My Big Fat American Craft Beer Week List


As we begin the countdown to American Craft Beer Week in Kansas City, various local bars and restaurants have been posting their flyers and event information on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Trying to keep track of it all is no easy task, so I decided to consolidate everything into one giant freaking list for people to have access to before and during the week. It's certainly not a brief read, but it allows you to view everything at a day by day, bar by bar glance and plan accordingly. I'm still waiting on some specific timing information, but I plan to make this a living, breathing list, so if you see anything I may have missed, please let me know and I will update.

Happy drinking, and I'm sure I'll see many of you out next week!


Monday, May 13

23rd Street Brewery (Lawrence)

Collaboration beer tappings - 23rd Street will be tapping a keg of Smoke on the Wheat (based on 14th century Polish Gratzer ale), their collaboration beer with Free State and Blind Tiger, as well as LGB Collaboration No. 2 (Belgian-style IPA), a collaboration beer with the Lawrence Brewers Guild.


Barley's 119th

Sierra Nevada Beer School - 6pm - Featuring Summerfest, Pale Ale, Hoptimum, Bigfoot, Brux 2012 and Torpedo, plus a Spiegelau IPA glass that you keep. $15/person.


Barley's Midland

Schlafly Night - - Gary from Schlafly will be on hand to pour samples of Schlafly Reserve Imperial Stout and Barley's will roll out their new beer menu.


Bier Station

Forefathers of Craft Beer - 5pm - Taps will pay homage to breweries that helped pave the way for the craft beer scene. Beers from Sam Adams (Dark Depths, Third Voyage, Verloren, New World Tripel, Boston Lager), Rogue (Old Crustacean Barleywine, Dead Guy Ale), Goose Island (Sofie), Sierra Nevada (Pale Ale), Red Hook (ESB), Anchor (Steam). Assorted brewery swag will also be given out, including Sam Adams Perfect Pint and tulip glasses.


Foundry/McCoy's

Randyl Monday - All Day - Two Randyl'd beers being tapped; Ginger Shandy with mangos and chili peppers and Lunch Pale Ale with strawberries and basil.

Flying Saucer

Tutored Tasting with Master Cicerone Neil Witte - 7pm - Neil will lead small tasting groups where he'll describe basic guidelines of food and beer pairings. $10 gets you 5 small pours of Boulevard beers and 1-bite food pairings. Time slots are limited, reserve in store. A keg of Boulevard Tripel Julep will also be tapped.



Tuesday, May 14

75th Street Brewery

Farm to Table Beer Dinner - 6:30pm - Beer dinner that will pair four courses of local, fresh ingredients with Nebraska Brewing Company Apricot Au Poivre, Schlafly Hefeweizen, 75th Street Easy ESB and 75th Street Uniquity. Tickets are $45 or $40 for Mug Club members.


Barley's 119th

Bigger Is Better tap takeover -  - Beers hitting the taps include Avery Hog Heaven, Avery Mephistopheles, Goose Island Big John, Goose Island Bourbon County, Green Flash Green Bullet, Green Flash Palate Wrecker, Left Hand Beer Week Sauce Porter, North Coast Old Rasputin XV, Odell Tree Shaker, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine and a TBD Empyrean firkin.


Barley's Midland

Table Top Tuesday - Select a $10 bomber, pick your ingredients, and Barley's will Randall your beer right at your table.


Bier Station

West Coast Tap Takeover - 5pm - Beers hitting the taps include Lagunitas Waldo Double IPA, Lagunitas WTF, Stone IPA, Stone Oak Smoked Old Guardian and more TBA.


Foundry/McCoy's 

McCoy's Maibock release party - 4pm - Foundry and McCoy's will both have Maibock on tap, $7 gets you a pour and a commemorative mug.


Flying Saucer

American Pint Night - All American draft beers are $3 all day. Both trivia games that evening will be beer-themed.


Grinders

Aaron Sanchez (Mestizo)/McCoy's Taste Beering - 7pm - Chef Aaron Sanchez of Food Network fame is in the house at Grinders to pair four dishes with McCoy's Ginger Shandy, Maibock, Lunch Pale Ale and Blackberry Tart. McCoy's Gose will be served as a reception beer. Tickets currently sold out, but stay tuned in case spots open up.

Port Fonda

Free State Beer Dinner - 5-9pm - Port Fonda will pair 5 courses with Free State's Brightwater Saison, Cloud Hopper Imperial IPA, Brinkley's Maibock, Stormchaser IPA, and Iron Man Imperial Stout. $55/person, reservations required. Contact michaela@portfondakc.com.



Wednesday, May 15

75th Street Brewery

Summer Kick-off Party - Free koozies and a special selection of canned craft beer will be available in The Alley, with live music from Backfat starting at 8pm.


Barley's 119th

Tallgrass Ethos IPA release party -  - Tallgrass rep Kelly Lohrmeyer will be on hand to help celebrate the release of Tallgrass Ethos IPA. There will also be a firkin of Halcyon with Centennial hops and watermelon.


Barley's Midland

Tallgrass Ethos IPA release party -  - Kelly Lohrmeyer will be pulling double duty for Barley's on Wednesday, and also making an appearance at Midland, where she'll be doing patio Randalling to celebrate the launch of Ethos.

Bier Station

Deschutes River Ale launch party - 5pm - Bier Station will tap KC's first keg of River Ale and have tabletop Randall ingredients available with Deschutes beers in mind. Also hitting the tap wall will be Chainbreaker, Obsidian Nitro, and an in-line Randall TBD.


Burger Stand (Lawrence)

Free State tap takeover - 6pm - Beers being tapped include Ad Astra, Copperhead, Wheat State Golden, Hoptic Nerve, Brightwater Saison, Old Backus Barleywine, Cloud Hopper Imperial IPA, and Storm Chaser IPA.


Foundry

Boulevard autograph session - 6-8:30pm - Boulevard founder John McDonald, brewmaster Steven Pauwels, and long-time legendary employee Trip Hogue will be on hand to sign bottles (you can purchase there or bring your own).


Flying Saucer

Sierra Nevada Night - 7pm - Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head Spiegelau IPA glasses for sale, beers include Hoptimum and Torpedo.



Thursday, May 16

Barleys 119th

Mug Club Mini Sausage Fest - Mug Club members will have access to an exclusive sausage fest, plus Matt Shadid from Odell will be in the house with a special Tree Shaker promotion. There will also be a New Belgium Ranger firkin tapping, with pints for only $3.


Barley's Midland

Mug Club Mini Sausage Fest - Mug Club members will have access to an exclusive sausage fest as well as $2.50 mugs of Rogue Roguenbier Rye.


Bier Station

East Coast tap takeover - 5pm - Breweries/beers hitting the tap wall include Ommegang (Iron Throne, Fleur de Houblon, Gnomegang), Southern Tier (Oak Aged Unearthly, more TBA), and Shmaltz (He'Brew Lenny's RIPA, Rejewvenator 2013).


Foundry/McCoy's

Pints and Pretzels Night - Choose from 4 different beer and pretzel pairings at either McCoy's or the Foundry (or, of course, choose all 4).


Flying Saucer

Firestone Walker Anniversay Vertical night - 7pm - Firestone Walker Anniversary Ales XIII-XVI will be available in a vertical. XIV and XV will be on draft for individual pours, but XIII and XVI are limited to pours from bottles and are ONLY available by ordering the full vertical. Tickets for vertical flights will go on sale at 6pm.



Friday, May 17

23rd Street Brewery (Lawrence)

Firkin Friday - 6pm - Tapping a firkin of the LGB Collaboration No. 2 with orange peel.


75th Street Brewery

TGI-Firkin Friday - 5pm - 75th Street will tap a firkin of their Good Hope IPA with Cascade hops.


Barley's 119th

Schlafly Keep the Snifter night - Gary from Schlafly will be on hand, order a Schlafly Reserve Imperial Stout and get a snifter glass that you can keep.


Barley's Midland

Firkin Friday - A firkin of Empyrean Dark Side Vanilla Porter with cherries and chocolate will be tapped.


Bier Station

Tallgrass Customer Built and Brewer's Choice casks - 5pm - A customer-voted cask of 8-Bit Pale Ale with strawberries, juniper berries and Galaxy hops will be tapped. There will also be a Brewer's Choice cask being tapped, Psycho Oasis; Oasis Imperial ESB with candy cap mushrooms. Also hitting the tap wall will be Ethos, Buffalo Sweat, and Velvet Rooster, with Tallgrass tulip glasses being given away while they last.


Flying Saucer

Special tappings - 7pm - Saucer has held on to a few special kegs to tap just for Craft Beer Week, including Odell Deconstruction, Founders Imperial Stout, Bell's Batch 10,000 and possibly more surprises.



Saturday, May 18

75th Street Brewery 

HopFest After Party - $3 pints for HopFest attendees all night long.


Barley's 119th

Abita firkin tapping - A firkin of Abita ESB will be tapped, and canned beers are $2.50 all day.


Barley's Midland

"Shankin It Up" - Avery Maharaja, Avery The Czar and Ommegang Gnomegang will be tapped, accompanied by live music from The Shanks.


Bier Station

Craft Beer Week Wrap Party - 5pm - Regional-focused party will feature brewery reps from across the Midwest and a number of Midwest beers hitting the tap wall, including Free State Stormchaser Summer IPA, Mother's MILF, Perennial 17, Boulevard Coffee Ale, Nebraska Brewing Company Barrel-Aged Fathead, Schlafly Black IPA, a 4 Hands cask and more.


The Well

3rd Annual HopFest - 2-6pm - 50+ breweries will be pouring in the parking lot of The Well, accompanied by a number of beer industry speakers and the crowning of the 2013 HopFest Homebrewery of the Year. Tickets still available, $35 GA and $55 VIP.



Sunday, May 19

Big Rip Brewing Company

Big Rip Brewing Company grand opening - What a way to end American Craft Beer Week in KC! The newest local brewery will be opening up their doors to the public for the first time on Sunday. They'll be open from dawn to dusk, so head up north and be one of the first to try Big Rip's beers in their taproom.

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