Tag: Oktoberfest

September 11, 2015

Don’t Have Plans for the Next Month? You Will!

September and October weekends will be stacked with great beer events, takeovers, parties, and brewery openings. With the cooler weather, you’ll be able to enjoy your beers without sweating your butt off and it’s easier for event planners to get bit more crazy with their events.

This Saturday the 12th, there are 11 different events. 11! This is the busiest weekend for beer. Starting as early as 8am and going into all hours of the day and night, locations from Parkville to Blue Springs to Independence to North Kansas City to Lee’s Summit to Kansas City – you get the idea, you will find something for you! Activities include helping clean a river, finding out winners of a competition, going on a pub crawl, or attending one of the festivals.

September 13-18 is Sour Beer Week at The Flying Saucer. Sour beers have become popular over the past few year due to the uniqueness of the style. It’s a risky form of beer brewing, so only a few local breweries have tried their hand at it. Big Rip expects to release their Tart Cherry Sweet Brown aged in a Pinot Noir barrel in the next month or so and Boulevard has had a few. Crane Brewing, opening next month, has a variety of sours they’ll be sharing.

Several Oktoberfests starting the weekend of September 18th. I can’t speak of the quality of most because I’ve only been to KC Bier Co‘s last year, but it’s all typically a good time. Big glasses of beer, German attire, and bratwursts are all common for Oktoberfests. KC Bier Co promises an even better time than last year with more carnival games, a wooden keg tapping with celebrity tapper Karli Ritter, and a few competitions.

Saturday, September 19, has fewer events than the previous Saturday, but they’re just as good. North Kansas City is holding a citywide Pint Path. If you want to ride your bike a bit more south, check out Pub N Pedal. A scavenger hunt around Kansas City beer locations where you can win prizes. The Kansas City Beer Fest is also on this day at the Power and Light District. It’s been around before the recent surge of craft beer lovers, so it should be pretty packed. The best event of the day is the High Plains Brewhoff. Mostly one-off beers made by homebrewers and celebrity brewers, this event is perfect for the person who has tried everything. Best part, the tickets are free.

A lot more Oktoberfests during the weekend of September 25th, with a few, smaller events mixed between.

Things slow down a bit in October as the weather gets cooler. A few highlights – Crane Brewing and Red Crow Brewing are rumored to be opening, CRAFT Shop, Sip, Feast at Crown Center on the 4th, there will be a beer garden at the Great Midwest Balloon Fest this year on the 23rd & 24th, Sam Adams KMF Grand Cru comes back to Kansas City the week of the 25th, and Big Rip’s Halloween Party will be on Friday the 30th.

Check our calendar for all beer events in Kansas City and be sure to follow us on social media to see pictures from events!

August 15, 2015

It’s Still Beer Season

Summer may be winding down and kids are back to school, but that doesn’t mean the beer season has to end. Tailgating, heavy beers, even more festivals are all going to make this season great.

Boulevard announced beer releases, yesterday. Funky Pumpkin, Collaboration No. 5 – Tropical Pale Ale, Rye-on-Rye, Imperial Stout X – Tart Cherry, Smokestack Series Great 8, and Deep Dive – Wet Hopped Ale are all scheduled to be released throughout the rest of the year. To see more on each beer visit their website.

In addition to Boulevard’s first pumpkin beer, most other breweries are releasing their fall seasonals. Pumpkins, Oktoberfests, and stouts are all popular fall and winter beers. Kansas City Bier Company had an enjoyable Oktoberfest event in their Bavarian bier garden and bierhalle last year and will surely hold another one this year. For more information and pictures from last year’s event click here.

There are still quite a few festivals to close out the 2015 season. Zona Rosa is being held today as well as the 75th Street Summer Beer Fest. Screenland holds the “Best Beer Fest” on August 21 & 22. In the middle of Kansas, Salina will host the Midwest Microfest on August 29. Not even open yet, but Crane Brewing will host the Festival of the Lost Township in Raytown on September 5. On September 12, you have your choice of two festivals – Tour of Brews in Lee’s Summit and Brewtopia at Apex Brew in Independence. High Plains Brewhoff, KC Beer Fest, and the Village West Wine Fest & Beer will all be held on September 19. Skipping all the way to October 17, KC Brew Fest Fall Edition at Union Station will hold two sessions and Brew at the Zoo at the Kansas City Zoo will have In the Valley Below perform. And finally, the Beerfest at the Ballpark will be held October 24, where the T-Bones play.

And then there’s football. The Chiefs have their first preseason game tonight and kicks off their regular season September 13. Whether you’re tailgating, hosting a party, or just chilling at home, beer will surely be involved.

So grab a cold one to keep warm this fall and winter.

October 5, 2014

Boulevard Oktoberfiesta Review

Maybe I got there too early (5:15pm), but Boulevard’s attempt to combine Oktoberfest and Día de los Muertos fell a little flat. The decorations were wonderful and the beer was great, per usual, but the atmosphere felt like any other day at the brewery. For an event lasting only 2 hours, I expected the fiesta to be going full steam when I arrived.

It seemed as though a tour had just let out, so they were busy. The food grill was just getting started, so I imagine the Chorizowurst and other food wasn’t ready until at least 6pm. I drank a Fall Flight of Collaboration No. 4; Tasting Room Oatmeal Stout; The Sixth Glass; and Dark Truth Stout, and bought two Smokestack beers to get my free Freaker, and left. I have been to Boulevard several times, but this time I felt a bit confused on what was going on; I expected the staff to be more warm and friendly and to get patrons involved in the party, but they stayed behind their counters and only spoke when spoken to. Next time, maybe have a greeter at the door or have someone walk around handing out some crafted flowers.

Overall, I would give the event a 6 out of 10. Maybe next time get more involved with the party guests.

September 28, 2014

KC Bier Co Oktoberfest

The Festbier was flowing at KC Bier Co’s 2014 Oktoberfest. The Bavarian atmosphere of KC Bier Co makes it one of the best places to be for an Oktoberfest. Many people dressed up in their finest lederhosen and dirndl to celebrate. A wooden keg containing Festbier was tapped at noon and several bier lovers filled their Maßkrug full of the bier.

Overall, it was a fun time with a Stein Holding Competition, play area for kids, German foods, and a lot of bier drinking. The biers were delicious, as usual. The servers should have been a little more knowledgeable on the history of Oktoberfest and more attentive to their customers. It didn’t have the big feel of Oktoberfest that I would have expected from a German bier place. I got there early enough where parking wasn’t an issue, but I could imagine later in the day it was. The food and some merchandise was marked up in price for the event, which is understandable, but making sure the price tags and signs were current should have been done.

The fest continues today from noon until 9pm with many of the same activities from yesterday. The Stein Holding Competition will be at 3pm and Lederhosen & Dirndl Competition begins at 6pm.

For more information on the event: www.kcbieroktoberfest.com

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