Wow, 33rd Annual! That’s longer than even Boulevard has been around. Kansas City Bier Meisters will be holding their 33rd Annual Homebrew Competition this month. If you’d like to enter go to their website to register and drop your entries off at KC Bier Co. You have just until tomorrow (02/05) at 5pm to do so.
Some amazing prizes are up for grabs including 2 commercial scale ups (Cinder Block & KC Bier Co), brewing equipment, a Lifetime Membership to Brewer’s Friend, a counter-pressure bottler, and more. Winners will be announced at the Award Ceremony on Saturday, February 20. Before the Awards Ceremony, there will be a Banquet with featured speaker Chef and Certified Cicerone Celina Tio.
They have a lot of other fun things planned (over $10,000 in raffle prizes to name one), so be sure to check out their website: www.kcbiermeisters.org for all of the information.
If you’d like to volunteer to be a judge or to help out in some other way, email competition@kcbiermeisters.org.
Kansas City Bier Meisters holds monthly meetings the third Friday of each month, typically at Christ the King Church in Kansas City, MO. The group was founded in 1983, making them the oldest homebrewing club in Kansas and Missouri and the second oldest in the country. In addition to their monthly meetings, they also host several social events throughout the year. Join their Facebook group and Follow them on Twitter.
Starting in 2009, a group of Brooksiders decided they like to homebrew and wanted to share that experience with friends, family, and fellow beer lovers, so they created the Annual Brookside Nanobrew Festival. For the first few years, there were just a handful of beers to be tried, but every year grew bigger. So in 2012, they upgraded to a larger festival called KC Nanobrew Festival. This year, over 50 homebrewers will be sharing over 100 of their creative beers.
If you made it out to Snake Saturday, you may have been most impressed by the perfect weather. Maybe a little chilly in the morning, but nothing a light jacket couldn’t cure. Another just as impressive point of the day was the beer scene. Big Rip, Grain to Glass, Cinder Block, and Screenland Armour were all able to hold their own as they welcomed the thousands of people that visited North Kansas City. Here are some pictures from the day.
Starting at 8am, Big Rip served up new beers, special cocktails, and a good time. Snake Saturday merchandise was available to purchase and some items were even free. Their foosball table was set up to entertain outdoor guests.
Grain to Glass has the perfect location for Snake Saturday – right on 16th & Swift. I arrived quite early, so they weren’t too busy, yet. As I left, there was a steady stream of people coming in to check it out and have a beer.
After Grain to Glass, I stopped by Cinder Block. It was still early, but they had a pretty decent crowd and the live music was enjoyable.
I volunteered to walk the parade as a part of a float for a non-profit, so I was able to get some fun shots of the crowd.
I didn’t go into Screenland Armour, but I was able to get a few shots of the outside. “Snake Saturday Lives Here” proclaims the marquee.
In the past few years, North Kansas City has grown a bustling craft beer scene. Screenland Armour, Cinder Block Brewery, The Big Rip Brewing Company, Grain to Glass, and even Helen’s JAD Bar & Grill are all great places to get unique beers on the way home from work or on a fun Saturday night. This Saturday, however, is for the snakes. Snake Saturday is an annual tradition in North Kansas City that started 32 years ago. In 1983, Mickey Finn and Bill Grigsby started the parade as a promotion for Rodeway Inn. At the time it had only four floats and a Grand Marshal and took place in the motel parking lot. It was a chilly day, only about ten degrees, but people were able to watch the parade from their hotel rooms and the coffee shop.
This year, there are over 100 floats and the temperature will be much warmer. Okay, so there’s the parade talk. What’s going on beerwise? Lots! With the city’s great craft beer scene, there’s a lot from which to choose.
The Big Rip Brewing Company will host a Kegs N Eggs beginning at 8am, which breakfast burritos and beer. New beers will be on tap including Groovy Pale Ale, which used 3lbs of Amarillo Hops, and The Priest Chocolate Milk Stout. They’ll also have mixed drinks like Irish Car Bombs, Drowning Dr Pepper Beers, and Irish Coffee. Bars will be located inside and outside. From noon until 3:30pm, Scarlet Town Band, an Irish Folk Quartet, will be playing and Helen’s on Wheels Food Truck will be serving food. They’ll have Snake Saturday shirts for sale and Limited Edition Buttons for the first 100 people. 219 E 9th Ave
Grain to Glass will have a paid Beer Garden with corned beef, fries, and two beers included in the $30 price. If you want a reserved parking spot, it’ll be an extra $45 ($75 total). They’ll have a few Boulevard’s on tap, including their new Spring Belle and an event-appropriate Irish Ale. 1611 Swift Ave
Cinder Block Brewery may be familiar to you lately, as they just released kegs to Kansas City area bars. They’ll be open from 9am until 5pm with live music from 10am until 4pm. Back Rack Grill will be serving Irish Style BBQ. A $5 cover charge gets you in all day. Isle of Cinder, a Wee Heavy, will be on tap as well as other great beers. 110 E 18th Ave
Screenland Armour will have a special New Belgium Firkin and Montage, an all movie soundtrack band, that will be playing live. 408 Armour Rd
River Aces will be open from 8am until 3am and will have DJs all day. Cash only. 1800 Swift Ave
Christine’s Firehouse on 20th Bar & Grillhas a lot of understandable restrictions: 21 & older; must have ID; no backpacks, coolers, or outside food/drink; cash only; and only porta potties. They’ll be open 6am to 6pm and have Three Drink Minimum playing at 11am. 220 E 20th Ave
Helen’s JAD Bar & Grill is a bit out of the way of the parade, so they’re not doing anything at their bar, but will have their food truck at Big Rip to serve a special menu. 2002 Armour Rd
A few tips for the parade and beer events:
Get there early if you want a good parking spot. Any time after 9am, you’re going to have to walk a few blocks or more.
Same goes for a good spot to sit/stand and watch the parade. Get there early. Several thousand people attend the parade nowadays, much more than the few dozen that watched it 32 years ago.
The best spot to collect the most amount of candy and other fun stuff is about 14th & Swift. Floats can run out of candy pretty quickly, so get on the route early. Plus, they’re excited and get kind of a slow start at the beginning, so they hand out a lot of candy.
Bring cash. A lot of venues only accept cash on Snake Saturday and if they are accepting credit cards, they are going to be extremely busy. Also, most have Square machines they use with iPads, so the wait will be even longer. Connectivity to the network will be decreased due to the volume of cell phone use making the wait for charging your card even longer.
It is a family-friendly day, so no drinking outside the venues.
Don’t be an asshole. (This is an every day tip, but works here, too)
We will be handing out buttons and taking pictures at Big Rip, Cinder Block, Grain to Glass, and throughout the crowd. Have fun and be safe!
Wow, 33rd Annual! That’s longer than even Boulevard has been around. Kansas City Bier Meisters will be holding their 33rd Annual Homebrew Competition this month. If you’d like to enter go to their website to register and drop your entries off at KC Bier Co. You have just until tomorrow (02/05) at 5pm to do so.
