Two Big Beer Fests and a Visit from Woody
I would say beer festival season kicked off on February 7th, with 75th Street Brewery’s Big Chill Beer & Chili Fest and a few fests between now and then, but the season really revs up this weekend with two big beer festivals and a visit from Woody.
The 12th Annual Parkville Microbrew Fest is this Saturday. From 1pm until 5pm, enjoy beers from breweries and even home brewers. This festival is extremely popular with the locals, home brewers, and beer lovers of all sorts. Last year drew 3,300 people. With 75 beer vendors, it’s really not as busy as the attendance would indicate. I went last year and most of the lines were pretty short, but there were a few tables you had to wait a good 10 minutes for a sample.
The festival is in a great location – English Landing Park in Parkville. It’s a pretty laid back event where you’re encouraged to bring chairs, water, and even pets. They’ll be partnering with Harvesters to collect non-perishable foods, so be sure to being some to donate.
A few special events and releases are as follows.
Crane Brewing will be there, but not to serve beer. They will have a scale model of their brewery to show off to the attendees.
Farnham House Brewing will have a special release beer: Winter Wheat Wine.
Blind Tiger Brewery will be walking around the event with Backpack Beer. While waiting in line, get your glass filled!
75th Street Brewery will have their Homebrew Competition Winner from last year, a French Saison named Battle of the Frontiers.
Sierra Nevada will be serving the first keg of Hoptimum, a whole-cone imperial IPA, in Missouri.
Charleville Vineyard Winery & Microbrewery will be tapping their Box of Chocolate, a Chocolate Belgian Quad, and when that runs out, they will tap their 2014 Barleywine.
Torn Label has three special releases. Leap of Faith, an American IPA, will be tapped at 2pm; Cafe Dubbel, a Belgian dubbel infused with single origin Ethiopian coffee from Thou Mayest, will be tapped at 3pm; and Long Time Comin’, a Russian Imperial Stout, will be tapped at 4pm.
Grain to Glass will be hosting a bottling demonstration at 2:30pm
Martin City Brewing Company will be tapping their From Belgium with Rum, a Belgian Imperial Stout aged in Rum barrels, at 3pm.
If you like unique beers like Boulevard Foeder Projekt #1, Perennial Saison de Lis, and a few fun skeeter pees from the Missouri Mashers, you won’t want to miss this event. Tickets are still available for $30, but go up to $35 on the day of the event. I would suggest getting there early to get good parking, listen to the preshow band, and get a good spot in line. School of Rock will be performing before the event and Amendment 21, Steamboat Bandits, and Three Drink Minimum performing during the event.
Kansas City On Tap Craft Beer Festival is put on by a national company that holds beer festivals in several cities around the country. It is also this Saturday and it runs from 2:30pm until 6pm. It’s very ambitious of them to be competing with a local beer festival that has been around for 12 years. However, tickets are sold out, so I guess there are enough beer lovers in Kansas City for everyone. They have an impressive list of beer vendors, so if you are attending this event rather than Parkville, you won’t be disappointed.
It, too, is in a great location – Richard L Berkeley Riverfront Park. Having not attended the event I can’t attest to the atmosphere, but I assume it will be similar to Parkville in which you can bring chairs and pets. There will be live music from Landrush and food available for purchase.
I do think that Parkville will have a more knowledgeable crowd of people who really know beer, so if you want to learn more or already know a lot, Parkville would be the event for you.
If you can’t make it to either event, Deschutes will be visiting Kansas with their Woody T. Barrel on Saturday. From 12pm until 4pm visit them at Barley’s Shawnee and from 6pm until 9pm visit them at Grinders in Lenexa.
here people can take in the culture, company of others, and check out new (and old) businesses. 
Torn Label is primarily a production brewery, but has plans to open a tap room in the future. They tapped their first beers – Alpha Pale, House Brew, and Hang ‘Em High – at Waldo Pizza in December to a welcoming crowd. They are the first Kansas City, Missouri brewery with statewide distribution since Boulevard. Their beers include Alpha Pale (A hopped-up, sessionable pale ale), House Brew (a coffee wheat stout with Sumatran toddy from Thou Mayest Coffee Roasters), Monk & Honey (Belgo-American single brewed with honey from Peculiar, Missouri), Hang ‘Em High (a West Coast-style IPA), and Quadjillo (Belgian Quadrupel brewed with Guajillo chiles)
