Tapping the Parabola

What are you doing tonight? I know what you should be doing...going to The Flying Saucer at 6 to get in on some Firestone Walker Parabola on tap. I've yet to have my bottle of Parabola, but if it's the RIS version of Abacus and 14 it's got to be the best beer on tap in KC tonight. It won't be there tomorrow. I don't know if it will be there at 9 tonight. Your best bet is to get there at 6, get a ticket, get a snifter to take home for $1 and get your pour of Parabola. It's probably going to be your last shot at Parabola until next year, make the most of it.

Mikkeller Single Hops

A while back Sam Adams released the Latitude 48 Deconstructed 12 packs featuring 6 different varieties of Latitude 48, 5 of which were single hopped with one of the 5 hops varieties found in Latitude 48. It was an interesting variety pack which gave those of us to try it a nice little education on hops. Sam Adams basically ripped off the idea from Mikkeller, but made it cheaper and more accessible than Mikkeller has.

Well, the Mikkeller version of the single hop series is hitting KC this week, as well as numerous other Mikkeller beers (Cantillon has also released limited quantities around town this week).  There's a bunch of thesingle hop beers and they're sold singly and are somewhat expensive, but I think $50 will get you all of the varieties and will lead to a fun, educational weekend of drinking.

I'm not sure at this time if the Mikkeller single hop beers will be available in Kansas this week, but they are in Missouri. They're pretty limited so they may be behind the counter at your better liquor stores so ask around. The usual suspects, Gomer's, Royal, Lukas, strange Northland stores,  are the best places to look. If you find them, as always, leave a comment and let the rest of us know where, limits in place and price.

Finching It

Adam Carolla has an oft repeated rant about cigarette smokers vs. gun owners. The rant goes like this, cigarette smokers have mostly been accommaditing to regulations and laws against them. Can't smoke on a flight, okay makes sense, I'll just smoke over here. Can't smoke inside, okay, I'll just go out and light up. I can only smoke over there, okay, that's fine. Giant pictures of cancer on my cigarette pack, that's fine. Gun owners, on the other hand, fight tooth and nail over every infringement on rights. Try to ban semiautomatic handguns, f... you we need those. Try to ban armor piercing bullets, f... you, sometimes I need to shoot through a safe. We can argue the merits of these infringements, but I'd much rather be in the boat with the gun owners over the smokers. Mostly, gun owners don't get messed with while smokers are going to have to fight to smoke in their homes or in front of children soon.

This is how I feel about alcohol regulation. We mostly just rolled over when the FDA and politicos went after Four Loko. Four Loko was a boogeyman that was easy to demonize and didn't have a constituency to back it up. Beer drinkers should have been that constituency, but we have too much of that smoker mentality. We think, in the backs of our minds, that somehow drinking a beer is something that needs to be done in secret. It's shameful and anything that makes it even more shameful should be regulated away. So we just turned our backs on Four Loko and beer with caffeine added. Never mind that alcohol and caffeine have been combined since the Irish put a little shot of whiskey in their morning coffee and somehow there's still Irish people around.

The fight against a bill in Wisconsin that would ban craft brewers from self distribution has been a little more hearty. But, in my eyes, it hasn't been a pro beer fight at all, it's been a fight against Scott Walker. Every article I've read has blamed the bill's provision on the Governor. It showed up on Think Progress as if Scott Walker put it in the bill because he was paid off by MillerCoors. Scott Walker was the boogeyman and this stupid bill was a way to hand him a defeat. The fight had very little to do with the merits of giving small craft brewers the ability to self distribute. Nowhere did I find in any article I read how many states actually have existing laws that don't allow self distribution by craft brewers. Kansas has a law like that, I'm sure many other states have laws like that. I'll bet if you looked at a map of the United States with number of breweries listed in each state, those states with the fewest breweries will be the ones with a law that prevents self distribution. But, we don't fight for repeal of those laws. We should. We're always playing defense and never go on offense, We're the Schottenheimer Chiefs with Steve Bono at Quarterback.

We have a government that will trample all over our rights if we let it. We have to let a government stooge touch our nuts to get on an airplane. We can get arrested for filming a policeman during a traffic stop. We can have our homes raided and guns pointed at our heads if someone tells a cop that you sell marijuana. We can get arrested for dancing at the Jefferson Memorial. We can be stopped at random checkpoints to get our papers checked and our property inspected at the whim of government agents. The NSA can listen to your overseas phone calls without a warrant. The FBI can get information on all of your Google searches without a warrant or documentation of an investigation. The President can order the assassination of American citizens with no recourse whatsoever. This is a non-partisan assault on our rights.

What are we doing about it? We're asking the government to ban McDonald's from giving toys to kids with a Happy Meal. We think all of the above is a pretty good idea because we're not the bad guys. But, when it comes to beer, we do think we are the bad guys. Beer with caffeine being banned, sounds reasonable, we'll just drink other beers. Beer with high alcohol content, well, it's a little inconvenient, but we don't need that high alcohol beer. Need a license to buy alcohol, seems reasonable, we'll just run right over to the ATF to get one, hope I take a good picture. Government run liquor stores, well we don't want people profiting from selling alcohol.

There are people out there trying to make a case for taking away our rights to drink whatever beer we want. We've just accepted the many hurdles the regulatory state has thrown up between a guy who wants to make beer and sell it to you. We should be fighting to reduce those hurdles rather than fighting even more hurdles. We should be playing offense not defense. We should be the NRA not the smokers. We should be Peyton Manning not Steve Bono.

We lost a brewery in the past week because of a stupid FDA restriction, we can lose a lot more if we're not careful.

Beer Camp

Are you ready for the summer?
Are you ready for the good times?
Are you for the birds and bees -
the apple trees
and a whole lotta foolin' around?*

It's Beer Camp. It's here. Okay maybe not as exciting as the 100th viewing of "Meatballs", but still pretty exciting.

For those that don't know, Beer Camp is Sierra Nevada's version of the Sam Adams Longshot contest. In Beer Camp, lucky people are chosen (based on submitted videos) to spend a day at Sierra Nevada, talk with some brewers, drink some exclusive beers and at the end of the day collaborate with the brewers and come up with a beer. The best of those beers are bottled and sold as part of a variety pack, 4 styles, 3 of each.

In this version of the variety pack is a California Common, Juniper Black Ale, Double IPA and a Weizenbock. Not much of this is going to be around, so if you find it post it on OnTapKC or in the comments section. Royal Liquor on State Line has some if you're near there (as well as some Cantillons and Mikkelers if that's your thing).

*This was the 900th post on this blog and my first mention of "Meatballs". It's shocking that it took this long.

Beer for the Weekend - Goose Island Sofie

The Cubs are in town this weekend and I'll be making a pilgrimage out to The K in full Cubs garb to see my favorite team. I'm not as big a fan of the Cubs as I have been in the past because I won't get that into a team with Jim Hendry employed as General Manager. Hendry is, in my mind, the worst General Manager in the game. I'm not even sure how he got there, he was manager of a Creighton team in 1991 that made it to the College World Series despite not winning a game against conference rival Wichita State, they were something like 0-13 against the Shockers that year and, of course, lost to the Shockers in the College World Series thanks to The Throw. Somehow he turned that into Major League employment and worked up the ranks to General Manager.

Oops, got off track...baseball, Chicago, Chicago beers, Sofie. Yeah, that's where I was going. To get in the mood for the 3 game series, I'll be swilling some Sofie, the wonderful sour saison. Perfect for summer and being outside, Sofie is refreshing, funky and flavorful. Plus it has a little bit of an alcohol kick that makes watching 2 of the worst teams in baseball square off against each other a little more tolerable.

Sofie comes in 750 milliliter bottles and 4 packs of 12 oz. bottles. You can also find it on tap at some of your better beer bars in KC like The Foundry and Swagger. Goose Island Sofie is the beer for the weekend.

Oh and before you get mad at me about wearing Cubs gear to the game, my groom's cake in 2004 was shaped and designed as a ticket to the 2004 World Series pitting the Royals vs. the Cubs. Less than a week later the Royals started Eduardo Villacis in Yankee Stadium effectively giving up on the season. Plus, I've already received enough Cubs hate on this blog (click the link for my favorite blog comment ever).

Royal Swagger

Royal Liquor and Swagger are teaming up for a free beer and food pairing tonight at 5:30 kicking off a new series of tastings focusing on breweries, regions or styles. This week will focus on Breckenridge Brewery. The food will be available on a first come first served basis so you'll probably need to get there at 5:30 to get everything you want. It's good to see Royal Liquor taking the next step with beer tastings by incorporating Swagger's great food.

The event is at Swagger Royal Liquor on State Line and starts at 5:30.

Boulevard Changes

Artist rendering of change, view from Southwest Boulevard

Well Kansas City, Boulevard is going to give you more of what you crave, Boulevard beers. To do that, they're going to rip the roof off the older part of the brewery, rip out six 105 barrel fermenters and replace them with eight 300 barrel fermenters essentially building up, turning a 1 story building into more of a 3 story one. This will increase Boulevard's capacity by about 20% and should be done by the end of the first quarter next year.

Artist rendering looking south from Southwest Blvd.

The way they've been selling beer, especially Smokestack seasonals like Chocolate Ale, Two Jokers, Saison-Brett and the forthcoming Collaboration #2 and new late summer/early fall seasonal Dubbel, this smaller expansion buys them some time before they really need the capacity. The Dubbel which is replacing the Seeyoulator has been around at festivals, the tasting room and beer dinners for the last year should be a nice addition to the Long Strange Tripel and Sixth Glass Quadrupel.

Boulevard has also worked out a deal with the distributor to give KC a little more of the special and seasonal releases to avoid the madness that happens around here while good, in demand product, sits around in places like Wichita, Seattle and Dallas. Breweries across the nation are working to keep up with demand so it's good to see that Boulevard is trying to stay ahead of the curve by taking care of KC while increasing overall supply relatively quickly.

Brett What

I didn't think it was still possible to see a sight like this today in Overland Park. Granted I saw it in a pretty tiny store. A store so tiny they cost themselves $10 in sales because they had no Lagunitas. Because of that I'm hesitant to point you to where this large stash of Saison-Brett is. But I know you'll do the right thing and ask for some Lagunitas, then maybe you'll be so kind as to go around the corner and tell Maloney's you'd like a Tank 7 on tap. You'll do that right? Okay this stash of Saison-Brett is at Big Daves in downtown Overland Park.

Stone KC IPA

The new Stone IPA KC bottles are now filled and making their way to KC. Only 120 cases of these and the dirty St. Louis ones were made so you need to keep your eye out for a bottle. And if you just happen to be buying the 22 oz. Bottle of Stone IPA make sure that it's not one of those dirty St. Louis ones. No one wants those.

Boulevard Art

Artwork and packaging are very important when selecting a beer from the liquor store. It's probably a little too important to me especially the ugly packaging. It took forever for me to try Lagunitas because their six packs were so plain. I never buy anything from Anderson Valley because their packaging is so overdone. Then there's other brands that don't do anything distinctive with their packaging. Boulevard, however has some really distintinctive and good looking packaging.

The man responsible for packaging and labels is Payton Kelly. Kelly has been with Boulevard since very nearly the beginning and much of the look and feel of Boulevard is because of him. Well much of that history of Boulevard and Kelly's art will be on display one night only at the Eldridge Hotel (701 Mass. in Lawrence) and Kelly will be around to discuss it with you. Oh, and there will be beer there too, more specifically Boulevard beer. So if you're interested in talking Boulevard history, art and beer, The Eldridge is the place to be Friday night from 5-8 PM.

What's Goode at McCoy's

I hope Beer KC doesn't mind me stealing this pic

As part of mine and Stella's patio sitting Friday night we hit up McCoy's for some happy hour beers and a snack. I knew from Beer KC (a must follow blog for those interested in the corner of Pennsylvania and Westport) that McCoy's had a farmhouse ale on tap. A farmhouse ale and happy hour specials go together like peas and carrots as Forrest Gump might say.

We got a nice spot on the patio, ordered up a couple of Goode's Farmhouse Ales and some pretzels and enjoyed an afternoon in Westport. What we got for our efforts was a wonderful $3 beer filled with belgian-y goodness. It was much closer to a Great Divide Colette than Boulevard Tank 7 as far as farmhouseyness, but much lighter on the citrus than Colette. I liked it a hell of a lot more than Colette and it was perfect for sitting on the patio on a hot day. I've been impressed with a number of beers from McCoy's but probably none more than this one. Of course it is my favorite style of beer and a great version of that style.

It was 7.2 6.1% ABV and Stella really felt the alcohol as I assured her it wasn't a really strong beer (guess I was wrong). That seems a little dangerous as it was so good and easy to drink, you could pound down 4 of them pretty easy during happy hour. But, one or two will make you feel a-ok.

How I Switched Neighborhood Bars

Stella and I had a night out without the kids Friday night mostly to go to the Sporting KC game*. It was at least 90 degrees that day and until the sun went down behind the stadium, sweat was rolling off me. The great thing about soccer is that it takes 2 hours, not more, not less. You pretty much know how long you're going to be there. We were on I-70 by 10 PM, too early to go home, but too late to change clothes to go somewhere like Manifesto or R Bar, that means it's neighborhood bar time.

*Livestrong Park is simply wonderful. I don't think there's a bad seat in the place, you're close to the field everywhere in the stadium and the game is fun. The bad thing is, there's simply no beer worth drinking there. Sure you can get a Guinness but that seems like a bad choice on a hot summer night. Budweiser's products are the only other brand around and my days of paying $7.50 for a Budweiser ended when I became a legal drinker. So get your drinking in in the parking lot or The Yard House across the street, because you're not going to be doing any good drinking in the park.

In my neighborhood, we've always gone to Maloney's in downtown OP. They have a great patio and Goose Island Summertime and Boulevard Tank 7 on tap. That's about the end of Maloneys' qualities; patio, good beers on tap. The crowd is usually bottled Bud Light and Coors Light 20 Something douchey smokers with loud, obnoxious laughter and club remix music filling the air. Mostly we can tune all of this out because we're really only interested in talking to each other and drinking some good beer in some cool night air.

Hot Fest

Hydration really was the key to surviving Hop Fest, it was hot out there. As someone who is frequently disappointed in beer fests because of crowds, beer selection and beer quantities, I was blown away by how great Hops Fest delivered. It was like a Gents with chicks and walking.

Biggest surprises: Southern Tier Gemini (on tap) and Oak Aged Unearthly (on tap)

Best beer: Founders Kaiser Curmudgeon (on tap)

Best beer Stella didn't like: Firestone Walker 14

Stella and I got there a little before noon thinking we'd have to wait outside the gates until they opened. We were wrong, they just let the 10 or so people hanging around come on in. They were ready to get the show on the road. I opened up the fest with a taster of Brown Shugga' after we opened a bottle of Lagunitas Imperial Stout with Josh and Kim, the official opener of Gents. From noon until 1 when the 100 VIP people were the only ones around, it really did feel like a beermusement park only without lines. If I wanted a beer, I walked to where it was and immediately received it. I spent some time talking to beer people I only know from Twitter mainly to slow down the drinking which very well could have gotten out of hand if I couldn't talk to the pourers. I think I had all the "special" beers during the VIP hour.

Beer for the Weekend - Two Jokers

Guys, it's your weekend, or it is if you have kids. And this is a pretty eventful weekend for guys anyway with Sporting KC playing tonight at Livestrong, Hop Fest, Royals and Cards in interleague, Buffalo Sweat cask at Old Chicago, US Open golf, even Peter Gabriel at Starlight for those of us of a certain age. In your time, that time when you're allowed to do what you want, you know, sit in your chair, open up a beer, turn on the tv and stick your hand down your pants, you're going to want a good, big bottle of beer.

That beer is Boulevard Two Jokers. It's a great pairing with the oppressively hot weather this weekend with its citrusy flavors and sour taste. It works as well in your red Solo cup as your fancy goblet or tulip so it's drinkable in any picnic, barbecue or living room couch situation. Plus, it's the one time of year you can pop a Two Jokers open and not get in trouble for saying no when your wife asks for a glass, because she loves it too. "No way, this one's all mine". That's why, in the interest of selfishness for our weekend (or just day, depending on your wife), the beer for the weekend is Two Jokers.

Raspberry Sweat

Tallgrass has come a long way in a short time. They went from being a brewer whose products I didn't enjoy and ridiculed a little bit, to one that surprised me with a beer to a brewer I look forward to trying new things from. Buffalo Sweat is probably a beer I need to give another shot. But, what I really want to try is the Buffalo Sweat with raspberries and vanilla. It's like they made a beer just for me, but even though I asked, they're not bringing it over to my house.

Old Chicago in Olathe will be tapping a firkin of Buffalo Sweat with raspberries and vanilla tonight at 6. If you're lucky they may still have some Tallgrass Velvet Rooster, a Tripel that is exclusive to Old Chicago. Otherwise, you'll just have to try the Rooster at Hop Fest. In any case, this might be the first time all year you should spend a Friday night in Olathe.

Parabola Day

30 cases of the highly touted Firestone Walker Parabola are travelling around KC today to find their way behind the counters of KC's best liquor stores (Missouri side only so you won't have to deal with sneers from the Gomer's Lenexa crew). It's not enough to go around, but it's what we got. Parabola is probably the highest rated (if you follow such things) Russian Imperial Stout released in KC. I'm interested in seeing what all the hubbub is about, if Parabola is anywhere near as good as Abacus or 14 (which will be available at Hop Fest) then it will be worth the $15 or so that it will cost you. Whether it's worth the trouble of trying to secure a bottle this afternoon is up to you, but if you get one I don't think you'll be disappointed.

As always, leave a comment here where you found it, price and limits or use Twitter or OnTapKC or the KC Beer Blog Facebook page, something. Help out your fellow beer travelers, you'll already have a bottle, why not help others get one?

Breweries Are a Comin'

Jonathan Bender of the Pitch has a great story up about the growing craft brewery movement in KC. While everything other than Boulevard and Doodle is in the formulation stage, they're coming. Yes, some won't make it, but others will so we should try to support them all we can. I particularly liked this part:

The support of the local beer community — particularly a group of craft-beer enthusiasts nicknamed the Gents, who meet monthly at the Foundry to sample new beers — helped the pair raise more than $8,600 in the first week of the campaign.

Read the whole thing as they say. I also think the Fountainhead brewery should totally be Ayn Rand themed, who wouldn't want to drink a Dagny Taggart Wild Ale or a John Galt Stout?

Hop Fest Beer List

We had a little tease the other day about what beers Hop Fest would bring. Well, the list is getting finalized a bit more and looks a little more complete. Check out the list below and check out the Central States Facebook page for more information.

Lucky Backup Plan

I don't know about you, but it's weird to me to walk into a liquor store looking for something in particular and not finding it. Is it okay to walk back out without buying anything? I find it immensely awkward, especially if you're going to a smaller store that the employees really notice you're there. Today, with the release of the Saison-Brett, you could very well run into this scenario. So, it's a good thing that Lagunitas Lucky 13 is also released today. If you don't find any Saison-Brett, pick up a bottle of Lucky 13, it's under $4 and is quite enjoyable. Plus, you're probably not going to be drinking that Saison-Brett on a Tuesday night, you're going to save it for the weekend, or for the World Series or the Superbowl or something like that. But, Lucky 13 is perfectly situated for a Tuesday night.

Lucky 13 is a Red Ale with 8.5% ABV and is simply delightful to drink. It basically tastes like a red version of Censored, Sumpin' Sumpin' or Pale Ale. It's not quite as hoppy as most of the other Lagunitas beers, but it is just as tasty. It's certainly better to pick up a bottle of Lucky 13 than leave a store empty handed and can really work well in a discussion with your spouse why you spent $100 at the liquor store today. Get a couple of Lucky 13's with your Saison-Brett and you can dollar cost average your bottles of beer to around $8. Lucky 13 is a win-win.

Saison-Brett Day

Today's the day in KC that the best beer Boulevard makes starts getting delivered to stores. Normally I write that the beer will be hitting store shelves, but Saison-Brett is a little different, it might not even hit store shelves, it might be sold straight from the box. This is the beer that beer geeks are going to be buying by the case if they're allowed because it's great to cellar and it won't stay in stores long. So you need to make a plan to get some before it's gone. To top things off Saison-Brett is limited, there's just not enough of it to go around, you've got to get it as soon as you find it, it probably won't be there the next time you go to the store.

I had a bottle over the weekend and it's the same as I remember, wonderful. I've been drinking cellared 2009 versions about every 3 months for the past year and I'm pretty happy with drinking the current version over the older. The cellared version is good, and still the best Boulevard beer you can drink, but I think it's better now. People are going to buy as much as they can to drink now and in the next couple of years so it will be sold twice as fast as regular Smokestack seasonals like Two Jokers. When you hear of a store getting their Saison-Brett and you want some Saison-Brett, get yourself to that store immediately or you're not going to get any.

After you get yours let us know in the comments where you got it, what limits are in place and what price you paid (it should be around $12-$15). You're not going to get many better beers.

Disclosure: I received a bottle of Saison-Brett free from a source interested in selling more Saison-Brett. This freebie did not influence in any way anything in this post, but you can be the judge of that.

Hop Fest Specials

Hop Fest is next weekend, which is a bit of a shame it's not today with the perfect weather we're going to have. Organizers are still putting together the complete list of beers but have released the following list of special beers:

Boulevard Test Sour Love Child #2 -keg

Southern Tier - Gemini, Imperial Blended Ale

Crispin - oak aged Pear and Apple Ciders - only eight in MO

Lagunitas Brown Shugga 2010 -keg

Boulevard Hoppy Wheat - keg

Troubador Magma -keg Belgian IPA

Monk's Café - keg Belgian Sour

Southern Tier - Oaked Aged Unearthly ( Imperial IPA)

Tallgrass - Velvet Roster (Belgian Triple)

Southern Tier - Jahva (Imperial Coffee Stout)

Tommy Knocker - Hop Strike (Black IPA)

It's a bit sad that I can look at a list like this and be a little disappointed. Nothing really blows me away but we have many solid options. I haven't tried Love Child #2 yet so that's where I'll go first. Monk's Café on tap should be nice. I had Velvet Rooster a couple of weeks ago and it's definitely worth trying. You probably know how I feel about Brown Shugga'. Solid, but not mind blowing. I'll be giving Southern Tier another shot as well, I almost bought a bottle of Oak Aged Unearthly the other day.

Keep in mind, this is just a list of some of the "special" beers. Many other beers will be available, surely enough to make you beery. Tickets for Hop Fest are still available at The Well and Lew's, both of the VIP variety and regular.

Also, as part of Hop Fest, on Friday night The Well is hosting a beer dinner with beers from Lagunitas, Stone, Goose Island, Schlafly and Boulevard as well as representatives (and maybe an owner or two) from each brewery.

1st course—Werner’s Bratwurst wrapped in smoked applewood bacon, Bavarian kraut pretzel twist and three mustard sauce

2nd course-- Shrimp & Crab Lemon chive aioli crostini

3rd course-- Grilled Beef Tenderloin with balsalmic onions and crimini mushrooms topped with gorgonzola, sundried tomato butter and served with zucchini fries

4th course –Chefs Seasonal Choice

5th course—Ambrosia chocolate flourless cake with crème anglaise and fresh berries

Tickets for the beer dinner are $50 and are available at Lew's and The Well. Ladies, if you want to make your husbands really happy, get them some tickets to Hop Fest and the Brewmaster's Dinner, offer to drive and let them enjoy themselves surrounded by beer, every father's dream.

Disclosure: I have received a couple of complimentary VIP tickets to Hop Fest from a source interested in selling more tickets to Hop Fest. It doesn't affect my feelings toward the fest, but you can be the judge of that.

Beer for the Weekend - New Belgium Abbey Grand Cru

"Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in"*. Just like Michael Corleone and the illegitimate world, I've been pulled back in to New Belgium's new offerings. The Le Terroir was so good, I've heard various people think someone else made it. Le Terroir was one of the biggest surprise beers of the year for me and now, if I see it on tap somewhere, I'm going to order it.

*Just because, I feel I need to get something off my chest. I like The Godfather III (feel free to skip this italicized part if you don't care about my feelings for a 20 year old movie). It was the first of the Godfathers that I saw so that has something to do with it. I'm not going to say that it's in the same realm of the first 2, Godfather II is probably my favorite movie ever, but I think III is an acceptable movie. The opinion might turn on your feelings for Sofia Coppola who was almost indicted for murder for her performance in III and I can definitely understand the viewpoint that she was awful. There's a reason she's never acted again. But, and I can't stress this enough, I was 17 when III came out. I was walking around like Reggie Hammond when he got his first taste of freedom with Jack Cates. A friend back then used to have a joke that he knew he was too drunk when he got home if he thought he would hit on his mom and ask her to his room. I knew his mom, she wasn't a looker, she looked most like Molly Shannon in the "I'm 50" sketches on SNL. But I was 17, I would have given her a whirl and not thought twice about it. With that kind of attitude and mojo, Sofia Coppola making gnocchi with Andy Garcia worked for me and I thought about gnocchi a lot in my alone time. So without the distraction of Sofia Coppola ruining every scene, and in my eyes enhancing every scene, the rest of the movie can stand on its own. And it's not that bad, some good Vatican intrigue a good couple of scenes with Michael and Kay and a pretty crazy Andy Garcia wearing leather sport jackets. Everything was pretty enjoyable. Plus there was a great Harry Connick song at the end.

New Belgium's newest beers to hit town are Super Cru and Abbey Grand Cru. Super Cru is basically Fat Tire with double the malt and hops plus some Asian pear juice and some saison yeast. I've never liked Fat Tire so I don't know if I'll ever try Super Cru. But, Abbey Grand Cru is up my alley. I like Abbey Ale, it's not something I ever buy, but I enjoy one every now and again. Abbey Grand Cru is basically a double version like the Super Cru.

Abbey Grand Cru should be the finest Belgian style beer New Belgium makes. Since I love a good Belgian beer, as well as most of our readers, Abbey Grand Cru is the beer for the weekend. Next week will be an expensive one with at least 1 and maybe 3 rare and tough to come by beers coming out, you're going to want to take it a little easy on the expensive beer. Abbey Grand Cru should be around $6-$8 for a large bottle, will be easy to find and will be a fine beer to drink all evening in anticipation for a crazy beer searching week.

Boitano Saves the Day

Do you want a reason to love Brian Boitano? Okay, let me rephrase, do you want reason number 745 to love Brian Boitano? We just watched an episode of "Anna and Kristina's Grocery Bag" on the Oprah channel (no, I do not have a vagina) that featured Brian Boitano. I'm sure I'm the only one who watches this show, but it's really kind of ingenious if you like cooking shows and cookbooks and Canadians. What they do is, take a cookbook, in this episode it was the Diner's, Drive Ins and Dives cookbook, but usually it's a cookbook someone would want, you know, good ones. They then try to cook 4 or 5 recipes from the cookbook and have a guest chef over to try their efforts. The fun part is, Anna and Kristina are pretty horrible cooks. So at the end of each show you get an idea of how good a certain cookbook is and how difficult the recipes are and Anna and Kristina give a buy or leave recommendation at the end of the show.

Anyway, the guest chef usually brings over a bottle of wine or champagne he/she has chosen that pairs well with the cookbook. I don't know enough about wine to ever tell if the selection is jive or not, that's not the point. In this episode, and I'll go ahead and burst your bubble, but they didn't like the Diner's Drive Ins and Dives cookbook, Brian Boitano was the guest chef. But, he didn't bring wine, he brought beer. Not only did he bring beer, he brought Duvel, which they all agreed, was the best thing to come of this particular episode. How can you not love Brian Boitano?

New Design

If you've clicked through from your blog reader or just check in here you've probably noticed it's a little lighter in here. I changed things around a little bit to make it brighter and easier to read. The dark brown color scheme was really starting to bug me. I'll probably be making a few other changes in the next day or so, but nothing you'll probably notice.

Also, KC Beer Blog is now a little more mobile friendly. When you click through on your phone, the blog has a little different layout, is a little easier to find different blog posts and may be a little easier to comment.

Let me know what you like, don't like, etc. and I'll try to make it a little better. But, I don't like to mess with formatting too much, so this style work won't last long.

Flying Dog Gonzo

You may have already read this over at Show-Me Beer, but Flying Dog brewery is exiting the Kansas and Missouri markets. I don't think I'll miss it, I ranked it the 24th best available brewery in KC in my starting 5 power rankings a year and a half ago, just ahead of Leinenkugel's. I certainly need to revisit that list, but Flying Dog would probably fall rather than rise in that system. I haven't bought any of their beers besides Gonzo Porter for a couple of years and I only bought Gonzo once or twice.

This has been a bit of a trend as of late as Great Divide, Dogfish Head and Avery have all done similar pullbacks to serve their home markets a little better. Good for Flying Dog for deciding to serve the bureaucrats, lobbyists and politicians of the DC area the mediocre to bad beer those sorts deserve.  But, this is the first time Kansas and Missouri have been deserted.

Since this has been happening, I've been wondering who was going to be next. Hoppin' Frog has been getting closed out at Tipsy's for a couple of weeks now (great bargains to be had for some really good beers). I don't think many people buy Hoppin' Frog very often, maybe they would exit Kansas. Ballast Point always seems like an afterthought, I've never bought anything of theirs. Grand Teton or Bridgeport wouldn't make much of a dent. Or maybe it could be something big like Bell's or Founders. In any case, you should keep in mind, you need to support your favorite beer because it could very well be out of market at any given time.

Wyldewood Cellars Raid

Feel safer now? 5 years ago, the FDA sent a letter to Wyldewood Cellars to cease advertising that elderberry juice has medicinal benefits. Wyldewood Cellars does what they think needs to be done to comply with the request. They hear nothing from the FDA for 5 years until US Marshals come to the warehouse and quarantine all of their product. Really? Is that how we're running things today? At least they didn't kill any dogs.

I'm not going to say that Wyldewood Cellars is innocent in this matter, I don't have any idea. But, from the information given it seems like they were more than willing to comply and thought they were complying. A simple phone call or visit from an FDA agent could have cleared up the matter. Imagine you filed a tax return in 2006, got a letter from the IRS a couple weeks later saying you didn't claim some income and owed $200. You sign some papers and send a check for $200 and in your mind the matter is cleared up. Then, this morning, you awaken to a knock on your door and sheriff's officers are at your door with paperwork stating they're seizing your house because of a false 2006 tax return. This is the same thing.

Actually, not quite the same thing, ostensibly the government would be trying to recover some revenue they were owed. In Wyldewood Cellars' case, the government has issue with some advertising material that says some doctors advise patients to use elderberry juice to boost their immune system. Has anyone ever told you that blueberries are good for you? Should the FDA seize all the blueberries in the US if the Blueberry Council made a claim that that blueberries are good for you? No, this entire thing is ridiculous.

I write this because Wyldewood Cellars is somewhat local. If you're so inclined, go out and buy some Wyldewood Cellars wine and help them out while the FDA settles this matter with them on government time.

Two Jokers Day

Boulevard Two Jokers bottles are hitting KC store shelves today. It's been out on draft for a couple of weeks now (note to restauranteurs and bars, get this on tap and push it to your customers, they're going to love it). In the past, Two Jokers has been a one and done beer for me, meaning I get a bottle when it comes out, have it, mildly enjoy it and move on. But, it's been reformulated a little this year increasing the acidity and  blending 75% regular version with 25% of a sour version. Now, Two Jokers has become my go to order when I see it on tap. It's gone from being a somewhat forgettable beer for me, to one of my favorite Boulevard beers. The sour really adds a wonderful bit of complexity to Two Jokers, it's a little more refreshing in this hot weather and it's simply one of the better summer beers you're going to be able to buy.

If you've had Two Jokers before and didn't think much of it, give it another try. It should be pretty easy to find around town as every store that carries the Smokestack series from Boulevard should have quite a bit of Two Jokers. Also something I've apparently been too dense to notice in year's past, the bottle art always just looked like a tulip of beer to me. But, it's also a picture of 2 jesters if you look at it right. Get a bottle tonight, open it up and do some deck sitting (if you're in Olathe do some driveway sitting) and enjoy some Two Jokers, you're not going to do much better.

Disclosure: I did receive a bottle of Two Jokers from a source interested in selling more Two Jokers. It did not affect my review but you can be the judge of that. I have purchased at least 3 glasses of Two Jokers on tap but I can't actually prove it.

Beer for the Weekend - Schlafly Summer Lager

I didn't take this picture, Paul A. Ner did

It's hot and it's June. Summer's here (to be clear, it's not actually here and any statement that it is is clearly false, Summer starts June 21) so you should be drinking a summer beer. Schlafly Summer Lager is that beer for this weekend.

A couple of years ago I had a Schlafly Summer and hated it. I wrote that it tasted like a rusted chain link fence. I've bad mouthed it ever since (in the interest of complete clarity, I think I told one person not to ever buy it). I've since revisited the beer at the urging of Briggs, the Schlafly guy, and several other people. I must have had one off of dirty lines when I had it, because it tasted like neither rust nor chain link fence. It tasted exquisite and light, thirst quenching and cooling. You're going to want to drink it this weekend while the kids are playing in the sprinklers or you're cooped up in your house sucking down air conditioning (by sucking down, I just mean sitting in your air conditioned house). It may even be a good beer to drink after the Craft Beer Fest at the Foundry (actually in the parking lot in front of The Foundry). You're going to want to keep hydrated after drinking so many great beers and you're not going to drink water (actually 9 out of 10 doctors say you should drink water while drinking alcohol on a hot day), you should drink a good thirst quenching beer. That beer is Schafly Summer Lager.

Martin City Brewing Company

As I write this the last minute scramble is on. Tables are being positioned just so, napkins and silverware are being rolled, food prep is happening, kegs are being tested, beer is being iced. At 11:00 the doors are going to open and a couple of guys, Matt Moore and Chancie Adams, will have fulfilled a dream, the opening of a brewpub.

Martin City Brewing Company (500 E. 135th St., KC, MO) is opening their doors to the general public at 11:00 today. They'll be serving a far south Kansas City need for a great place with great beer. The plan is to eventually brew their own beer, but for now, they're just serving the best selection of beers for that part of town. On tap today will be Stone Arrogant Bastard, Avery White Rascal, Bell's 2 Hearted Ale, Nectar IPA, Lagunitas IPA and Little Sumpin' Sumpin' (they have great taste in beer), 3 Boulevards, Odell 90 Schilling, Anchor Steam and more. They'll have over 50 bottled beers and 20 more big bottles of beer, a good start.

One of the Gents, Matt, is a chef on the line at Martin City Brewing. What I know about Matt is he wouldn't allow the Brewing Company to serve bad food and since he interned with Celina Tio at Julian he knows what's good and what's not. Some menu items that excite me are fried risotto balls and a shrimp po' boy. Combine a great menu with a great beer menu and you have a real reason to make Martin City Brewing Company a destination. Give them some love and business this weekend.

More Collaboration #2

Deschutes and Boulevard Brewing-White IPA Collaboration from Ritch Marvin on Vimeo.

Not much new information in the video above, but it shows Larry Sidor of Deschutes and Steven Pauwels of Boulevard talking about Collaboration #2. They had an event at the Deschutes brewpub much like the one we attended at Boulevard early in May. In the video, Larry and Steven talk about the creation, formulation and collaboration between the two to come up with the collaboration White IPA. The new piece of information is the release date of 7/11. What I know about beer release dates, especially a month in advance, is that the 7/11 date is extremely tentative. But, in the interest of giving out information, I thought it might be important.

Between what The New School blog and Beervana are saying, they concur with my assessment that these early versions that we tried are a little light on the IPA side. But, it is a very good beer and will be well worth seeking out both companies' versions to give them a shot. It won't last long.

Colorado Beer Travel Guide

Another beer travel guide. This one is for Colorado and was certainly quite an undertaking to write since you could spend 2 weeks in Colorado and not see and taste all of the beer related sites (when I find someone willing to take on the Portland one, we'll see a guide that's even tougher to write). To do this, I enlisted the help of one the newest Gents, Brad (it should be noted that this is not an all inclusive list of beer sites, just the most recommended). Brad was a resident of Colorado, as you'll read, and contacted me some time ago as a fan of the blog. He has since moved to KC and currently works at Rimann Liquor. We had a discussion about Colorado breweries and visiting them at the last Gents at Boulevard. I thought he would be perfect to write this guide and he really delivered. I give you Brad Hargrave's Colorado.

With over 120 craft breweries, a growing number of bars and restaurants dedicated to better beer, the Brewers Association, the Great American Beer Festival, and a beer-crazed general population, its no surprise that Colorado has become synonymous with craft beer. Below is a list of some of my favorite breweries, pubs, and liquor stores in Colorado. Many locations simply did not fit on this list, so please consult Beer Advocate's Beer Travel Guide for more information. Also, I only lived in Colorado for three years and spent most of my time in the Denver area, so this list has a heavy Denver/Boulder/Fort Collins influence. While there are places worth seeking out in Durango, Salida, Palisade, and many other communities, that's just not my area of expertise.