Everyone has to start somewhere. Saturday is Learn to Homebrew Day. It was established by the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) in 1999 to encourage homebrewers to introduce their non-brewer friends and family to the wonderful hobby of homebrewing. Learn to Homebrew Day has since become a worldwide one-day celebration including demonstrations, events, tastings, educational efforts, and contests. Whether you’ve been homebrewing for a while or have never touched hops in your life, there’s an event for you on Saturday.
Events for Learn to Homebrew Day:
Grain to Glass, 1611 Swift St, North Kansas City, 64116, is partnering with Cinder Block Brewery, 110 East 18th Avenue, North Kansas City, 64116, to help homebrewers with their next brew. Once you brew your wort in the parking lot of Grain to Glass, take it to Cinder Block to pitch it with their Chico yeast. 10am – 4pm. Event details.
Apex Brew Wares, 4380 S Noland Road, Independence, 64055, is hosting a demonstration in their parking lot from 11am until 5pm. They welcome you to bring your own rig so you can join in on brewing. Event details.
KC Nanobrews is also having a homebrew demonstration. From 2pm until 7pm, learn with some of the best homebrewers in Kansas City. Event details.
Not necessarily for Learn to Homebrew Day, but The Pitch is having their annual Crafts & Drafts at the Uptown Shoppes, 3600 Broadway, Kansas City, 64111. Over 25 beer vendors will be in attendance, so you can ask them how they got started with brewing.
If you don’t feel like getting out or brewing yourself this Saturday, celebrate by drinking a beer!
It’s nearly every homebrewer’s dream to own brewery or, at the very least, have hundreds of people enjoy their beer. Homebrewers will get that chance to be featured as a guest tap at 75th Street Brewery. On Wednesday at 10am, the online submission form will be open to everyone for their chance at one of fifty unfermented worts. Once you get your wort, go crazy with it, within reason. No lagers will be accepted, only ales, and no wild yeast can be used. This will 75th Street Brewery’s second time holding this competition and the worts were gone within two minutes last year, so if you want some, get in there quick. The winner’s creation will be brewed on 75th’s system and be on guest tap in 2015. Second place receive a $150 gift card and third place gets a $75 gift card. You will have a little over 10 weeks to brew your beer and have it submitted to 75th Street Brewery by December 14. The winner will be announced at a special Homebrew Competition Happy Hour on December 31st.
The inaugural High Plains BrewHoff was yesterday at Brew Lab in Old Downtown Overland Park. While it had a few hiccups, overall it was a terrific event. About 500 beer enthusiasts packed into the Brew Lab parking lot to get a sampling of the best homebrews in Kansas City. With brews like Strawberry Basil Saison, Sour Cherry Porter, and Sour Black Saison, this is one of the more unique beer events in Kansas City. Red Crow Brewing Company won Best of Show for Isabelle, a Belgian Blonde.
Some bad things about the event:
Babies. I saw at least ten babies, most of them with strollers. It was a small event space, so every person’s presence was felt. This is an adult event and organizers should not have allowed anyone under 21 to enter.
Small event space or too many people. 500 people was quite a bit to fit in the location it was held. After two hours, it did start thinning out, so it wasn’t too bad.
Line processing. My group showed up at 12:45pm and didn’t get in until 1:30pm. The end of the line didn’t get in until about 3pm. They had three stations that everyone had to go through. With so many volunteers, there easily could have been a few lines checking people in.
The glass. I bought one and so did everyone else in my group and I knew about it beforehand. A lot of people did not know about the cost of the glass until they got there. Yes, they did have little plastic cups you could have used, but with the quality of the beer that was being served, you need to use glass.
Some good things about the event:
Water stations at every booth.
Pretzels and other snacks at most of the booths.
Enough tables to stand/sit.
Rarely a line at any of the booths.
It was free.
The musician played great songs and played them well.
A great variety of quality beer.
Each booth had beer that lasted through the event even though the pours were pretty big.
Breweries in the making got to show off their selection of beers and give a short speech about their company.
Red Crow says they are looking for a location in Johnson County, but are having some trouble with laws and regulations. Currently, 30% or more of gross sales need to be derived from food sales. They hope the laws will change soon so they can concentrate on making great beer.
Double Shift Brewing expects a Spring 2015 opening in the Crossroads and are committed to making a great product and having a relaxed atmosphere in their tap room. I had Double Shift’s Summer Session IPA at the event and it is exactly that – a summer session that’s easy to drink when it’s 85° out.
Another Crossroads brewery set to open is Torn Label Brewing Company. They’re brewing system is in place to brew three year-round beers and many experimental beers. I tried their Grasping at Straws Wheat Wine, which has an ABV of 9%, but was surprisingly light. They also let me try their Tongue Lash, a sour that wasn’t brewed like a regular sour. They expect to open in a few months.
Crane Brewing Company has been making a name for themselves in the beer industry. They were pouring some of the most creative beers at the event, such as a cream ale brewed with beets and a Belgian Saison brewed with black tea. They will be opening up 18,000 square feet of beer and food space in Raytown in Spring 2015. They intend to stand out from other local breweries by bottling beers for distribution right off the bat and offering sour and wild styles beers.
All of the upcoming breweries had spectacular beers so there’s no doubt that they will all succeed. Kansas City is quickly becoming a great city to get your beer fix.
Overall, I would give this event an 8.5 out of 10 and look forward to next year!
