Halcyon Savoir

Tallgrass seems to think they can take our Halcyon away and not hear about it. They are hosting a poll on their website asking if they should put it down for the winter and bring it back next spring. Sure, a wheat beer is not ideal on a day you've got to shovel your driveway, but it's still a great beer even in winter. Let them know your thoughts by voting in the poll.

Beer for the Weekend - Avery 18th Anniversary

Come on! A dry hopped rye saison! That nearly blows out my personal BGBM meter. It's almost like Avery decided to make me very happy with their 18th anniversary concoction. The moment I saw that Royal Liquor had it on their shelves I got on my bike and rode over there getting 20 miles in as well as a great beer. That's why Avery's 18th Anniversary Ale is the beer for the weekend.

This one should be available on both sides of the state line and be relatively easy to find. If their other anniversary beers are any indication, it should be on shelves for a while, but this weekend is as good a time as any to get some.

The Well Draft

Now that we know we're going to have an NFL season this year many people are scrambling to figure out their fantasy football leagues. It's going to be a full time job for many just trying to figure out who to put on their draft boards with all the free agent scrambling. The last thing you need to do as a fantasy football commissioner is try to organize a football draft party, you need to figure out who the Bills 3rd running back is and the Colts 5th receiver or your breakout candidate.

The Well (74th and Wornall) wishes to help you out with organizing your draft by offering up your own private draft room for your league.You get access to The Well's free wi-fi, HD TV's with audio and video hook ups and enough electical outlets for everyone's laptop. Then you get a buffet of chips with a trio of dips; Buffalo Chicken, Spinach Artichoke, and Salsa. All that for $100 (plus gratuity) is a pretty good price to keep that weird guy who eats his toenails during the draft out of your living room.

Beer N' Burgers

Several months ago when snow had just fallen, I was contacted by Brian Yaeger of All About Beer Magazine for an article he was writing about hamburgers and beer. Well that article came out in print in May and just this morning was posted on the All About Beer website. In the interest of not letting an email go to waste I thought I'd post what I wrote to him the morning I got his email query.

Brian,
I really think that KC is the ideal beer and burger city in the US as we have four places that spring to mind that specialize in burgers and beer.

#1 is Blanc Burgers and Bottles. Blanc has received best burger in America awards from several sources over the past couple of years and I definitely concur. For a while I named The Kobe burger, the au Poivre burger and the buffalo burger the best 3 burgers in town (until one of the following places opened). Not only burgers, it has bottles in the name and they feature a great selection of beers (no taps though). The chef/owner Josh Eans (who is a member in good standing of the KC Beer Blog Gents, our beer drinking group) knows beer and really takes care to only carry good beers.

Beer is Good

I'm not going to pretend that I drink beer for the health benefits, I drink beer because it tastes good. But, I've always believed beer was one of the more healthy foods I eat or drink. It's full of grains and yeast that provide tons of vitamins that are hard to get from other foods. Beer is like a multivitamin.

I read this article yesterday that I pulled from Boulevard's Facebook page. A study was conducted giving marathon runners 34 to 50 ounces a day of non alcoholic wheat beer while also giving another group a placebo wheat drink. The results:

The beer drinkers were more than three times less likely to experience upper-respiratory infection, and their markers for inflammation were 20 to 32 percent lower than the placebo group’s.

Guido and Nommo

Did you notice it was Boulevard month in the P&L? Well, at least it was Boulevard month on the Live block, you could get $2 Boulevard draws on Friday nights. The culmination of Boulevard month is this Friday with some special beers on tap.  Boulevard Hoppy Wheat will be available for general consumption as well as Boulevard's newest Smokestack beer, Nommo Dubbel (pending whether it passes a QA test at Boulevard this week). Not so adventurous? You can still get Boulevard Wheat and Pale Ale for $2 and Tank 7 and Collaboration #2 will also be around on tap.

In addition to the special beers on tap, Boulevard's Alex Rodriguez, who was one of the forces behind the creation of Hoppy Wheat, will be around to answer questions, give tips and apologize for the third baseman with the same name. If you get there early enough you may still be able to get a sample card which will allow you to get a tasting glass (just like the Gents use), a tasting card and 4 free samples.

To my knowledge, this is the first public opportunity to taste Nommo Dubbel (not Test Dubbel or whatever else they've called it for the past year). Plus it's a pretty good opportunity to get your hands on some Hoppy Wheat or Collaboration #2 if you haven't tried those yet. It should be warm enough outside to enjoy yourself.

Next month will be Lagunitas month with the same deals including maybe some special brews at the end of the month event.

Bob's 47 Day

Well we've had a small reprieve from the 100 degree days, they'll be back. But you can take this opportunity to think about fall and you can do it with a fall beer in your hand. That's right, Boulevard Bob's 47 is hitting store shelves this morning. It's out a full 2 weeks earlier than last year, if we keep this up it's going to be a spring seasonal (Sam Adams Oktoberfest is also out this week so this madness isn't just Boulevard). But, I always welcome Bob's 47 for 3 reasons. It signals the end of Zon being around, I genuinely like it and actually buy it in stores and it signals that we're one beer away from Nutcracker.

Bob's should be in every store in town by the end of the week. But, if you're looking for it today it's sure to be in the usual suspect stores. You shouldn't have much trouble finding it. It will also be hitting tap towers across town this week as well so let us know in comments or on On Tap KC where you're finding it on tap. I hope to be cracking open a Bob's tonight to go with my dinner.

The Blanc Vision Quest

In 1985 Louden Swain went on his Vision Quest. Louden could do nothing and be a state champion in his wrestling weight class. But, Louden wanted more, Louden wanted Shute. Shute was a stud wrestler, the supposed best in the state, undefeated and supposedly unbeatable. Shute works out by carrying a railroad tie on his shoulders while climbing stadium stairs. The problem for Louden, 22 pounds. Shute wrestled at 168, Louden, a tall drink of water wrestled at 190. This was not going to be an easy task, lose 22 pounds in a short amount of time, yet retaining enough strength to be able to wrestle and beat Shute.

Like Louden Swain, Josh Eans of Blanc is going on his Vision Quest. He could do nothing and be the best burger place in Kansas City as well as a fine spot for a beer. That's not enough for Eans, he wants Blanc to be the best beer destination in town while still maintaining its place as the best place in town for a great burger. This is a tough quest and some changes are being made.

The first change is the addition of a tap tower (only at the Plaza location now). Right now they have Great Divide Grand Cru and New Belgium Ooh La La on tap. Those won't last though and will be replaced by others. At least one sour beer will be on tap throughout the summer. While there's only 4 taps, they're chosen with quality in mind so just like you're not going to find some mediocre burger on the menu, you won't find (what to choose without throwing some beer under the bus) something run of the mill like Sam Adams Boston Lager (not that Boston Lager isn't a good beer, but I can buy it in a bowling alley).

Next up is a monthly beer dinner using some of Blanc's comparative advantage of great food. Each beer dinner will be built around a super rare beer (depending on availability) and brewery. Eans is looking to bring in special firkins for each dinner, but that's sometimes just not possible so a rare beer will always be a part of the deal. Eans had a twinkle in his mustache when he told me August's beer dinner will be designed around Lagunitas. Lagunitas + Blanc food = a great time.

Also, every week a new burger special is introduced featuring a special burger paired with a beer. This can work as a nice introduction to different beers for someone with a passing interest in good beer. Blanc can really be an important place to introduce people to different craft beers because they have such great food. People are already going to Blanc to eat, with a gentle push in the right direction, they can find some great beer. The weekly burger and beer pairing is a great start in craft beer for the novice.

Like me, Eans is a giant fan of cask beer. He hopes to always be able to offer a cask beer but that is kind of dependent on crowds of beer lovers. Very few places in town have firkins available, if Blanc can have one always available it would be the equivalent of Louden Swain making weight. Blanc already gets all the rare beers we highlight on the KC Beer Blog and more and has proven to be the place to go to get something rare or hard to get.

Few moments in film are as exciting as the high school wrestling match between Louden Swain and Brian Shute (at the very least it's the most exciting wrestling scene in movie history). Watching Blanc wrestle with trying to promote the beer side while maintaining the best burgers in town may be just as fun.

I'm also sad to report that a remake of Vision Quest is in the works with Taylor Lautner starring as Louden Swain. There can be no matching the wonder that was the original.

*Disclaimer: Eans did buy my lunch as we discussed Blanc's beer future.

Beer for the Weekend - Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Wild

I'll be honest, I expect a little more from Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Wild. Little Sumpin' Sumpin' (one of my top 3 everyday beers) with a Belgian yeast strain sounds like it should be a homerun. Unfortunately it's only a triple (get it?). But triples work too and it's back in town, this year in sixers. I always welcome a new edition of Lagunitas to town by bringing it home with me from the liquor store.

It may be a little difficult to find for the weekend but it's around town (Royal on State Line definitely has it). It's a nice wheat based beer that really will make you happy during a hot weekend. That's why Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Wild is the beer for the weekend.

Conflux et Collaboration

When I was a kid, probably 7 or 8, my next door neighbors granddaughters and I set about making mud pies. We got some used margarine tubs, gathered dirt from all areas of the 5 or 6 house radius we were allowed and mixed it all up with some water. Mine and the younger granddaughter's mudpies turned a real dark brown with a heavy mud consistency as would be expected, but the other girl's mudpie was mixed perfectly and with all the precision a 7 year old girl could muster and it turned out to be the consistency of vigourously stirred ice cream and had a nice grey color. It was strange to me that the 3 of us could take the same ingredients and one would turn out much more appealing than the others.

When we had Gents last week and had all the Collaboration #2 we could drink I thought it was just overly muddled, no one thing really stood out and the flavors didn't seem to work out that great. Mind you, it was still a very good beer, but on a night where we had access to any beer we wanted, I found myself reaching for Two Jokers, Saison-Brett and others more than I craved more Collaboration #2.

Conflux and Collaboration on a Handy Manny computer

Tonight I got some of the Deschutes version of the same beer* what Deschutes calls Conflux #2. It was noticeably different. I had Stella pour Conflux #2 and Collaboration #2 in my Gents tasting glasses so I could try them blind. I had no issue whatsoever tasting a difference and easily identified the Deschutes version and the Boulevard version. Stella, for her part, tried each and poured herself a glass of the Deschutes. Conflux #2 was just crisper, a little more hop bite, a little more witbier type flavor, just more in general like the four points of a square as opposed to the no points in a circle.

It's not as if one beer is bad and one is good. Both are very good, just one is better. One is like the mudpie my friend made and the other is like the mudpie I made. It ends up being kind of amazing such a difference can arise from the same ingredients, but a difference does exist.

Conflux is not available in KC at this time and I've received no assurances it will be available when Deschutes comes to market. Collaboration #2 is available and can still be found around town, though it may take some looking.

*Disclosure: I was given both bottles by a party interested in selling more bottles of Boulevard. This did not affect my review, but you can be the judge of that.

Emery, Bird and Thayer

I post this because I find it genuinely curious. My good friend, and by good friend I mean guy I talked to about toe shoes and kilts at Hop Fest, posted the menu for a beer dinner at EBT (435 and State Line) on the KC Beer Blog Facebook wall. I've never known anybody who ever ate at EBT and I've been asking around for about a week. Every comment I've heard about the place makes it seem like someplace Kevorkian would shop for patients. But, the menu looks good, they have Tank 7 on tap and they care enough to have a beer dinner.

The interesting thing about this beer dinner is that it features a bunch of Belgian beers that are new to the market that many people haven't tried. Plus, you get to try them in the curiosity that is the EBT restaurant. Did you know that the EBT stands for Emery, Bird and Thayer which was a downtown department type store or maybe clothing store in the early 1900's? I didn't. I always wondered what it stood for. Apparently the restaurant strives to emulate the classic Victorian style building that Emery, Bird and Thayer occupied.

EBT can offer you an atmosphere of style and elegance like no other. Dine 'inside' one of the antique elevator cages or beneath the column capitals & brick arches. Relax with some live jazz in the lounge or dine at the bar if you prefer.

No matter where you're seated you'll enjoy the charming ambiance, exemplary service and exquisite food that have been EBT's hallmarks for nearly 30 years.

Our entire staff will work to make your dining experience perfect.

Sure that's typical marketing type speak that means nothing, but sometimes it's nice to visit old style KC. I'll bet you're sure to find some other diner that rode the streetcar to Emery, Bird and Thayer to buy some of those straps they used to hold up socks.

In any case, the food looks good, the beer is certainly good and it's just curious enough of an event to make it worth $48. The beer dinner is July 27th and you can reserve your spot by calling 816-942-8870.

2011 Fall Fest

I know it's hotter than fire outside but events with Fall in the title are just around the corner. For instance, the 2nd annual Flying Saucer Fall Fest date has been announced, September 24.  Last year, Fall Fest was a great time and I would bet it's going to be even better this year. To bring it up a level they are adding a Brewer's tent where representatives of a brewery or brewers will be giving 30 minute talks spread throughout the day about their beer or brewery. Inside, they'll be tapping special and rare beers, outside you'll get 10 samples for $25. For the $25 you will also get a tasting glass and tasting card. Tickets are available in advance this year at The Flying Saucer. Tickets the day of the event will be $30. This should be a great time with some great beer.

UPDATE: The date of this event will not be 9/24. At this time the date is undetermined.

The Perfect Confluence

Friday Night Lights ends tonight. For me, Friday Night Lights was the perfect confluence between a topic that interests me and being supremely well done no matter what I thought about the subject. Shows like that don't come around often, if ever. I can't think of a flaw in the show, they had me from the get go with Jason Street all American boy getting paralyzed by a hit on the football field in the first episode through now with Vince choosing Coach over his father and Riggins back from prison and demanding Billy live a better life. Grantland did a great piece yesterday with an oral history of the show.

It's going to be tough to say goodbye to one of my favorite shows of all time tonight. I've been trying to think of a beer to pair with the show. I could go with some Tallgrass Oasis which mimics some tallboys like Tim Riggins would drink. I could go with some Shiner to match up the Texasness of the show. But, I think the best choice would be the beer, that to me, is the perfect confluence between a style of beer that I love from a brewery that I love that is completely well done. That beer, for me, is Boulevard Tank 7. What would it be for you?

Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

Beer for the Weekend - Avery Joe's Premium American Pilsner

Ichiro is one of my 5 favorite baseball players for many reasons, not the least of which is because at one time his favorite American expression was "Kansas City in August is hotter than 2 rats in a f***ing wool sock". Unfortunately for us this weekend, that expression is also true for mid-July. You're probably not going to want to drink any of that Stone Imperial Russian Stout you bought. Collaboration #2 might be nice and refreshing, but you're not going to pop that open at 2 in the afternoon or when the heat is at its hottest. You're going to want something lighter and refreshing.

That's why the beer for the weekend is Avery Joe's Premium American Pilsner. Joe's Pilsner is new to town and only comes in cans. You can take it out to your neighborhood pool (not city pools) or sip it while sitting in your backyard kiddie pool. Nothing goes quite as well with the heat of summer like a good pilsner and I'm hoping Joe's Premium American Pilsner is the perfect antidote for the wool sock that is Kansas City in mid-July.

Trader Joe's Opening

If you live in KC you know Trader Joe's is opening today. The location in Kansas will not be selling their trademark wines or beer, but the one in Missouri is. I happened to see the pallett of beer going to Trader Joe's from Central States at Gents the other night. I thought that Trader Joe's only sold their own house brands of beer so I was a little surprised to see Boulevard and Sam Adams ready for Joe's. I'm sure Stella is going to drag me over there this weekend to pick up some wine, but I'm most interested in what they'll be selling beer wise.

Sour Saucer with a Side of Goose

The week of July 25th - 30th will be a fun one at The Flying Saucer for it will be Sour Beer Week. Events will kick off Monday July 25th with a Goose Island beer dinner.

The evening will allow guests to sample a wide range of Goose Island beers paired with a specially designed six-course food menu. Featured beers and food pairings for the evening include a first course consisting of Fleur Belgian Pale Ale alongside Moules Frites with an aioli trio; a second course offering of pork belly confit served with Matilda Belgian Pale Ale; Sofie Belgian Farmhouse Ale and a fennel and orange salad for the third course; Pepe Nero Belgian farmhouse ale with chilled Tunisian spicy tomato soup for the fourth pairing; sea scallops on a wilted spinach salad with a raspberry-ginger glaze served alongside Lolita Belgian Farmhouse Ale as the fifth course; and a 2009 Bourbon County barrel-aged Imperial Stout served with chocolate covered Belgian waffles with butterscotch and walnut ice cream for the final course of the night.

There is no truth to the rumors that Lolita is beechwood aged. The dinner is $50 for UFO members and $55 for everyone else with tickets available at The Flying Saucer. There's only room for 40 and they may already have it sold out. It's quite a great menu with excellent beer.

Harpo's 20

20 years is a long time for a bar to be open, let alone one in an area of town that sees high turnover like Westport. When Harpo's opened I was just graduating high school and focusing on parties in hotel rooms. I imagine they opened up with 4 taps filled with Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light and Miller Lite and no one was around to care.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Harpo's opening, they're rolling back to 1991 drink prices. Saturday night you can drink like you did when you were 20 years younger or be out the same amount of money, some you may have been 3. Harpo's has greatly improved their beer selection so this may be a good opportunity to give it a shot if you haven't been in a while.

Snoop Dogg Gents

Central States Beverage, the Boulevard, Sam Adams, Lagunitas and many other beers distributor, got in touch with us wanting to host a Gents. We hemmed and hawed for over 3 months and finally decided it would be okay to let them host a party for us with them providing all the beer. And provide beer they did, more than any Gents we've had before.

We had Collaboration #2, Saison-Brett and Two Jokers, enough so that it was basically all we could drink of just those 3 beers. But that wasn't it, a bunch of Belgian beers like Troubador Magma, Poperings Hommel Ale, Scotch de Silly, Bieken Honey Ale, Piraat and Petrus Oud Bruimn giving us a shot to try some of those new to market beers. They even popped open a bottle of Utopias for us. That's when the party really got started.


We had been at Central States for about an hour and a half, walked the warehouse, had some dinner and got started on drinking, mostly focusing on Collaboration #2 and Saison-Brett. Danner and I tried something on tap that I wouldn't really recommend, the folks at Central States call it a Happy Happy, which was half Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy and half Tank 7. Just stick with Tank 7 or Summer Shandy, never shall the two be mixed, it turns into a lemony mess. After all of that, Snoop Dogg showed up.

Snoop was very gracious and allowed everyone to have their picture taken with him. He seemed almost used to it, sticking to a single pose with his beloved can of Blast. He put up with Chimpotle's grossness, Yuengling's sexuality and Danner's class with equal magnanimity. But he didn't share any of that Blast with us.

Overall, we had a great time, came out of it with some good glassware (I came home with 4 Smokestack tulips and a Pilsner Urquell pilsner glass and a Gents KC banner) and got to try a bunch of beer. We didn't have any out of market or rare beers, but that's okay, we all got to try at least something new. Central States really rolled out the welcome mat for us and we had a great time.

Stone IRS Day

Now that you're already going to explore whiteness today, you may as well explore the black. Stone Imperial Russian Stout is hitting KC store shelves today. This is the first time in KC for the IRS and is only available in Missouri. The IRS is one of the best Stone beers and shouldn't be missed if you're a fan of either Stone or Imperial Stouts, I count myself as both.

The IRS will age wonderfully but is ready to drink now and shouldn't have too much of an alcohol burn which is good for a 10.5% ABV beer. This is our first shot at a limited release Stone beer so we'll have to see how much is around, but I don't think it should be that hard to get your hands on if you're so motivated and for only ~$6/22 oz. bottle how could you not be so motivated. You should be able to find it any Missouri Stone retailer, if you don't see it, you might ask for it.

It's black and white day in KC, get the best of Boulevard and Stone with a little Deschutes thrown in in one trip to the store.

White IPAle Day

But not yet have we solved the incantation of this whiteness, and learned why it appeals with such power to the soul; and more strange and far more portentous – why, as we have seen, it is at once the most meaning symbol of spiritual things, nay, the very veil of the Christian’s Deity; and yet should be as it is, the intensifying agent in things the most appalling to mankind. 

Is it that by its indefiniteness it shadows forth the heartless voids and immensities of the universe, and thus stabs us from behind with the thought of annihilation, when beholding the white depths of the milky way? Or is it, that as in essence whiteness is not so much a colour as the visible absence of colour; and at the same time the concrete of all colours; is it for these reasons that there is such a dumb blankness, full of meaning, in a wide landscape of snows – a colourless, all-colour of atheism from which we shrink?

Like Ishmael, today we too, can contemplate all the intricacies of whiteness, from awe to fear.  The Boulevard/Deschutes Collaboration White IPA is going to be hitting store shelves all across KC today. I had a test batch of White IPA a couple of months ago and liked it a lot. But I didn't get much IPA from it, more Belgian Wit. They've tweaked it since, so it will be interesting to see how much it changed. No matter what, I believe it will be well worth your time and money to seek it out.

White IPA is a one time deal, once it's gone, it's gone. It should go pretty fast, but not Chocolate Ale fast, it will be much easier to find that a white whale. If you see it and want it, get it and get as much as you're going to want. If you want to be cautious buy one today and drink it to find out if you want more. When Deschutes is finally available in Missouri in September or so they'll presumably be bringing their own version of White IPA so you'll probably want to keep at least one bottle to compare to the Deschutes version.

Captain Ahab himself, Steven Pauwels, will be signing bottles of White IPA at Lukas in Overland Park from 3:30 - 5. You can discuss his journey searching for the white IPA and what it means to him. I'm sure there will be plenty of White IPA for that if you can't find it anywhere else, though you should be able to. As always, leave a comment telling us where you got yours, limits that store has and how much you paid.

Hangover Beer List

The Hop Fest Hangover party is tonight at 6 at The Well. Hop Fest Hangover is buy 1 beer take 1 beer home for free. I was expecting quite a bit more beer to have been left from Hop Fest but there's still quite a few. Click below to see the list.

Still in the Wilderness

A couple of months ago I wrote about a couple of friends of mine who make great beer. They're starting their own little brewery brewing beers they want to drink and share. But to get there they need our help. So far, as of this morning, they have 93 backers and are nearly 40% of the way to their goal of raising $40k. I was hoping, and I know they were hoping, to be a little farther along than this, but it's still a pretty good start.

They need your help to get the rest of the way to 40k. Less than a month to go and it's go time. If you have some extra money or money you'd like to see go to people who are going to make the KC beer scene better, donate to the Wilderness Kickstarter campaign now. Short of that, go on Facebook, Twitter, the phone, stone and tablet, whatever you use to let your friends know about Nate and Mike and their great beer.

If they don't hit the goal, you don't have to pay, but you'll also probably never get to drink their beer which would be a shame. I really believe Nate's beer (based on what I've had) will be the best beer in KC the moment it's poured in KC, let's make sure it's poured in a licensed beer establishment and not only in Nate's garage or at Gents.

2011 Tour de BBQ

It will be the 10 year anniversary of my moving to KC, I can think of nothing I would enjoy more than riding 35 miles through KC sampling the best barbecue in the world. That's right it's the 3rd annual Tour de BBQ, the KC bike ride where you get to stop and eat barbecue. While the negatives of the ride are many, the positives far outweigh the negatives. And you'll never have a better Boulevard Wheat than the one you drink when you're done with your ride.

The Tour de BBQ consists of 3 different rides, a 15 mile, 35 mile and 55 mile. If you can't ride a bike for 15 miles you should maybe put down the beer, pick up a bike and work at riding it for a couple of weeks. The 35 mile ride is tough especially if you don't have a decent road bike, but it can be done if you're in any kind of shape. The 65 mile ride is more for the experienced bike rider. No matter which ride you choose, you'll get quite a few stops with some world class barbecue.

The routes have not been finalized yet, but the barbecue contributors are Smokestack, Gates, Woodyard, Spin, Jack Stack, RJ's, Johnny's and Oklahoma Joe's. Not all of these will be stops on the routes, but will be available at the finish line. Also available at the finish line is the greatest Boulevard beer of all time, while Saison-Brett is great and Chocolate Ale is sexy, Boulevard Wheat after a long bike ride can't be beat. I've had over 1000 beers, but the Boulevard I had at the finish line last year was one of the best beers I've ever drank. Don't believe me? Try it.

The sooner you sign up, the less expensive it is. Do it today and you'll pay $25/$35/$55 for the 15/35/65 mile rides. Wait until 7/11, the prices raise by $10. You have money to spare that's fine, all benefits go to Livestrong. I'm a contrarian by nature and not even I can come up with a support for cancer. If you don't want to ride, volunteer to hand out food, cheer on the riders (this is much more help than you'll believe), or hand out drinks/snacks. Don't want to take time out of your day, donate. Don't want to commit to spending a day in October to doing anything? Check back in September to find the route, and find a spot to cheer on riders (again, this helps more than you can imagine).

Tour de BBQ day is one of the 5 best days in KC. This year it's October 1. Participate in any way you want, it's not hard and you'll do some good.

Beer for the Weekend - Founders Blushing Monk

Kind of a boring week here in KC Beerland, not much new, it seems to be that way every July. We mostly hole up in our AC, lament not having an NBA team and with the finals over, we know it's a long wait until the first tip-off of the next NBA season. Just kidding, I know we don't lament that. You know how I know, I live here. Anyway there is something to be excited about this weekend, the new 750 ml series from Founders. To kick off the series is the Founders Blushing Monk.

I'm a sucker for raspberry beers, I even bought the Shock Top raspberry wheat beer. I go nuts over the release of New Belgium's Frambozen every year and I've been known to down 2 or 3 raspberry wheat beers at McCoy's or 75th Street Brewery. This Founders one, though, is unlike all the rest because is a Belgian style raspberry beer. Mixing Belgian style and raspberry beer really sets my heart aflutter. That's why Founders Blushing Monk is the beer for the weekend.

Founders beers are only sold on the Missouri side of the line (if you're from outside of KC and don't understand this sentence, I'm aware that Founders is sold in other states besides Missouri). Blushing Monk might be a little more difficult to find than other Founders beers, so make sure you ask at the counter if you don't see them out. Also, unrelated to Blushing Monk, Founders beers are $7.99 at all Royal Liquor locations this weekend (as of right now Royal does not have their Blushing Monk in). So while last weekend we lived like the Founders, this weekend we can drink the Founders.

Hop Fest Hangover

Did you miss out on Hop Fest? Did you have a beer that you missed at Hop Fest but still wanted to give it a shot? Did you just want to try some great beer for cheap. Well now you have a shot. Monday, The Well is selling all of their left over Hop Fest beer for crazy, CRAZY, CRAZY prices. Okay, the bolded CRAZY may have been a little much, but still, the beers are discounted. You buy 1 bottle at The Well, you get a bottle to take home. That's right 2 for the price of 1, hard to beat that.

Monday night starting at 6, The Well will be holding what they hope will be an annual event, the Hop Fest Hangover. They have to order a bunch of beer for Hop Fest to make sure that supplies last, and boy did they last. The beers are still around a month later. I'm sure you'll be able to find a discounted beer that will strike your fancy.

I hope in the future they put this little get together a little closer to Hop Fest, but it should be a pretty good deal nonetheless and a great opportunity to add to your home beer collection.

M&S Taps

It's probably been since right after the M&S Grill opened on the Plaza since I've been there. We had reservations at Starker's in an hour and a half and had some time to kill which coincided with happy hour. We wanted to be near Starker's so we could get there right on time, but have plenty of time for happy hour. I had remembered that the M&S Grill had a good happy hour and was just around the corner from Starker's so we gave it a shot.

$3.75 draft beers, $5 glasses of wine, $6 cocktails and a pretty good food menu. I think it was the food menu I remembered as being the good part of the happy hour. Since we were going to Starker's last night was going to be a wine night so I got a $5 glass of cabernet. But, after I ordered, I noticed that they had 12 taps and a great variety of beers. Unlike Maloney's, which I complained about a couple of weeks ago and laid out this rule of thumb "For any bar with over 6 tap handles, more than 50% should not be macro beers", M&S Grill carried just Miller Lite and Coors Lite on tap. They also had Blue Moon, the Blue Moon seasonal, Guinness and Stella Artois. So if you want to be really picky, you can say that M&S has 50% macro beers, but I don't really count Blue Moon as macro, Guinness is in the same category and, damn it, I like a Stella every now and again, so by my count it's only 17%. The rest of the taps were Boulevard, Sam Adams, Lagunitas IPA and the all important Tank 7.

You can hate on a chain restaurant all you want, but, when they're doing something right it should be pointed out. This is far from a super impressive tap list, but it does show they care about the clientele they want. They don't want the cheap, crappy beer drinker, they want us. They care about what they're serving enough to serve good beers (and kitchen prepared fresh food). So kudos to M&S Grill for getting it right in the Plaza which doesn't have much selection of good beer, Granfalloon notwithstanding.

Live Like the Founders

In observance of the 4th of July, the Johnson County Water Department and a pesky raccoon have seen it fit to bring the drinking water standards back to 1776 standards. Now we get to feel like Ben Franklin and John Adams and do like they did. Drink beer.

That's right, our founders were crocked when writing the Declaration of Independence. Drinking beer and wine was the safest way to drink liquids. So the question becomes, what beers should we be drinking?

Boulevard Pilsner, Great Divide Hoss, Schlafly Kolsch and Goose Island Summertime might make the lack of water tolerable. Of course, if you want to get crocked like TJ you can start your day with some Little Sumpin' Sumpin' or Titan IPA. If anybody gives you guff for drinking at 10 in the morning, this is the one time you can say you're doing it in observance of our Founders. Thanks Johnson County raccoon.

Beer for the Weekend - Great Divide Titan IPA

It's the big Canada Day weekend and if you're anything like me you'll be tossing some Canadian bacon on the grill with some maple syrup shooters and bathing in Labatt's. Or you may be celebrating the American version of the holiday with some cookouts and fireworks. In either case, it's hot out there and you need a refreshing beer with some taste. That beer is Great Divide Titan IPA.

Titan IPA is one of the best sessionable IPA's around. You can find it at any store around town and it tastes great with some grilled meats and spicy salsas. The heavy hops flavor will certainly keep you happy while you're playing ladder ball in the backyard of your weird cousin's house. And Titan has enough alcohol you may not even find your weird cousin that weird after 3 or 4 Titans. That's why Great Divide Titan IPA is your beer for the weekend.

Live Draft Crafts

The Power and Light District aside from The Flying Saucer and Gordon-Biersch is pretty much a dead zone for the thinking person or the person who likes a good beer. While still not being a place to discuss Kirkegaard, Locke or Hume, you may be able to find a good beer now. Starting next Friday, the Live block beer garden will feature $2 drafts of crafts. Each month will feature a new brewery but they're kicking things off, rightly, with Boulevard.

As part of this special deal every Friday night from 4-8 you can request a sampling card which will allow you to come back to the Live block on the 4th Friday of the month for free samples, a tasting glass and a tasting notebook as well as talk to representatives from that month's brewery. Sampling cards are somewhat limited so you'll have to either get lucky or get there early.

It's nice to see a really good deal ($2 for a 16 oz. Boulevard Pale Ale is a really good deal) in a beer dead zone. It will seem like an even better deal when the crowd isn't filled with guys with tight shirts, backward hats and confused looks but instead filled with semi overweight middle aged guys and gals who can name a couple of Supreme Court justices and members of the Cabinet. It will be nice for us all to get a little sun.