Beer – Kansas City Beer

April 19, 2018

City Barrel

While out on a midweek, beer fun day with my dad at Casual Animal Brewing Company, we ran into James Stutsman, Grant Waner, and Joe Giammanco of City Barrel Brewing Company. City Barrel is an upcoming brewery that will be open at 1728 Holmes, in the Crossroads, later this year. If they were there checking out the competition or just planning for their brewery, I don’t know, but they were kind enough to give me three of their beers to try. (It’s a friendly beer community here in Kansas City, so I’m sure they were just enjoying some Kansas City beers.)

The first is an unnamed sour that was bottled and unlabeled. It is, as the style indicates, sour on the front. Vanilla and peach take over on the back end making it like a peaches and cream style sour. Personally, I’m a sour fan and a fan of the unusual so I really enjoyed this one. (I did not get a poured picture of this one.)

The second is an IPA called Trouble. When you think IPA you usually think hoppy, but this one (and the NE IPA listed next) is a mellow, juicy IPA. An orange zest flavor is prominent and there’s a smooth, creamy mouthfeel.

The third is a New England IPA called Rad AF. More bubbly than Trouble, but still the same orange zest flavor. It’s hazy and that combined with the orange and bubbliness, is reminiscent of a mimosa. Who doesn’t love brunch?

I didn’t have specifics of each beer, just their style, so I’m not able to provide exact IBUs and ABVs. The brewery isn’t open yet and doesn’t have a system running, so I assume these were brewed at home and are just samples of what they will be brewing.

The first two were shared with mostly non-beer nerd friends and family at a game night and they were all impressed, so it seems like this may be a good gateway brewery for non-beer nerds. I look forward to what else they’ll have to offer, especially sours and other creative beers.

Thank you to my friends and family on game night for letting me take pictures, trying new beers, and letting me annoy you with my beer talk! Thank you to City Barrel for the beers; I can’t wait to try some more!

Follow City Barrel on social media for updates:

February 11, 2018

Kansas City Beer Checks out St. Louis Beer

A last-minute trip to St. Louis was just what I needed to get back into the beer scene back here in Kansas City. I took a break to deal with some personal issues, but beer is my first love so I couldn’t stay away for too long.

I only had one day to explore the St. Louis beer scene with three friends, but was able to get three breweries in. Our first stop was Urban Chestnut at their midtown location. I’m not personally a big fan of German beers, but I can appreciate it. I actually did end up enjoying the ones I got in my flight, especially the Wolpertinger, a boozy, bourbon barrel-aged weizenbock. The location reminded me of Cinder Block Brewery with wood decor and plenty of fun card and board games to play.

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Not too far away, our next stop was The Schlafly Taproom housed in a castle-like building. The turn-of-the-century building had a lot of character especially the brick exterior. I got a flight because I like to try a lot, and my favorite was the Blueberry Coffee Stout. The blueberry wasn’t overpowering and added a nice flavor to the coffee. The styles of beer and rich-in-history building was similar to Stockyards Brewing, although Schlafly was much bigger and had a full restaurant.

Schlafly Tap Room

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Our final stop was 4 Hands Brewing. Typically, it’s a good idea to save the best for last and although I think we did, when it comes to beer drinking, the last can become the blurriest. We had drunk too much in our previous breweries so we were only able to enjoy one quick beer at 4 Hands. We didn’t even make it up to the mysterious upstairs, so we’ll have to plan another trip and make this the first stop. The bar itself was tucked away on a dead end street making it a good spot to have a work break or meet up with friends for a chill night. The wallpaper was a silvery version of their logo and they had plenty of cool souvenirs. If you like Big Rip Brewing‘s atmosphere, you’d like it here. Thanks to Heath and Rich for the hospitality!

4 Hands Brewing

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This trip wasn’t a beercation and I was the only major beer nerd in the group, so I wasn’t able to get all the stops I wanted to in (Perennial Artisan Ales, Side Project, etc.), but that just leaves it open for another trip, this time focused on beer. Who wants to join?

August 18, 2016

Liberty Dog Days of Summer Craft Beer Crawl

School’s back in session and pumpkin beers are coming out and that means fall is near. It’s still summer in Liberty, though, at least for this Saturday when they host their 5th Annual Dog Days of Summer Craft Beer Crawl.

21 shops in Downtown Liberty will be serving beer in 2-oz pours to attendees of the beer crawl. There will be a big variety of beers pouring both from bottles and from taps. It’s a great way to explore Downtown Liberty and discover new shops you may not have known about all while drinking some great beers.

We’ll be there taking pictures and filming live Periscope interviews. We’ll post on our Twitter (@KanCityBeer) when we go live, so be sure to follow us.

Tickets are limited to 500, so get yours today. It runs from 3pm until 7pm on Saturday, August 20, and tickets are $20 each. Get your tickets here: www.historicdowntownliberty.org/craftbeercrawl

August 11, 2016

Ready for a Big Beer? Boulevard/Firestone Walker Collaboration No. 6 Due in December

A beer so big it fits four beers into just one! Boulevard Brewing‘s Collaborations have traditionally been on the lighter side. The highest ABV of the previous collaborations being 8.5%, but this year’s comes in at a solid 12.5%, perfect for the cold days in December when its due to be released.

This Smokestack Series Collaboration has been overseen by Boulevard Brewmaster Steven Pauwels and Firestone Walker‘s Brewmaster Matt Brynildson and includes two Boulevard beers and two Firestone Walker beers. The big, bold flavor combination resulting in a Barrel Aged Ale includes the following beers.

45% of Boulevard Bourbon Barrel Quad, an abbey-style quadrupel separated into a number of oak bourbon barrels where it ages for varying lengths of time. Cherries are added and selected barrels are then blended for optimum flavor.

35% of Firestone Walker Stickee Monkee, a Central Coast Quad that is brewed with Belgian candy sugar and aged in fine bourbon barrels. The sugar imparts a molasses sweetness to the beer. Maturation in bourbon casks brings ample barrel expression with notes of toasted oak, coconut, leather, and cigar tobacco.

10% of Boulevard Imperial Stout X – Tart Cherry (Whiskey Barrel-Aged), an imperial stout with additions of tart cherries to fermentation as well as lactic souring on the brewhouse.

10% of Firestone Walker Velvet Merkin, an oatmeal stout aged for a full year in retired spirits barrels from Heaven Hill, Woodford Reserve, and others. It offers rich milk chocolate, bourbon, and espresso flavors, preceded by aromas of vanilla, coconut, toasted oak, and mocha.

No exact date has been released, just some time in December. Its original targeted release was October, but it was determined the beer needed some extra time in the barrels to get the quality to the standards of the Brewmasters.

Boulevard Brewing’s and Firestone Walker’s Collaboration No. 6 will be available in 750ml bottles and on tap.