December 20, 2014


A few of my favorite things…of 2014

As we are in the midst of the holiday season, I thought reflect on a few of my personal favorites, let’s be honest, they’re just damn good!

My favorite cocktail of 2014 is one that we added to the McCoy’s menu over the summer. Prohibition Sazarac is Templeton Rye Whiskey, Pernod Absenthe, Pechuard’s Bitters, sugar and a lemon zest. This is a true whiskey lovers cocktail! Smooth, spicy, rich, and perfect! When deciding which cocktails to change and the direction McCoy’s wanted the cocktail menu to move, I felt this was a great cocktail to round out the menu and one that beer lovers look for. It seems there is a strong connection between good beer and good whiskey, beer lovers seem to gravitate towards good whiskey and whiskey cocktails. Why? I’m not entirely sure, but I can say for myself as a beer lover, I really enjoy the flavors of the whiskey mash, which can sometimes remind me of a good beer. Whiskey is beer that has been distilled, am I right?  

At McCoy’s and Foundry, we offer another great cocktail/beer blend, have you ever tried the Diesel? In Europe, especially in Germany and England, it’s very common to blend lemon-lime soda with lager or wheat beers, and sometimes you might find they mix cola with wheat or dark ales. Our Diesel is a take on those traditional European beer blends. We will mix our house stout (the Oatmeal stout is the best!) with our house made root beer. What you get is a rich, velvety, smooth, not too sweet, not too roasty delicious beer blend! You don’t have to use just the McCoy’s stout or root beer, though we encourage you to come in and get one, but you can pick up any stout and root beer that you like, and blend them 50/50 or 70/30 stout to root beer ratio, sit back and enjoy!

This year, McCoy’s brewed a fantastic Gose (go-zuh). Gose is a German sour wheat ale with coriander and salt. According to the German beer purity law, Reinheitsgebot, beer can only be brewed using the four main ingredients, malt, hops, yeast, and water. Gose is a style that has been brewed for centuries and has been exempt from the Reinheitsgebot law. Our Gose was perfectly tart from the 72 hour sour mash, the salt wasn’t too overpowering and the coriander was subtle, which tuned into the best warm weather thirst quencher!

Courtesy of Boulevard Brewing Co.
Boulevard Brewing Co. released their version of a Gose this year, Hibiscus Gose. The beer was brewed in a similar style with sour mashing, additions of salt and coriander, but Boulevard took it a step further and added hibiscus flowers to the beer. The result was a tart, salty, slightly floral, pink beer! Boulevard’s Hibiscus Gose was so popular, that I’m afraid that most Kansas Citians will think that all Gose’ will be pink in color. That is simply not the case, but Boulevard really knocked this one out of the park for me!

And finally, how about those Kansas City Royals?! I’ve been a diehard Royals fan for years, and this year was a Royals fan dream come true. Not only were the “Boy’s In Blue” amazing, and gave Kansas City something to cheer for, but Kansas Citians were amazing! We really showed the nation who we are and what Midwest hospitality is all about! We will be remembered as the town who was humble, and the town who treated opposing team fans with respect. I’ve always been proud to call Kansas City my home, and I’m especially proud to be a Kansas Citian!  

Wishing you all the happiest of holidays!

Randyl Danner, Director of Beer

November 18, 2014

Reflecting On Westport's 4th Annual Strong Ale Fest

Photo courtesy of John Bryan



This past weekend we pulled off our 4th Westport Strong Ale Fest, and one thing that we were reminded of was how great KC beer drinkers are! We have an awesome group of people who are passionate about good beer, and it was apparent with the amount of beer drinkers who came out on the blustery 28 degree day! 

The ones who bundled up and braved the cold are serious beer drinkers, and we thank each and every one of you who attended! In all honesty, I wish Mother Nature would have given us some snow for the fest, but we still had a pretty great day!

There have been a lot of questions about who designed our luchador image this year, and I will say it’s the same guy who has designed all of our beer fest images, Charlie Burt. Charlie and James Westphal, our owner have talked about this theme for over a year now, and it was pulled off perfectly by Charlie and his artistic abilities! Thank you, Charlie for creating such a fun design that really had people talking!

If you liked this year’s theme, you’ll really like the theme we have planned for next year! Yes, we plan that far in advance! 

As for the beer, a good friend of mine said that “all the beers are of VIP level”. That was the plan for this fest. I’ve been communicating with breweries and distributors for the past year, writing the best list that we possibly could for this fest. The brewers brought their “A” game with the lineup this year. A few standouts for me were the 4 Hands Madagascar Vanilla Stout, Perennial Abraxas, Founders KBS, Goose Island 2013 Bourbon County Stout, Boulevard Love Child #4, McCoy’s Ursa Major 2011, and Cinder Block Brandy Barrel Aged Barley Wine. 

Saturday’s date was perfect timing to help Boulevard Brewing Co. and Odell Brewing Co. finish their 25th anniversary week of events! Congratulations Boulevard and Odell, you’ve been brewing quality tasty beer for 25 years. We raise a glass to you and to 25 more!

Matt Shadid, Odell Brewing Co. (left), David Colgan, Boulevard Brewing Co. (right)

The Boulevard Crew, from left to right, David Colgan, Julie Weeks, Sarah Carlew, Blair Finn, Jeremy Danner, and Rob Odell
I would finally like to thank my festival planning partner, Cory Puckett for all of his help. With Char Bar doing practice runs all weekend in preparation for their Monday opening, James Westphal was of no help, sorry James, but we’re being honest here! Cory was the admin guy who was able to get all of our permitting done, and he even drove to Lawrence to pick up the tasting glass. 

Festival planners, Randyl Danner and Cory Puckett


We’ve learned that no matter what the weather is like in November, this is the perfect time for strong beers and a Strong Ale Fest. We are looking forward to next year and we hope you are too!

-Randyl Danner, Director of Beer

November 01, 2014









BeerKC presents the 4th Annual Westport Strong Ale Festival, an ode to bold ales in Westport on Saturday, November 15th from 1-5pm. The festival will feature over 70 different strong beers from more than 30 breweries. Tickets can be purchased at beerkc.com and are $35 in advance and $45 at the gate. Each ticket includes a tasting glass and unlimited pours from participating breweries, while supplies last.

Here’s the lineup:

4 HANDS BREWING CO.
MADAGASCAR
CA$H MONY
ILL REPUTE

75TH STREET BREWERY
UP ALL NITRO PORTER
EVIL ORIGINS
JUNIOR’S BARREL

AVERY BREWING CO.
HOG HEAVEN
SALVATION

BELL’S BREWERY
EXPEDITION STOUT 2013

BOULEVARD BREWING CO.
2012 AND 2013 RYE-ON-RYE
SAISON-BRETT
IMPERIAL STOUT
SILVER ANNIVERSARY ALE
LOVE CHILD NO. 4

BREWERY OMMEGANG
THREE PHILOSOPHERS
BELGIAN INDEPENENCE DAY IPA

BROUWERIJ DER TRAPPISTEN VAN WESTMALLE
WESTMALL TRIPEL
WESTMALLE DUBBEL

CATHEDRAL SQUARE BREWING CO.
AVE MARIA
REPENT RYE
GABRIEL IPA

DESCHUTES BREWERY
MIRROR MIRROR
NOT THE STOIC
BLACK BUTTE XXVI

EMPYREAN BREWING CO.
CARPE BREWEM IMPERIAL MANGO IPA
NIBBED IN THE BARREL IMPERIAL OATMEAL STOUT

FIRESTONE WALKER BREWING CO.
DOUBLE JACK
OPAL

FREE STATE BREWING CO.
IRONMAN IMPERIAL STOUT
OLD BACKUS BARLEYWINE
CLOUD HOPPER

FOUNDERS BREWING CO.
CURMUDGEON OLD ALE
BACKWOODS BASTARD
2014 KBS

GOOSE ISLAND BEER CO.
BOURBON COUNTY STOUT
THE MUDDY
THE OGDEN

GORDON BIERSCH
WINTERBOCK
BELGIAN STOUT

GREEN FLASH BREWING CO.
GREEN BULLET
IMPERIAL IPA
HOP HEAD RED

GREEN ROOM
SYCAMORE BROWN
HOPRONOMICON EX MALTIS

KANASAS CITY BIER CO.
WINTERBOCK

LAGUNITAS BREWING CO.
HOP STOOPID

MARTIN CITY BREWING CO.
BIG BOY IMPERIAL STOUT
BRANDY BARREL AGED TRIPEL
BOURBON BARREL AGED BELGIAN ABBEY

MCCOY’S PUBLIC HOUSE
2013 WEE WILLY SCOTCH ALE
2011 URSA MAJOR RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT
MOTHER’S BREWING CO.
BOURBON BARREL IMPERIAL THREE BLIND MICE
SUPER DOOZY
SQUASHED CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN PORTER

NEBRASKA BREWING CO.
TRUTH BENDER

NEW BELGIUM BREWING CO.
LA FOLIE
NEW BELGIUM/PERENNIAL LIPS OF FAITH-SALTED BELGIAN CHOCOLATE STOUT

NORTH COAST BREWING CO.
BROTHER THELONIOUS
OLD STOCK ALE
OLD RASPUTIN RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT

ODELL BREWING CO.
SLIVER
JUANT
FOOTPRINT REGIONAL ALE 2014

OSKAR BLUES
TEN FIDY

PERENNIAL ARTISANAL ALES
STEFON
ABRAXAS

SAMUEL ADAMS BEER CO.
FAT JACK DOUBLE PUMPKIN
DOUBLE BOCK
IMPERIAL WHITE

SAMUEL SMITH’S
IMPERIAL STOUT
YORKSHIRE STINGO 2013

SANTA FE BREWING CO.
IMPERIAL JAVA STOUT

SCHLAFLY BEER
TAZMANIAN IPA
CHRISTMAS ALE

SIERRA NEVADA BREWING CO.
NINKASI BEER CAMP DOUBLE LATTE
TRIP IN THE WOODS
NARWHAL IMPERIAL STOUT

SOUTHERN TIER BREWING CO.
CRÈME BRULEE
2XIPA

STONE BREWING CO.
REASON BE DAMNED
“THE TIGER CUB” SAISON

TRAQUAIR HOUSE
JACOBITE ALE
SCOTCH ALE

URBAN CHESTNUT BREWING CO.
DRAFT
WOLPERTINGER