Chocolate Theme Park

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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