September 2014 – Page 3 – Kansas City Beer

September 20, 2014

Happy Birthday, Cinder Block!

Remember about a year and a half ago when there were so few breweries in Kansas City? Well, that’s all changed and Cinder Block is about to celebrate their first anniversary! All next week, Cinder Block will be having specials, events, and freebies to celebrate. Their biggest celebration will be on Saturday, September 27, where, starting at 4pm, there will be live music and commemorative glassware for the first 100 people in the door. Special and experimental beers will be tapped throughout the day, including a whiskey-barrel aged version of their Black Squirrel Imperial Stout. If you’ve never been to Cinder Block this is a good opportunity to check them out and join in the celebrations. Here’s a list of events for each day.

Monday: $2 beers for customer appreciation
Tuesday: Trivia night
Wednesday: Beer dinner with food from Voltaire ($65/person)
Thursday: Live homebrew night
Friday: Three special firkins with glassware for the first 20 people
Saturday: Anniversary party

Cinder Block is located at 110 East 18th Ave in North Kansas City.

September 19, 2014

Boulevard’s Collaboration No. 4 Out Next Week

Boulevard Brewmaster Steven Pauwels and Ommegang Brewmaster Phil Leinhart combined their expertise to come up with the latest Collaboration

Teaming up with their sister brewery, Ommegang, Boulevard’s newest Collaboration will be on taps on Monday and in stores Tuesday in the Kansas City area. Collaboration No. 4 is a spiced saison-style beer with an alcohol content of 7.3% which is in line with past collaborations. Ommegang brewmaster Phil Leinhart came to Kansas City in July to work with Boulevard brewmaster Steven Pauwels and the rest of the brewing crew. After brewing a mix of various malts and hops, sweet orange peel, lemon peel, coriander, and grains of paradise, the wort was moved into two fermentation vessels. Pauwels added Boulevard’s signature Belgian yeast strain to one of the vessels and Leinhart added Ommegang’s house yeast strain to the other. The batches were then blended together for bottling. This is a limited edition release, so be sure to pick up a few bottles.

Past collaborations include a Stingo brewed with Dann and Martha Paquette of Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project, a White India Pale Ale brewed with Larry Sidor of Dechutes, and an Imperial Pilsner brewed with Jean-Marie Rock of Orval. The White IPA was later re-released as the Reboot White IPA.

In other Boulevard news, Oatmeal Stout and West Coast IPA will be making their way into the sampler 12-packs this week. There will also be a collaboration, an English Strong Ale, with Odell Brewery that will be released the week of November 17th, to celebrate both breweries’ 25th anniversary. I had a sample of the ale in their tasting room a few weeks ago and it had a rich, creamy flavor that was a delight to drink. I would recommend picking up more than one bottle.

September 18, 2014

Monthly Swap Meet at Grain to Glass Announced

Looking to get into the homebrewing scene, wanting to update your current system, or trying to sell some old equipment? Grain to Glass in North Kansas City has announced that they’ll be having a monthly Swap Meet starting this Sunday in their parking lot. Anyone wanting to buy, sell, or trade their brewing equipment can meet up at Grain to Glass and interact with other homebrewers.

With homebrewer events like the Nanobrew Fest and High Plains Brewhoff and tents at bigger beer events, homebrewing is becoming increasingly more popular. Novices can get advice from experts at the swap meet on what kind of equipment they should be using and experts can try to sell or trade their stuff. It should have a City Market Farmers’ Market feel to it – laid back and relaxed, but still educational.

Grain to Glass is located at 1611 Swift Avenue in North Kansas City and is open from 10am until 4pm on Sundays. The Swap Meet will be every 3rd Sunday of the month starting this Sunday. They will be serving beer inside their store and you can buy all the ingredients you need to start brewing.

September 17, 2014

BOGO at Rock & Run This Week

Brew Club Members are in for a special treat this week at Rock & Run in Liberty. Now through Friday, members are able to buy one of their House Brews at normal price and get the second one for free. This is a great promotion to get members to bring in friends who have yet to visit Rock & Run. Plus, if your friend signs up for their Brew Club, you each get a free beer! With beers like Farmhouse Funk, Mud & Muck Stout, and Cherry Bomb Wheat it will be easy to find a new favorite. Click here for more details.

While you’re there, you can get your tickets to their inaugural Rot & Ruin Fall Ale Festival. There will be over 60 beers from over 30 breweries across the Midwest. 4 Hands, Bat Creek, Crane Brewing, Flying Monkey, Torn Label, Martin City, and many others have confirmed their participation and will be bringing dark ales, stouts, and other fall beers. After the beer festival, Screenland Armour Movie Theatre will be showing Rocky Horror Picture Show using a portable 16-foot wide movie scream. I see you shiver with antici…