Short Pours - 1/26/14
Now that the post-holiday hangover recovery and gym-membership purchasing period has run out, the beer events and new releases are all ramping back up again. We've got a super busy couple of weeks ahead of us! All these events and announcements, plus the release of (dare I even mention the name??) Chocolate Ale... Wanted to get all this info out ahead of our coverage of the beast of a release next week.
John McDonald hinted at a possible canning line at the end of last year, and Boulevard has made it official! They're going to be introducing four of their beers in cans in 2015. The initial canned beers will be Wheat, Pop-Up IPA, Ginger Lemon Radler, and the new Heavy Lifting IPA (based on the Tasting Room Series Mid-Coast IPA).
I've been a proponent of craft beer in cans for a while now. I really think that cans are superior in pretty much every way to bottles from beer quality and convenience to environmental impact. So I was super excited to hear that Boulevard is finally jumping into the canned beer market. These four beers just officially became my beers-of-summer. Now if we could just get them to package Tank 7 in cans...
Westport Ale House is having a rare beer tapping and raffle to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. They're going to have some great beers on tap, including Avery Tweak, New Belgium La Folie, Prairie Bomb!, Stone Bourbon Barrel-Aged Arrogant Bastard, Deschutes Abyss and Goose Island Bourbon County Stout. Yea, that's right, BCS! They're also going to be raffling off four bottles of Crown Town. Raffle tickets will be $1 each, and all of the proceeds will benefit the JRDF. This is probably the best possible use of Crown Town. Bravo.
The tappings start at 6p, and the drawing for the Crown Town will be at 8p. There isn't a cover charge for the event, but donations are welcome.
4 Hands began their canning operations a couple months ago and they're bringing yet another canned beer into the KC market. Probably my favorite chocolate beer on the planet, the 4 Hands Chocolate Milk Stout canned 6-packs should be on the shelves now. This is awesome news for me, since trying to drink a 22oz. bottle of anything with a little baby is kind of a non-starter these days. Then again, a bomber of Chocolate Milk Stout at 3am while trying to get little Rose to sleep is mighty tempting sometimes.
On a related note, the Foundry is having a special all next week from Feb 2 - Feb 8 with 4 Hands. It's their "A pint of Sky and a shot of Rye" event. You can get a pint of 4 Hands Divided Sky Rye and a shot of Old Overholt Whiskey for $6.
Barley's is putting on another awesome rare beer tapping next week at their Shawnee location on Midland Dr! They're going to have the super rare Bourbon County Brand Barleywine and Vanilla Rye. Yea, that's right, BCBW and BCVR! Only a tiny amount of these beers made it to the Metro this year for us mere mortals. Barley's must have pulled some serious strings to get these kegs. They're also going to have 312 Wheat, Goose Island IPA, and the Muddy Imperial Stout.
The annual chili and strong beer tasting is going on again at 75th Street Brewery this year to benefit the Love Fund for Children. They're going to have house beers and beers from Big Rip, Cinder Block, Crane Brewing Company, Boulevard, KC Bier Co, Rock & Run, Gordon Biersch and 23rd Street Brewery. You'll also get to eat excellent chili the whole time. What can be better?
The event is being held outside in 75th Street's biergarten, so dress accordingly! The tickets are $35 (or $30 for mug club members), and you can reserve them at the bar or by calling 816-523-4677.
Just a quick round-up on the local breweries out with new beer! KC Bier Co recently released their Doppel Alt and are planning an upcoming Maibock release. The Doppel Alt is a strong hoppy German ale (sometimes referred to a Sticke Alt--basically because of Uerige Sticke Alt) at 6.3% ABV and 55 IBU. The Maibock is going to be 6.3% ABV, but will have a much maltier profile than the Doppel Alt.
In North KC town, Big Rip just tapped their Franklin Road Imperial Coffee Porter, and have laid half of it down in pinot noir barrels for 6 months of aging. Pretty sure that's going to be amazing. Just up the street, Cinder Block has just finished a new pilot batch for their next Hop Maven release. You can go up on Wednesday night this week to get a sample and tell the brewers what you think on their Pilot Night.
Boulevard in Cans!
John McDonald hinted at a possible canning line at the end of last year, and Boulevard has made it official! They're going to be introducing four of their beers in cans in 2015. The initial canned beers will be Wheat, Pop-Up IPA, Ginger Lemon Radler, and the new Heavy Lifting IPA (based on the Tasting Room Series Mid-Coast IPA).
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| Boulevard will start canning in 2015. |
Westport Ale House JRDF Benefit - Tonight - 6p
Westport Ale House is having a rare beer tapping and raffle to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. They're going to have some great beers on tap, including Avery Tweak, New Belgium La Folie, Prairie Bomb!, Stone Bourbon Barrel-Aged Arrogant Bastard, Deschutes Abyss and Goose Island Bourbon County Stout. Yea, that's right, BCS! They're also going to be raffling off four bottles of Crown Town. Raffle tickets will be $1 each, and all of the proceeds will benefit the JRDF. This is probably the best possible use of Crown Town. Bravo.
The tappings start at 6p, and the drawing for the Crown Town will be at 8p. There isn't a cover charge for the event, but donations are welcome.
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| Win Crown Town bottles for a cause! |
4 Hands Chocolate Milk Stout Cans and Foundry Special - Feb. 2 - Feb. 8
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| Yummmmmm. |
On a related note, the Foundry is having a special all next week from Feb 2 - Feb 8 with 4 Hands. It's their "A pint of Sky and a shot of Rye" event. You can get a pint of 4 Hands Divided Sky Rye and a shot of Old Overholt Whiskey for $6.
Green Room 3rd Anniversary Party - Tuesday, Feb. 3
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| Green Room is 3 years old! |
The folks at Green Room Burgers & Beer are celebrating their 3rd anniversary with some special beers for us! They're tapping a special Mole Civic Duty Stout cask with cocoa, red fresnos, chipotle powder, cinnamon, and vanilla. They're also going to have Bell's Hopslam and Avery Mephistopheles on tap. Yea, that's right, Hopslam!
It's hard to believe that when Green Room opened, it had been 8 years since the last local brewery opened their doors. Now since then, we've had 6 more breweries open and have 5 more in planning! What a difference a couple of years can make.
Also next week at Green Room, the brewers from the Burr Oak Brewery out of Colombia, MO will be in town to meet folks and answer questions. They'll be up on Thursday, Feb 5 from 5p on. They're bringing along their DeVine IPA, Trail Bender Wheat, and for the first time in KC, their Black Kolsch.
Barley's Brewhaus Bourbon Co. Tapping - Wednesday, Feb. 4 - 4:30p
Barley's is putting on another awesome rare beer tapping next week at their Shawnee location on Midland Dr! They're going to have the super rare Bourbon County Brand Barleywine and Vanilla Rye. Yea, that's right, BCBW and BCVR! Only a tiny amount of these beers made it to the Metro this year for us mere mortals. Barley's must have pulled some serious strings to get these kegs. They're also going to have 312 Wheat, Goose Island IPA, and the Muddy Imperial Stout.
75th Street Big Chill - Saturday, Feb. 7 - 1p-5p - Update: Sold Out!
The annual chili and strong beer tasting is going on again at 75th Street Brewery this year to benefit the Love Fund for Children. They're going to have house beers and beers from Big Rip, Cinder Block, Crane Brewing Company, Boulevard, KC Bier Co, Rock & Run, Gordon Biersch and 23rd Street Brewery. You'll also get to eat excellent chili the whole time. What can be better?
The event is being held outside in 75th Street's biergarten, so dress accordingly! The tickets are $35 (or $30 for mug club members), and you can reserve them at the bar or by calling 816-523-4677.
New Local Beers
Just a quick round-up on the local breweries out with new beer! KC Bier Co recently released their Doppel Alt and are planning an upcoming Maibock release. The Doppel Alt is a strong hoppy German ale (sometimes referred to a Sticke Alt--basically because of Uerige Sticke Alt) at 6.3% ABV and 55 IBU. The Maibock is going to be 6.3% ABV, but will have a much maltier profile than the Doppel Alt.
In North KC town, Big Rip just tapped their Franklin Road Imperial Coffee Porter, and have laid half of it down in pinot noir barrels for 6 months of aging. Pretty sure that's going to be amazing. Just up the street, Cinder Block has just finished a new pilot batch for their next Hop Maven release. You can go up on Wednesday night this week to get a sample and tell the brewers what you think on their Pilot Night.
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| Big Rip's Franklin Road Imperial Coffee Porter going down for the long sleep. |
