A third Love Child is born

Date: Tue, Apr 23, 2013

Today marks the release of Boulevard's Love Child No. 3, the third beer produced in their series of barrel-aged wild ales, and second in the series to be sold and distributed to the general public. According to Boulevard, this version of Love Child features a blend of beers that were aged anywhere from 16 months to six YEARS, employing oak barrels for aging. Additionally, a portion of the beer spent 11 months in stainless steel tanks withLactobacillus to bring you that sour funk we all crave.

As was the case with the No. 2 release, Love Child No. 3 will only be available for purchase in 750 ml bottles. Last year's version seemed to linger in stores for a while and Kansas City will be getting more of No. 3 than No. 2, so if you are interested in grabbing a bottle, I don't think you'll need to hydroplane through traffic on your lunch break to secure one. No word yet on exactly what the price point will be, but I imagine retailers will be marking it in the $17-20 price tag range that the previous version had.

To celebrate the launch of Love Child No. 3, Boulevard is also doing something unique and holding two live online Q&A sessions today. Question topics don't have to be restricted to Love Child, so if there's something you'd like to have answered by a Boulevard brewer, send your questions by 2pm to ontap@boulevard.com, or send them to Boulevard via Facebook or Twitter. Then tune in at 3pm and 7pm CST by visiting boulevard.com/live. Plus, if you submit a question, you are entered for a chance to win a pair of Sporting KC tickets. If you need question ideas, I would suggest asking Jeremy Danner about goats, his fear of birds, or the 'craft vs. crafty' debate.

Finally, on a somewhat related note, Boulevard, I'm still waiting to see those Love Child maternity shirts go into production. Call me.

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Odell Tap Takeover at The Burger Stand

Date: Tue, Apr 16, 2013

I'm geeking out a little bit, you guys. On Thursday, 4/18 and Friday, 4/19, one of my favorite breweries, Odell, is participating in one of my favorite kind of beer events, a tap takeover. Not only that, but a number of the tapped beers are barrel-aged or wild, and one of them is new and has not been seen in the KC market yet.


So where is this glorious event taking place? Bier Station? The Foundry? Flying Saucer? No, no and no. The Odell Tap Takeover is happening at The Burger Stand in Lawrence, specifically in their Basement Beer Hall. The full list of beers being tapped includes:

Amuste (Wine Barrel-Aged Imperial Porter)
Deconstruction (Wine Barrel-Aged Wild Ale)
Meddler (Oud Bruin)
Red Ale
Shenanigans (Oak-Aged Wild Ale)
Tree Shaker (Imperial Peach IPA)

The takeover events start at 6pm on both Thursday and Friday nights, with a beer flight offering available on Thursday night. I highly recommend going to check out this event, not only because of the great beers being tapped, but also because the food at The Burger Stand is fantastic. They offer burgers topped with stuff like habanero cream cheese and cocoa-chipotle ketchup, plus a variety of fries to send you into heart-clogging fits of joy, like duck fat fries or bourbon bacon cheese fries.

So head to The Burger Stand later this week and indulge in these delicious Cellar Series and seasonal offerings from Odell. If you're there Thursday evening, keep an eye out for me, I'll probably be propped up in the corner struggling to recover from a duck fat and Meddler coma.

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Burlesque Lager dances into Minsky's

Date: Fri, Apr 12, 2013

On Wednesday evening, a new locally brewed beer was launched under the radar, by none other than..Minsky's Pizza?


In celebration of their 37th anniversary, Minsky's released 'Burlesque Lager', which is now available on draft at all of their locations around the KC metro. Why name it Burlesque? Well, Minsky's itself is named after a turn-of-the-century burlesque club in New York City, so it made perfect sense to tie into historical reference.

As for the beer itself, Minsky's worked with Flying Monkey brewer Robert Eilert to make the beer. Contract brewed at Weston Brewing, Eilert described the beer as an American Light Lager, coming in at 4.4% ABV and brewed with Willamette hops.

I may not be the biggest fan of Flying Monkey/Weston, and a basic light lager certainly isn't anything groundbreaking. But at the very least, I support a place like Minsky's offering their own beer, especially if it can convince people to drink something made locally instead of the light lagers brewed by the likes of Bud, Miller and Coors.

Burlesque is available on draft for $3 a pint or $9 a pitcher.

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Lew's Expands Draft System

Date: Thu, Apr 11, 2013

Lew's may not be one of the first bars that generally comes to mind when people ask about craft beer in Kansas City, but GM George Clarke is determined to change that. Step-by-step, Clarke is making changes that are proving Lew's isn't just a bar devoted to debaucherous nights downing boots of Bud Light, but also a craft-centric bar with a broad selection of beer. He started with increasing the bottle options. Next, he made a monthly event out of hosting Mother's Brewing Company firkins, which have been a huge hit (and delicious, at that).


But there was one major piece left that Clarke had to tackle, one which was immediately noticeable to beer-drinking customers: the draft choices. Up until a few days ago, Lew's just had 8 total taps. With a few of these dedicated to BMC products, there wasn't much wiggle room in terms of tap rotation or variety. However, last week, Clarke effectively doubled the number of taps at Lew's by installing a brand new draft coffin box. The new box houses 12 taps, while 4 of the previously existing taps will remain.

However, it wasn't just a matter of slapping in a new draft box. Clarke recruited the help of Boulevard's Neil Witte (a good sign in and of itself) to assist in setting up the draft system, which involved installation of the new taps as well as a re-installing the lines for the pre-existing taps. Now, Clarke will have a lot more freedom to rotate and bring in new beers on draft for people to enjoy. Right off the bat, you can find beers like Avery Maharaja, New Belgium Cascara Quad, and Stone Double Bastard on tap and ready to drink. Clarke is also working to get set up with Drafster, so that tap changes will be automatically tweeted and posted on Facebook.

So, the next time you're ready to head out for a beer, think about stopping by Lew's to check out their new setup and see what's on tap. Now the question is, who will be the first person to order a boot full of barleywine?

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Barley's Midland Anniversary Week

Date: Tue, Apr 9, 2013

Next week, Barley's Brewhaus on Midland Drive is celebrating their 17th anniversary, and to honor the occasion, have set up a series of events that are definitely worth checking out. A number of rare and limited beers will be getting tapped throughout the week, and an interesting Randall-focused beer dinner is taking place that should certainly intrigue taste buds. Below are full details on what's taking place.

Monday, April 15th - 4pm - Sierra Nevada Night

Beers being tapped include:

Ovila Quad
Ovila Quad with Plums
Blindfold Black IPA

Brian from Sierra Nevada will be attending and there will also be a limited number of Spiegelau IPA glasse and Ovila chalices being given away.



Tuesday, April 16th - 4pm - Rather Large Stout Night

Beers being tapped include:

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout
Goose Island Big John
North Coast Old Rasputin XV
Avery Mephistopheles
Hoppin Frog BORIS



Wednesday, April 17th - 4pm - Local Brewery Night

A number of firkins, casks and limited beers will be brought in from Boulevard, Schlafly, Tallgrass, Free State and Empyrean, with reps from all breweries attending.

Confirmed beers include:

Free State Dirty Kanza RyePA (firkin)
Tallgrass 8-Bit with Columbia hops and fresh raspberries (pin cask)
Empyrean Watchman IPA with Citra hops and mango (pin cask)
Schlafly Black IPA

Schlafly will also be giving away Helles-Style Summer Lager glassware.



Thursday, April 18th - 6:30pm - Flavor Fusion Beer Dinner

One of the more unique beer dinners I've seen recently, the flavor fusion beer dinner is pairing each food course with a beer that has been Randalled through interesting ingredients, like Boulevard Tank 7 with Cilantro and Serrano Peppers. The full menu is pictured below, but if experimentation is in your wheelhouse, this dinner might be worth checking out. $40 for Mug Club members, $45 for non-members.



Friday, April 19th - 4pm - Firkin Friday

A firkin of New Belgium Double Dry-Hopped Ranger will be tapped, along with a set of non-firkin Green Flash beers, including Hop Odyssey Black IPA, Palate Wrecker and Green Bullet.




Saturday, April 20th - 1-4pm - Deschutes Blow-Out

Woody, Deschutes Brewery's mobile, barrel-shaped bar will be camped out at Barley's with a number of different beers getting tapped, including:

Abyss 2012
Armory XPA
Chainbreaker White IPA
Red Chair NWPA
Black Butte Porter
Mirror Pond Pale Ale

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Molding a Cinder Block

Date: Fri, Apr 5, 2013

In Greek mythology, a Phoenix is known for rising from the ashes. After a visit up to North Kansas City last night, it seemed appropriate to modify this concept to say 'A Cinder Block will rise from the dust.' I had the pleasure of taking a glimpse at the proverbial guts of Cinder Block Brewery, an up and coming addition to the rapidly growing Kansas City beer world, and am now very excited to see the end result this Fall. I mentioned Cinder Block back in January when I did a rundown of some of the hopeful breweries in town, and while their status at that time was somewhat up in the air, there's no doubt at this point that they will be serving up beer to thirsty Kansas Citians before the end of the year.


The guys behind Cinder Block have been fairly tight-lipped about their progress, and perhaps for good reason. Let's face it; right now in this town, if you mention you are opening a brewery, people will be grilling you with 1,000 questions before you finish your sentence. And I don't mean that as a bad thing. We are all so eager for a new addition to the local brewery scene, that even the mention of a new spot for beer has us instantly salivating.

But as brewer and founder Bryce Schaffter noted, starting a brewery isn't as simple as throwing your homebrew setup into a building and calling it good; it takes dedication to the fact that you are opening up a business, and there are plenty of painstaking details that have to be worked out in addition to the actual brewing. He noted that, though he hasn't even opened up his doors yet, he's already receiving phone calls asking for advice on starting a brewery, and he first presents them with that rhetorical question: Are you ready to open a business?

As I walked through the developing space that will be Cinder Block and listened to Bryce explain their progress so far, that behind-the-scenes business side of the process was certainly evident. An electrician's drill buzzed behind the framework of the taproom bar, flanked by numerous pieces of tape and chalk lines on the wall marking spots for outlets. A handtruck clunked by, carrying an air conditioning unit. Discussions of recycled gas lines and boiler firing tubes echoed through the air, along with forward-thinking talk about expansion into an outdoor beer garden and extra storage space. They're all aspects of this process that maybe we, as the beer-drinking consumer base, take a bit for granted. These guys are spending nights and weekends monitoring the daily status of various minutiae, all to finally reach the ultimate main goal: brewing great beer so WE can drink it.

Business details aside, I was most impressed with Schaffter's knowledge and passion for beer. He emphasized his mindset that beer is an experiential product, and that to him, finding that perfect beer for a particular moment was of utmost importance. As he spoke more about beer and brewing, his science background also shone through with talks about topics like water treatment, hop breeding and yeast strain development. Quality and innovation are clearly both major priorities for Cinder Block.

So what exactly can you expect from Cinder Block Brewery, in terms of space and actual product offerings? The spot (which is located right next to Neon Wild, and a stone's throw away from Denim and Diamonds) will feature a brand new 15 BBL system from Premier Stainless Systems, development of which has been a near 18-month process. Space has been built for a dedicated grain and milling room. They will have a fermentation tank specifically for brewing wild and sour ales, as well as a barrel aging program, with the barrels prominently featured in the front of the taproom for visitors to see. Schaffter noted that he was being rather particular about what barrels he will purchase and use, going so far as to describe a specific white wine oak barrel that he had been hunting for.

Not everything they brew will lean strictly on the barrel-aged and wild side, though. Schaffter also expressed his appreciation for full-flavored, sessionable brews, especially their ability to serve as a transition/gateway for those who are just starting to explore the craft beer world. The draft wall in the taproom is being built to accommodate up to 20 taps; when asked how many beers would be available when the doors opened, he explained that they expect to have 5 year-round beers, 2 seasonals and (with a simultaneous smirk) "a few surprises." While no beers were available for me to sample at the time, he noted that he'll be running test batches soon and rest assured, I'll be figuring out how to weasel my way into tasting some so I can report back. Cinder Block beer will be draft only to begin with, but Schaffter and the rest of the team are already looking at potential options for future packaging.

Though visually, the space that will become Cinder Block still leans more toward a construction site than a brewery, hearing Schaffter speak about the future helps the dust and bare wood beams transform before your eyes. You can envision the newly installed walk-in cooler filled with kegs, the popcorn machine (thank the electrician for that idea) emptying as people look for sustenance between beers, and conversations drifting through the open, industrial ceilings as Kansas Citians kick back and finally enjoy a new brewery and taproom in the area.

Cinder Block Brewery is expecting to open its doors in September 2013. Stay tuned to the blog for more updates, and also follow Cinder Block on Facebook and Twitter.

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Drafster brings KC tap changes to social media

Date: Sun, Mar 24, 2013

As a growing number of bars, breweries and liquor stores have started using social media to their advantage, beer drinkers are increasingly turning to Facebook and Twitter to get information on their favorite beverages. When Bier Station opened back in a December, they took advantage of this growth by announcing all of their tap changes through their social media sites. While most local beer nerds simply saw this as a nice perk, Scott Harris saw this as an opportunity.

Harris is the creator of a new website, Twitter feed and Facebook page called 'Drafster,' which aggregates tap changes from a number of bars across the city and updates itself accordingly into one simple, consolidated feed. It provides a quick and easy way for locals to see what beers are circulating around town. Currently, the system includes updates from Bier Station, Beer Kitchen, McCoy's, The Foundry, Waldo Pizza and Flying Saucer.

So how does it work? Well, Harris tapped into his coding skills (pun intended) and wrote an app that periodically crawls the websites/Twitter feeds of the aforementioned bars and parses the html to extract a tap list. It then compares that list to the list that was previously pulled, and any changes are recorded in the app's database. Finally, these changes are broadcasted across the various sites associated with the Drafster app.

So will Drafster be including more bars as time goes on? Well, that all depends on bar owners. Since the app is dependent on online draft list data provided by the bars, it can only include those that actively update their website or post tap updates via social media. That being said, if Drafster sounds like a great idea to you, but you don't see your favorite beer bar listed above, start harassing that bar about keeping their online tap list updated. Quite frankly, it seems foolish that any craft-centric bar wouldn't be doing that anyway these days, but sometimes you just need one more reason to prod and make it happen.

Harris considers Drafster to still be in beta mode, but you can check it out via the following links:

Drafster on Twitter
Drafster on Facebook
Drafster website

Keep in mind that, in terms of timing, Drafster updates are dependent on how quickly and how often these bars update their online information. Also, if you happen to notice any bugs or errors, feel free to e-mail Harris and let him know so he can troubleshoot accordingly.

Thanks to Scott for taking the time and effort to make Drafster exist, and here's hoping that more bars will start updating their online information so this can be a comprehensive resource for beer across the city.

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Stone Enjoy By 04.20.13 to Missouri

Date: Wed, Mar 20, 2013

The idea behind Stone's Enjoy By IPA series was to create buzz, and apparently Missouri buzzed loud enough when we received Enjoy By 12.21.12, because another round is headed our way. Potheads rejoice (or I guess the appropriate pun here would be to say 'STONErs?'), as Stone Enjoy By 04.20.13 IPA is on its way to Missouri liquor stores and bars, and should be available for purchase late this week or early next week.


As was the case with the previous installment of Enjoy By that made it to Kansas City, Stone is measuring the amount of chatter around the beer via social media. This time around, the state of Missouri is part of the 'Central Region', pitted against Colorado and Las Vegas to see who loves their Enjoy By the most. To put us on top, flood your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts with the hashtags #EnjoyBy #MO. You can head over to the official Stone Enjoy By website to see how we are faring (and we are currently getting stomped by Colorado).

For those who didn't have Enjoy By the first time around and are concerned that this is all just a gimmick, I can assure you that the beer was great as well. Hoppy, fresh and clean, I'm excited to try the new batch that's rolling into town. One thing I didn't initially realize about the beer is that it utilizes 11 different kinds of hops in the hops bill; Calypso, Super Galena, Simcoe, Delta, Target, Amarillo, Motueka, Citra, Cascade, New Zealand Nelson Sauvin AND Australian Galaxy. Naturally, the use of this variety of hops brings about a similar expansive variety of flavors and aromas, from fruity and tropical to piney and grassy.

Keep an eye out for Enjoy By 04.20.13 and start flexing your hashtag muscles so we can hopefully see a third round of Enjoy By come to KC in the future.

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Commence Coffee Ale chaos

Date: Mon, Mar 18, 2013

Thanks to the social media efforts of Boulevard, Central States and various retailers over the past few days, most of the city is well aware that Boulevard's newest Smokestack offering, Coffee Ale, will start showing up on liquor store shelves and tap handles tomorrow. The product of a collaboration with The Roasterie, I'm making an educated guess that this will cause a similar level of 'soil-your-pants' excitement and retail bottlenecking (pun intended) that Chocolate Ale has caused in the past with its Boulevard-Christopher Elbow local mass hysteria.

While I tried the beer and wasn't in love with it, it may very well tickle some people's fancies, so I thought I'd throw a post up and allow for a place that people can post where they've found it, for how much, whether there are limits, etc. Now, while last year I was able to frequently update and track Chocolate Ale tappings and store deliveries, my new day job is busier and more time consuming so I won't be able to put that level of effort into the release of Coffee Ale. Sorry guys, daddy's gotta make that paper (and not get fired). Of course, this is all assuming that there is a similar fervor, but go ahead and consider this post a 'just in case' spot in case things get crazy out there.

So if you're out and about to grab a bottle tomorrow, post a quick comment here and let people know how your chase went. I'll come back throughout the day and update a more 'official' list as I see fit so everyone can watch and try to grab a bottle of their own.

In the meantime, check out this video that Boulevard made, with some Coffee Ale tasting notes courtesy of Boulevard employees Nathan and Elizabeth:

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2013 HopFest Homebrew Competition

Date: Fri, Mar 15, 2013

Final submission day: Wednesday, May 8

Judgment day: Sunday, May 12

Categories to be judged: Based on BJCP guidelines at http://www.bjcp.org/stylecenter.php

6D. American Wheat or Rye beer
10. American Ale (all sub-styles included)
14. IPA (all sub-styles included)
13. Stout (all sub-styles included)
23A. Specialty Beer (specific description of method/ingredients required)

Each category will have a winner and then there will be a HopFest Homebrew Competition Grand Champion.

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Burgin' and Bakin' - 2 New JoCo bars reviewed

Date: Tue, Mar 12, 2013

When I recently heard of two new places in northern Johnson County that opened and were supposedly catering to the craft beer crowd, I was excited. Being an Overland Park resident, I've become all too familiar with the beer barren wasteland that is Johnson County (save for the two Barley's locations), and have spent a significant amount of time driving to Waldo, Westport, Martin City and downtown KC to get my fill of beer. Both places I essentially stumbled across via the internet, and hadn't heard any detailed word-of-mouth reviews, so the other night I decided to make a trek to check out both.


First stop, The Burg and Barrel. Now, admittedly, I approached this new Overland Park "pub" with some skepticism. The PR that I had seen on it said that it was going to have a craft beer focus and even on the website, they make the lofty claim that "...our ever changing 12 taps and 22 bottles of craft beers are guaranteed to excite the biggest of beer geeks." After reviewing the beer lineup on the same site, I wasn't overly impressed, but decided to head in anyway to see if the taps had done any of the aforementioned 'ever changing.'

Unfortunately, my skepticism was justified upon arrival. On entering, the space is nice (it's a remodel of the former Peanut spot at 7042 W. 76th Street) and the shuffleboard table caught my eye (yeah, I'll admit it, I'm a bar game whore). But as I sat down and perused the beer menu, it was like reading an essay on thermodynamics written by an 8-year-old; it didn't make a lot of sense and they clearly didn't know what they were doing.

For starters, the draft list was not anything impressive. 12 taps; PBR, Flying Monkey Amber (why is anyone still putting EITHER of these beers on draft?), Odell 90 Shilling, Rogue Dead Guy, Blue Moon, Leinenkugel Summer Shandy, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and 5 Boulevard taps. Now don't get me wrong, 5 Boulevard taps is great and all, but bars in KC have to understand that having more than 3 Boulevard taps doesn't make you exciting or craft beer focused. I'd venture to say most restaurants, bars and grills out there have at least 3 Boulevard taps anymore.

On to the bottles. Oh. Not doing much better here. For starters, all the craft bottles are listed as 'Imports.' Now, I know this goes back to the unfortunate precedent of bars listing anything that's not a BMC product as an 'Import', but it's a stupid precedent, and again, if you're going to talk about exciting beer geeks, this is not the way to do it. To further the confusion on the bottles list, they list the beers from lightest to darkest. Which may be fine, except they don't list the styles next to the beer and the order was completely out of whack. Somehow Boulevard Grainstorm was smack in the middle, and Coors Batch 19 was listed as the darkest beer. Besides those two beers, the rest of the list wasn't especially impressive. Central States must have hit this place hard, because there is a lot of Boulevard and Lagunitas. The most interesting thing on the list is Rochefort Trappist 6 (one of the three ACTUAL imports on the list, go figure!).

Oh, did I mention there's no pricing on the beer menu? Yeah. None. So, enjoy asking the bartender every time you order how much your beer will be or just plan on embracing the element of surprise when you get your bill.

So I enjoyed my Lagunitas Sucks (which was coincidentally listed on the menu as Brown Shugga, ha, prank's on me!), and ordered food, hoping that the 'Burg' in the place's name would justify the food. Fortunately the meal was the saving grace of this place, otherwise I would have written it off completely. Though my El Diablo burger (jalapenos, pepper jack, hot sauce) didn't have the level of heat I'd look for in a food item bearing the devil's name, itwas still a generously sized burger with some very nicely prepared sweet potato fries on the side. I should also mention that the bartender who served me, Cooper, was an extremely friendly guy and did a great job.

I had high hopes that a true craft beer focused bar was going in just a mile from my home, but unfortunately my dreams did not pan out as hoped at The Burg and Barrel. Would it be a fun place to go on a random night to play shuffleboard and have the luxury of drinking a few non-BMC beers while just a short distance from my home? Sure. But is it a craft beer destination that they seem to be implying in their marketing? Definitely not. And that's what I had my fingers crossed for. Given the odd location (they aren't really visible off Metcalf), they will likely rely on a lot of word-of-mouth advertising, so if a beer crowd is what they want, they might want to tweak a few things.

Slightly saddened by this beer experience and still confused by the random bar stranger who gave me a sticker from Japan and kept saying 'Cool beans', I made my voyage over to Lenexa to visit the next new Johnson County beer bar hopeful; Brewbakers.

I originally heard about Brewbakers on Facebook, when the Kansas Craft Alliance posted about an Odell IPA cask event that they were holding there. The place was completely unfamiliar to me, which in a way made sense, because I don't travel to the 95th and Renner area often and the place just opened in mid January. I've since seen a number of Untappd check-ins from Brewbakers, so I thought I was due for a visit.

Walking in, this place is total sensory overload. Granted, I had just come from a relatively small, quiet bar with all of two tables full, but essentially this place is like Tanner's or Johnny's on beer and sports broadcasting steroids. My overwhelmed ADD couldn't figure out whether to look at the taps on the wall, the giant chalkboard beer list, the raucous families at tables around me, the absurd number of flat screen TV's hanging up for people to watch (I lost count at 36), or the speakers that were inexplicably blasting Blues Traveler like icing onto the pre-existing noise cake. I shook off my confusion and squeezed into one of the only seats available at the bar, parked right in front of the TV showing the Syracuse vs. UConn womens basketball game (*sad trombone*).

In comparison to The Burg and Barrel, Brewbakers is the hands-down winner in terms of beer selection. They have 42 taps overall, 6 for BMC products, 1 Guinness, 7 Boulevard, and the remainder are represented by a variety of craft breweries including Odell (Meddler had just blown), Deschutes, Green Flash (Green Bullet was on), Avery and Mother's, to name a few. I settled on an Odell Lugene (it wasn't served in a chilled shaker pint, hooray!) and sat back, taking a deep breath and trying to soak in the atmosphere.

I'll be blunt; if you're not into a sports bar and grill type of scene, this place is not for you. This was a Monday night around 8, with no major sporting events going on, and I'd venture to say the place was 80% full, if not more. For me, I don't necessarily have a problem with this type of environment. For Christ's sake, I live with a 3-year-old half the time, so my home life is in a constant state of noisy chaos. Plus, like I said, ADD, so a bunch of TV's might be confusing to me, but it's also oddly pleasing. So if you're like me and can tolerate kids here and there, having to overhear strangers do things like 'Two Wild and Crazy Guys' impressions, and awkward sexual tension between bartenders, then the tap list at Brewbakers is worth it, especially if you live close by and don't want to travel to either Barley's location.

In my opinion, Brewbakers is a welcome addition to the Johnson County beer bar world, and I hope they stick around for a while. As I said, I may not make it over that way often, but I'm glad that when I do, there's somewhere to go now. And with a lot of housing developments going up around that area, I don't doubt they'll stay busy. Hopefully they will also continue to have more events like the Odell IPA cask, because that would certainly encourage me to head that way on a more frequent basis.

My quest continues for the perfect craft beer bar to be opened in north Overland Park (around 79th and Antioch would be PERFECT), but until then, I'll just continue my cross-state travels to quench my thirst.

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2013 Brew to Brew Race

Date: Sat, Mar 9, 2013

While many enjoy their beer best when it's paired with a sedentary lifestyle, there are some folks out there that feel compelled to torture themselves with exercise to compensate for their alcohol consumption (guilty as charged). For those of you that fit that latter category, get your running shoes ready and prepare to enter training mode, because the 2013 Brew to Brew race is coming up next month on Saturday, April 6th and Sunday, April 7th.

For those of you that aren't familiar with Brew to Brew, it is an annual, 44.4 mile race for both relay (up to 10 people) and solo runners that starts at Boulevard Brewing Company and finishes at Liberty Hall (next to Free State Brewing) in Lawrence. Given the endpoint and name of the event, you're correct in assuming that participants get to celebrate both the beginning and the completion of the race with beer drinking. Though I've never run in the race myself (I max out at around 2 miles of running before my ADD causes deathly boredom), everyone I know who has participated really enjoyed it. Plus, the race benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, so along with a little exercise and imbibing, you're completing the trifecta and also being charitable.

You can view full event information over on the Brew to Brew website, brewtobrew.com. Some of the rules and details regarding registration and team relay racing are a bit complicated, and I'm not going to even attempt to explain them here. I'm just here for the beer. But if exercise and drinking are both in your wheelhouse, then definitely go check out the race information and get registered if it sounds enticing. There's no specific cutoff date for registration, but they do limit entries to 3200 total runners, so if you are worried about cutting it close you might want to contact the organizers to see how filled the race is (they have a Facebook page as well).

Cheers and good luck to all who participate!

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Rimann Liquors 30th Anniversary

Date: Wed, Mar 6, 2013

Rimann Liquors Lenexa's 30th anniversary is this month and they have beer, spirits and wine tastings scheduled all month to celebrate. I've added all the beer tastings to the KC Beer Blog's Google Calender, but you can see the list and who they have involved below. Congrats on 30 years guys!

Lenexa Location:

March 6: Summit Brewing Co. with Gordon Briggs, Central Market Manager

March 9: Free State Brewing Co. with brewery rep Seth Sanchez, 4-7 pm.

March 13: Lagunitas Brewing Co., 4-7 pm.

March 15: Boulevard Brewing Co. with brewer Jeremy Danner, 4-7 pm.

March 20: North Coast Brewing Co. with Bob Swatzell, Regional Sales Manager, 4-7 pm.

March 27: Tallgrass Brewing Co. with brewery rep Kelly Lohrmeyer, 4-7 pm.

March 29: Mother's Brewing Co., 4-7 pm.

Prairie Village Location:

March 12: Free State Brewing Co. with Seth Sanchez, 4:30 to 6:30.

March 19: New Belgium Brewing Co. with Adam Satz, Kansas Beer Ranger, 4:30 to 6:30.

March 26: Boulevard Brewing Co. with brewery rep Phil Merz, 4:30 to 6:30.

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Flying Saucer Barleywine Week

Date: Tue, Mar 5, 2013

Barleywine Week 2013 is already off to a bang at Flying Saucer, with the BarleySwine beer dinner kicking things off Sunday, and tappings of Firestone Walker Sucaba and Perennial Vermillion last night. There are a number of tappings still happening throughout the week, so below is a consolidated list of what you can expect to find throughout the rest of the week. All beers will be tapped at 7pm on their respective nights, so get down to Flying Saucer and gorge yourself on these high ABV delights.

Tuesday, March 5th

Southern Tier Backburner
Southern Tier Bourbon Barrel Aged Backburner

Wednesday, March 6th

Keep the glass: Schlafly Oak Aged Barleywine

Thursday, March 7th

Stone Old Guardian
Stone Oak Smoked Old Guardian

Friday, March 8th

Evil Twin Freudian Slip
Green Flash Barleywine
Bell's Third Coast Ale

Bottles available (all days):

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