coffee.

Coffee in the 1830's was nothing like it is now. People didn't have access to Ethiopian shade grown coffee beans, they had pretty much no choice in their coffee flavors, whatever the general store carried. Mostly coffee was made by pouring coffee grounds into a pot, covering with water and bringing to a boil. Some enterprising people who didn't like getting a cup full of grounds would fill a sock with the grounds and boil the water with the sock (often fresh off the foot of a cowboy). The coffee mostly sucked but the caffeine was very important, especially to the cowboys of Montana. Curly, though, had a French press that he inherited from Dominique and his coffee tasted wonderful and was free of grounds. His secret, which he revealed to no one until his death in 1874, was to cold press the coffee which made a kind of coffee concentrate that kept for several days. When he needed to make coffee, he boiled some water then added some of the coffee concentrate and the coffee was much more vivid in flavor. The coffee bitterness was gone and other much more palatable flavors were present. Curly became the most sought after cook for cattle drives because of his "magic coffee" and he made a very good living for over 30 years.

Long before Starbucks even existed, Montana had its own coffee culture with a chain named Landecker's after ole Curly. The folks at Big Sky brewing were toying with a porter and just couldn't get the flavor right. Over a cup of coffee over at Landecker's down the street one of the brewers had the great idea to throw some of Curly style coffee concentrate into the porter to make the porter's flavors pop a little bit more than they were without the coffee. It worked, now the coffee porter had a nice coffee taste without that coffee bitterness that throws so many people off of coffee beers. The coffee really complements the chocolatey, roasty flavor of the porter that was really stymieing  the brewers. Now Big Sky Brewing had a much more complex porter with 3 nice flavors, coffee, chocolate and roast working together to make the drinker as happy as a dog tired 1840's Montana cowboy.

If you want to taste a bit of Curly's legend mixed with a pretty good porter, you can pick up a sixer of Big Sky Cowboy Coffee Porter on both sides of the state line. It's well worth your time and you can get a taste of Montana history.

Disclaimer: I got a couple of bottle of Big Sky Cowboy Coffee Porter free from a source interested in selling more Big Sky Cowboy Coffee Porter. This freebie did not affect this review. Oh yeah, and none of the above story is true (except maybe 1830's coffee brewing methods). I don't even know if the coffee is cold brewed, but it kinda tastes like it was.

Wil Jenny's Beer Dinner

I don't usually post about beer dinners, but this one at Wil Jenny's caught my eye for a couple of reasons. It includes some out of market beers from Texas, Rahr & Sons, St. Arnold, Real Ale and 512 Brewing. If nothing else that's pretty interesting. But, buried in the 4th course is something called Boulevard Hoppy Unfiltered Wheat Test Beer, which is a strong wheat beer dry hopped with Cascade hops. I've been fortunate enough to taste quite a few Boulevard test brews and they've almost always been very good, but this one sounds a little like my favorite beer Lagunitas Li'l Sumpin' Sumpin'. On top of all that excitement the menu looks pretty fabulous for someone like me who likes some spicy food (click on the flyer to enlarge).

This goes down on Wednesday March 2, but you're going to need reservations so you may as well call 913-897-1114 as soon as possible to get your seat(s).

Not So Magical

Yesterday was much more like a day in mid May rather than mid February. To be inside would have been criminal. After a day spent running around town and taking the kids to the park I was ready for a beer or four. I cracked open the new Magic Hat Spring Variety 12 Pack that I had acquired earlier in the day*.

The first beer was called Vinyl Lager. Even though it calls itself a lager it reminded me more of an amber ale and it had a flavor I couldn't quite place. I went and put on my lounging around shorts, took off my socks and sat down on the couch. I haven't really been sockless or slipperless in the house since around Thanksgiving and it reminded me of the warmth of spring. Vinyl really added to that ambiance as soon as I placed the odd flavor, peanuts in the shell. I immediately thought of the hundreds of hours I've spent at the K sitting in the right field seats eating peanuts and drinking a beer. If you're not a baseball or peanut fan I don't think you'll like the Vinyl, I barely do, but it definitely tastes like spring.

Next up was Demo which I picked because it said it was an IPA. I was kind of confused when it poured out quite dark so I guessed it was the elusive black IPA. I'm a pretty big fan of the show  "My Strange Addiction" (go ahead and click that link, you'll feel a hell of a lot better about your own life) which has featured a lady who eats Comet, a lady who eats chalk and a lady who eats couch foam. This week the show featured a lady who was addicted to eating cigarette ashes. I only bring that up because Demo kind of tasted like cigarette ashes and given the choice, I'd pick the lady's addiction to eating cigarette ashes over having another Demo.

Circus Boy, a hefeweizen, was the next beer to find its way into my Lagunitas Mason jar. It's kind of weird to have a hefeweizen in February but Circus Boy isn't your everyday hefeweizen. It's a little more dark and moody than the standard. I think Magic Hat might have created a new style I'd call Winter hefeweizen. Winter hefeweizen is lighter on the citrus, not quite as bright on the tongue and just a bit more dank like the middle of snow covered compost pile. Circus Boy was mildly enjoyable, but I don't think the Winter hefeweizen style's going to catch on.

#9 was the last of my journey through the Magic Hat variety pack. #9 is one of those beers that people either kinda like or absolutely hate (I don't think anybody loves #9). I'm in the kinda like category, but I like a good fruit beer. I'm not saying it's a good fruit beer namely because it's made with a fruit I dislike greatly, the demon apricot. #9 hides that apricot pretty well, but it's there. #9 proclaims itself "not quite pale ale" and I mostly agree with that, it's also "not quite a fruit beer". It falls into a somewhat nice middle ground. Plus, I can't go without saying that I absolutely love numbers divisible by 3, there's something so wonderful about seeing a number like 165 and immediately adding all the numbers together to see if they're divisible by 3 (1+6+5=12, 12 is divisible by 3, so 165 is divisible by 3). Does anybody else do that obsessively? If not, forget I said anything.

Magic Hat spring variety packs are available only in Missouri. The Vinyl Lager is also available in six packs. It was an interesting ride through the Magic Hat variety pack, but I won't be going back for more.

*Disclaimer: I received my variety pack gratis from a representative inclined to sell Magic Hat products. This freebie did not affect my review, but you can be the judge of that.

Found the Founders

Sometimes you just write off a brewery as not appealing to you. You try a couple of their beers, they don't quite click for you and you just don't go back for more. For me, Founders was a written off brewery. When they first came to Missouri I tried a couple of their brews, including the Dirty Bastard and Red's Rye PA and didn't think much of them. We had a Cerise at one of the Gents KC meetings and it was awful (though to be fair I absolutely loathe cherries, so odds were against me liking that one). I've had Breakfast Stout several times and like it but all the fuss over KBS, which, again is very good, just makes me not want to deal with the Breakfast Stout. Plus, Founders is only sold in Missouri so, on the rare occasions I go over to Missouri to buy beer, I'm more likely to buy Bell's (again only available in Missouri) which I enjoy quite a bit more.

Now, I'm not going to say all is right with me and Founders, but I will say I found a couple of beers I really enjoy, Double Trouble and Imperial Stout. Both are somewhat limited releases and may be a little harder to find, I know Gomer's South, Royal and Lukas Martin City have both of them because I've bought them there in the past week.

Double Trouble, which is a Double IPA, is excessively drinkable, especially for a 9.4% ABV beer is my favorite of the two. I first had it last week and almost had to forcibly stop myself from cracking over a second one. It's not super sweet which is the downfall of most DIPA's which allows it to be wonderfully citrusy. All around a wonderful treat that will sneak up on you because the alcohol is in hiding, you'll never even know it's there.

Imperial Stout is simply a great imperial stout. It has a nice little chocolate flavor and once again, the alcohol is hidden. If it gets cold again, you're going to want to have it around to warm you up before you go to bed. I'm really rationing the Imperial Stout until Boulevard's version comes out in a couple of weeks. From what I remember of Boulevard's it doesn't come close to being as enjoyable as the Founders Imperial Stout. And I certainly enjoy it more than the celebrated Breakfast Stout

Both Imperial Stout and Double Trouble are available in 4 packs of 12 oz. bottles for around $10. And both are well worth it.

Maximize the Taps

Saturday night when Stella and I went to Boozefish to drink some Chocolate Ale on draft (this isn't going to be about Chocolate Ale) I noticed something that really annoyed me. For those that don't know Boozefish, it's primarily a wine bar with wines by the glass and bottle available. They also have several taps of good beer available, including on that night the highly coveted Chocolate Ale. Yet, I see this guy, a couple of tables over, drinking a Bud Light in the bottle and hitting on a couple of fine looking young ladies that each had a glass of wine. I don't want to be snobby or anything, but I can think of nothing less appealing than someone who will spend $3 or $4 for a bottle of an inferior product. I was just amazed the girls were entertaining him and his friend (who was at least drinking a draft Bud Light or other macro beer).

I don't mean to pick on Boozefish, but I'm going to. I see no reason for a place that focuses on good wine and has good taps, to even offer Bud Light on draft or even in the bottle. I can understand not wanting to alienate those who have no taste, but I don't see any reason to give those same people valuable real estate and giving them a tap handle. That tap could be used for a higher priced craft beer that a discerning consumer can appreciate. And if you must, sell them a Bud Light bottle.

We're lucky enough to live in a town with a great brewery with beers available on tap at many price points. A bar could have 4 taps, sell Boulevard Pilsner, Pale Ale, Wheat and Tank 7 and satisfy 95% of their customers and squeeze more money out of their taps than your typical Bud, Bud Light, PBR and Miller Lite 4 tapper. I don't mean to be a homer and mention only Boulevard products, but it's pretty easy to sell Boulevard in town, if you prefer, sell some Free State, Great Divide, Tallgrass or New Belgium. The average Bud drinker doesn't really care if he's drinking a draft beer or bottle, why give him a choice when you could make more selling craft beers on tap? Tank 7 is perfect because even Bud Light drinkers would love it if given a glass and you can charge an even bigger premium for that tap.

Greg Koch, from Stone Brewing, makes similar points in the video below. He makes an assumption that bars can sell through craft beer kegs faster than macro beer kegs that I don't think holds up that well, but otherwise, it's a fairly honest accounting of the increased profitability of selling craft beer. This is a must watch video for bar owners, hopefully after watching they'll make a call to their distributor and ask to put some Tank 7 on tap replacing that pesky Bud Light keg that only brings in riffraff.

KC Has Been Heard

Boulevard has had their Mubarak moment, they simply could not ignore the hype of Chocolate Ale and they've given KC what it wants.

Dear Friends,

Holy cow, did we ever misjudge your feelings towards chocolate in beer. Before the Chocolate Ale storm hit, it was to us just another in a series of Smokestack seasonal and limited release offerings, a fun collaboration with local chocolatier Christopher Elbow. We packaged the same amount of Chocolate Ale as we had those previous Smokestack releases, roughly 19,200 bottles and 350 1/6 barrel (5.2 gallon) kegs.

You might say that the response to the beer took us by surprise, but that wouldn’t do it justice. No, we were blown away by the overwhelming reaction to Chocolate Ale, especially in Kansas City.

We’re still not entirely sure how or why it happened. Maybe it was just a bunch of things coming
together:  a tasty and intriguing beer; a strong local connection; a gradual but steadily building buzz as we waited (and waited, and waited some more) for Federal label approval; the just-before-Valentine’s Day release, when we finally got the go-ahead from the government; and finally, the impact of social networks fueling demand in real time.

However or why-ever it happened, it was a tempest that left most everyone — from brewery staff, to distributors, to retailers, to you, our loyal customers — confused and frustrated. It’s probably not much consolation, but the brewery's 90+ employees encountered the same challenges trying to find Chocolate Ale, since we don’t hold back any limited release beers. Most were, like so many of our customers, unsuccessful. We will learn from this experience and, we hope, better anticipate demand of future releases.

To those of you who searched in vain and were unable to find a bottle or pour, please accept our sincere apologies.  Chocolate Ale was going to be just a one-time, one-off release. But due to the overwhelming feedback we've received, and after much internal discussion and debate, we’re pleased to announce that it will be back for next Valentine’s Day.

We appreciate your understanding, and thank you for your continued support.

Your Friends at Boulevard Brewing Company

Congratulations KC, Boulevard has heard you. I give full credit to Wallace Wilson's tweet.

Chocolate Theme Park

It was a crazy week last week that I don't think Kansas City has ever seen beerwise. It was much like going to an amusement park. A day at the amusement park is unlike any other day of the year, you get on rides, you're thrust, shot and spun all around on ride after ride. You just feel different after a day like that. Chocolate week was just like that. Everyday housewives and non beer people were calling every liquor store in town seeking the Chocolate presumably finding some, then hopping in the car and driving to the store as quickly as possible and buying as many bottles as they could. The high of buying a bottle of Chocolate Ale had to be similar to the high of stepping off the Mamba. Then, taking that bottle home and drinking it and realizing it really lived up to the hype which so few things do. And then wanting more, desperately seeking more.

Later in the week, Chocolate Ale starting hitting the taps and another rush was on especially for the seekers who never got a bottle. The bars in town carrying it on tap went through kegs of super premium beer more quickly than they ever had. Once you found it on draft, you had to get there as quickly as you could. And you were treated to an experience even better than drinking a bottle of it. The high of drinking both a bottle and a glass on draft can hardly be matched by any day of riding roller coasters.

I was so unprepared for the onslaught of chocolate seekers that I took my time getting it Tuesday morning. My friend J texted me Tuesday morning with just the word "Tipsy's?". I gave him a call because I had to go to Costco as well and he did too. So, amazingly, we went to Costco first. When we got to Tipsy's they still had 6 cases left, when we left, they had a little over 4. We saw at least 3 people come in and buy multiple bottles and this was 10:30 in the morning on a Tuesday.

We popped open one of our bottles that night and Stella loved it as much as I thought she would. I was a tad disappointed with it at first because it wasn't quite as good as I remembered it from Gents KC. It had more carbonation than I thought was ideal, but as it warmed it became the beer I remembered. We opened another bottle for our parents before my girls' 6th birthday party and everyone loved it, including my mother who proclaimed they were going to stop at the liquor store by their house in Wichita on their way home.

After the birthday party, Stella and I left the kids with their grandparents for an hour and made our way to the nearest place we knew still had Chocolate on tap, Boozefish. Unlike any other beer I've had, the Chocolate Ale is completely different on tap. That pesky carbonation isn't there as much and the chocolate is completely in charge. My only complaint with it on tap, is that it doesn't taste like beer, it almost tastes like hot chocolate, but really good hot chocolate like you get at Christopher Elbow. I had 2 glasses, and while we had to leave, I don't think I could have had a third. If Boulevard does this again next year, it would be great if they could find a middle ground between the bottled and draft versions.

Another wave of Chocolate Ale is hitting select stores this morning, Royal Liquors on State Line and 103rd and on SW Blvd. are receiving several cases. You may want to call your nearest liquor superstore to find out if they are getting another shipment today. If you haven't gotten to try any this is your last chance.

As far as Chocolate Ale coming back, it is being strongly considered. Really, how could they not consider it? They created a beer frenzy unlike this city has ever seen and maybe unlike any city has ever seen. But, consider this, how rockstar would it be to never make it again? With more collaborations on the way, maybe they can once again capture the city like they did with Chocolate Ale, maybe they can't. But, the average beer drinker in town will certainly take notice of each. If the hype over collaborations ceases, Boulevard can always do Chocolate again in 5 years.

Chocolate Hunters

The Riot Room guys are back and featuring a little heard of beer, Boulevard Chocolate Ale. They have it, it's on tap where it's somehow even more delicious. This video also marks the first appearance by one the Gents KC members, Fancy Pants. Fancy Pants will be bringing Firestone Walker to KC by March 15. I'm not sure if this video is his acting debut, but Fancy Pants is absolutely riveting portraying a fake reporter.

If you're still looking for Chocolate Ale for home consumption, you're almost out of luck. Your best bet is calling the Berbiglias on Westport, 63rd and Main streets because they're getting the most. When you call get your name on a list. Berbiglia has what they call a Connoiseur Club and members will have some set aside for them. The rest goes to people on the list, first come first served. So get your name on the list. Also today, some of the smallest liquor stores are getting theirs. I wouldn't count on being able to get a bottle at these stores because their regular customers have probably already claimed any bottle they're going to get.

At this point, your best bet for drinking Chocolate Ale, short of driving to St. Louis (they're getting theirs today, list of retailers here) or Wichita or Lincoln, is to have it on tap at places such as The Riot Room, Harry's Country Club, Barley's, The Flying Saucer, Swagger, The Rieger, Nick and Jake's (full list on Central States' FB page). Happy hunting.

KCMO has Enough Cabs

I can't wait to see less taxis in KC

Tracy Ward, my favorite candidate for KC's City Council highlights on her campaign site the KC city council's war on cabs and expansion of businesses. Up for votes are measures that would increase the application fees and fines for liquor licensees seeking to expand, for taxi companies wishing to add cabs, livery vehicles or sightseeing vehicles to their fleet (and making it that much more expensive to start a new cab company) and a tenfold increase in any person who dares to operate as a taxi or bus for an evening shepherding around drunks for instance.

All of these increases are rather egregious and show just how little the KC city council thinks of the drinking public. The drinking public uses liquor licensed businesses and use cabs more than the average Kansas Citian. While these fees are relatively small compared to the cost of starting, operating or further expanding a business, they are very real costs for very very little benefit. The real cost will be fewer cabs, fewer transportation options for someone who's had too much to drink and needs to get home and fewer successful bars and restaurants. I guess the city council of KC thinks they have enough bars, restaurants and cabs.

Grand Cru to the Moon

They say that we never would have made it to space without a computer that could multiply by pi taken out to 8 digits. A foreign Belgian dark ale like Rochefort Trappistes 8 is like a moon mission of flavor. Great Divide Grand Cru's version is more like when we were multiplying by 3.14 in grade school (in KCMO high school). Grand Cru stacks up to Rochefort like Homer Hickam's rockets to Apollo 11.

But that doesn't meant that Homer Hickam's exploits weren't spectactular, they were. Great Divide's Grand Cru is spectactular, I completely adored the 2 and 1/2 hours I spent sipping on my bottle. It wasn't quite as spectacular as a Chimay, it was just a little more rounded off. The flavors weren't as sharp. The traditional dark fruit and sweetness is in Grand Cru with a nice little alcohol burn, they just weren't as in your face and prevalent as they typically are in this style. Great Divide is using 3.14 and getting really close to the right answer. And for me, pretty close, at $7/22 oz. and pretty readily available, is good enough for me. I'm going to get a couple of more before they're gone as Grand Cru is a seasonal and will be gone soon.

Chocolate Day

It's here, the day we've been waiting for, Boulevard Chocolate Ale will be hitting liquor store shelves today all across the KC metro. By 5 PM tonight every store that is going to carry Chocolate Ale will have it. You can check the distributor's FB page, they listed every account that will be carrying Chocolate Ale (you'll have to scroll down a little bit) and will be listing all bars that will have Chocolate Ale on tap (go ahead and "Like" the page, they have giveaways and good info all the time). It's going to go fast and once it's gone, it's gone, never to be seen again. 

Chocolate Ale should be priced around $8/bottle, the same as a Tank 7 or Sixth Glass. At that price it's easy to stock up. And you're going to want to stock up, Chocolate Ale is that good and pretty unique. You might want to pick up a sixer of Irish Ale while you're out and whip up this wonderful Irish Ale and mussels recipe from Cellar Rat. Have some Chocolate Ale for dessert and see what happens next.

Go Pack Go

Let's get this out of the way, I'm a Packers fan. I've been a Packers fan BF (Before Favre), I've had at least 100 conversations (mostly in college) about the Majik Man, Don Majkowski. I've often wondered just how great Craig Nall could have been without an iron man in front of him on the depth chart. When I was a real little kid, I used to wonder why MLB didn't have a team in Green Bay which obviously had to be the biggest city in Wisconsin. I actually own a cheeshead. So, to say I'm looking forward to the game tomorrow would be putting it mildly.

Sadly, I spent more than 2 minutes staging this photo

I'm going to make it a Lagunitas day. I have a couple bottles of Gnarly Wine, which I really love by the way, some Pale Ale and Brown Shugga'. I'm hoping I'll be able to remember the game. If things are going the Packers way, I'll probably pop open one of my bottles of 2008 Saison-Brett. Lagunitas seems like a good choice because Aaron Rodgers went to Cal. I'd like to think that he thinks as highly of Lagunitas as I do since it was almost a hometown beer for him when he was in college.

If you're a Steelers fan and wish to base your drinking choices on your quarterback's perceived preferences, I guess you'll be drinking Four Loko and Boone's Farm. Have fun with that.

If you're non-partisan, you may want to pick up a couple of new brews that hit town this week. Ommegang Chocolate Indulge, 2011 La Folie Sour Brown or Great Divide Grand Cru are all on store shelves today, though they may be a little hard to find. I'd stick with Royal Liquor, Lukas or any of the Gomer's in town to find these 3.

What are you drinking for the game tomorrow? By the way, if you follow me on Twitter and don't like the Packers AND/OR love the Vikings you may want to unfollow me for a couple of days.

Flying Saucer Valentine's Day

I wanna give the Flying Saucer Valentine's Day glass this year a valentine. Not necessarily because I agree with the message, I do, but because I love it when a company will take a stand for a political issue whether I agree or not. I like a company with balls. I love how people get offended that others have different political views.

Valentine's Day glass night starts at 7 on February 9. A small charge will be added to the cost of your beer for the glass, but the glass is yours to keep forever. It is recommended to get to the Saucer early because glasses are going to go fast.

New Belgium QA

It's been a long 4 weeks for the new crew on CBS' Early Show, the preferred provider of morning news in la manse du Vard. They've batted an 0fer in bringing me enjoyable or even interesting stories. I even switched to the Today show for a day, but I couldn't take that much Ann Curry. Well, this morning I mindlessly switched over while the kids were eating breakfast and was promptly rewarded with an interesting, well produced, well done piece on beer quality analysis as performed by Jeff Glor's (host of the show) brother at New Belgium brewing.

The story follows the brothers through brewing, doing a tasting and testing various kegs in bars across Fort Collins. Then all the hosts drink some Fat Tire, Ranger IPA and 1554. Also featured is Lauren Salazar of New Belgium who was slated to be at The Flying Saucer this week, but showmageddon on Tuesday forced her to postpone. Congratulations to the new crew on The Early Show for doing something mildly entertaining and allowing me to hate them less. If they'd only bring back Dave Price, I'd almost recommend the show because, let's face it, all the morning shows suck.

Black Hemp

O'Fallon's newest seasonal Black Hemp has been hitting liquor store shelves this week. It seems to me to be an interesting beer, a black ale with hemp seeds and rye. I know it's available at Gomer's South but haven't heard of anyplace else with it. Black Hemp should be readily available for a couple of months so I'm sure if you're interested you'll be able to find it.

Choklat

After I wrote so glowingly of the forthcoming Boulevard Chocolate Ale, I got several suggestions to try Southern Tier's Choklat. Most of the recommendations focused on it being real chocolate forward and not a complementary flavor. I picked up a couple bottles last week and I've now drank both of them.

I didn't really look forward to drinking them, because I'm just not a fan of Southern Tier beers. I've yet to have one that I really enjoyed, Creme Brulee Stout has probably been my favorite. But, in an effort to appease all the Southern Tier fans around I begrudgingly gave Choklat a shot.

It does have a chocolate flavor. You know immediately that it's a chocolate beer. My very first sip reminded of when I was a kid and I used to make milkshakes with ice milk (we didn't ever have ice CREAM when I was a kid, just ice milk), 2% milk and Hershey's syrup. Hershey's syrup was the one extravagant food item we had around when I was a kid, well that and Alpha Bits and Cocoa Puffs. Choklat tasted just like those milkshakes, to the point that I made a Hershey's milkshake today, with real ice cream, not ice milk. Choklat was good, not great. If you like Hershey's syrup, Choklat is for you.

It's a disservice to compare Boulevard's Chocolate Ale to Southern Tier's Choklat. They're completely different beers, one's an imperial stout (with an 11% ABV that really does some damage to you) and the other's more like a fruit beer with the chocolate being the fruit. But, if one were to compare the two, you could do it with the SAT analogy Choklat is to Hershey's as Boulevard Chocolate is to Christopher Elbow.

Something Wicked This Way No Longer Coming

Time was in the mid-90's I hung out at a little place in Wichita called Brews Brothers. Brews Brothers combined a few things I really loved, cajun food and what we called microbrews in those days. I think they must have carried about 40 different beers, all but 6 or so bottled. It seemed like so many at the time. I don't remember what most of the beers were, I remember for sure there was Dixie Blackened Voodoo and some Shiners. I don't even think they had any Boulevard beers, but I could be wrong about that. What I do remember vividly is spending many a Saturday afternoon drinking Pete's Wicked Ale and eating pounds of crawfish.

I haven't seen any Pete's brews for quite some time and really haven't given it much thought. Starting March 1, Pete's beers will be discontinued by the owners of the Pete's brand, Gambrinus. I imagine many people of my age remember Pete's beers being somewhat of a pioneer in craft beer, especially if you spent any time in beer desolated outposts such as Wichita, Tulsa, Lincoln or Springfield. I haven't particularly missed Pete's Wicked, but I'm sad to see it go.

Safe home Pete's Wicked.

Snowed In

You're down to the dregs of your beer fridge, the beer you tried and didn't really like. The snow is piling up outside, you're not leaving the house for until tomorrow, but you want to get your drink on. The KCMO snow plow crews are falling behind, the streets are nearly impassable. At the very least a 5 minute drive will take at least 30 minutes. Is it worth it to drive an extra 30 minutes to get to the bigger liquor store? You can probably walk* to your neighborhood store and back in 20 minutes. What should you get?

*For the Johnson Countians, walking is an activity where you don't use your car to get where you want to go. You simply walk out your door and continue walking until you get where you wanted to go. It is necessary to use a car or other transportation methods to travel long distances, but often times, it is possible to go a short distance by just walking. Try it sometime, you may like it.

I went to my local store yesterday just to scout out what they have. A smaller liquor store often has the most random collection of beers imaginable. Mine didn't have any Lagunitas which would obviously be my first choice. A sixer of Lagunitas Pale Ale, Hairy Eyeball, Brown Shugga' or a couple of bombers of Gnarly Wine would certainly get you through a day snowed in. But, that's simply not an option.

Any store will have the full complement of Boulevard beers. This is nice weather to pick up a sixer of Boulevard Amber or Bully! Porter. Plus it's in a nice sturdy box to carry home if you're walking. The Boulevard could certainly survive a fall or two on your walk back home. If you want a couple of big bottles, being snowed in is certainly a great excuse to drink a couple of bottles of Sixth Glass.

If you're lucky enough to find a sixer of Great Divide Hoss at the neighborhood store, you'll be the better for it. Hoss is a great beer to drink in the afternoon and watch the snow. Plus, it's light enough to taste wonderful after 30 minutes scooping your driveway and sidewalks. Also, there's a chance your store might have a bomber of Great Divide Yeti. Two of those are easy enough to carry home and will certainly keep you happy in your home.

As mentioned last week, Goose Island Honker Ale is a wonderful beer to have around. And if all else fails, Honker is sold in all but the most incompetent liquor stores.

It's a great day to spend drinking if you've got 'em. There's no reason to not go out and get 'em if you're out of options in your house..