Kansas City invades Denver

I went to Ft. Collins and Denver for the long 4th of July weekend, to take in the best in what the cities had to offer. And by that, I mean I went to a lot of breweries. I believe we went to 10 all told, but it gets a little blurry. While looking through my pictures from the trip, most of them look... similar. Luckily, some have branded glasses, making identifying them after the fact a lot easier. Like this one  -

Crooked Stave was one of my favorite stops of the trip. Not only because of the beers (which were GREAT), but because when we walked in, I recognized a couple friends from Kansas City who happened to make the trip west and visit the same brewery on the same day. At one point there were about 14 people in the taproom, and 10 of us were from KC. Maybe that'll convince them to bring there beers here! Everyone should have a chance to try them - mostly barrel aged beers, and lots of varieties in the flavors. Vieille, a barrel aged saison, was a highlight for me.

This is where my deductive skills helped. Because of the table and the water cooler in the background, I at first I thought this was Crooked Stave. Then remembered they didn't have that many beers on tap, and nothing that dark, and remembered it was Verboten. There was another chance meeting that brought us here. This time it was running into one of the founders of the brewery and learning they were open late on the 4th. I'm glad this worked out, because their stuff was very good. Only recently opened in Loveland, they had a lot of beers available, and I don't remember one lacking in the slightest.

I wanted to get a growler of In Love With Summer, their strawberry rhubarb wheat, but sadly they were out of empties. Just means I'll have to go back. They had a rum barrel aged beer that was fantastic, and What Hump?, a sour porter that impressed. Definitely seek them out if you're in the area.

I'm pretty sure this was River North. The style of glass sticks in my head. Just up the street from Coors Field, this was another brewery I didn't know about but sorta blew me away. Great beers all around, including Unified Theory, an oaked imperial wit. And a food truck parked outside. I love eating food out of trucks (even if I didn't eat anything from this one, it still earns points for just being there. The food looked good, but would have been taking up precious real estate tabbed for beer).

 More distinct glassware, this time from Black Shirt Brewing. Cool taproom and a unique take on their beers - most (if not all) of the beers were various "reds." There was a red saison, a red porter, red pale, etc. Solid beers, and everyone seemed to love their sour. For whatever the reason, it wasn't really my thing, but I can respect it. I may have accidentally broken the brewery. OK, not too badly, only a chain barrier knocked over. Nothing serious.

Another new brewery, De Steeg has only been open since February, but they're cranking out great beers. One of the (I assume) founders of the brewery was so impressed by our table that he came out to take a picture for himself. Again, I was impressed by their stuff. A Belgian saison and a French saison were both tasty, and their barleywine was amazing. Plus their entrance is in an alleyway, so if you tell a girl you've been there it's like you're braggin' that you know how to find it.

I think New Belgium was the only brewery that I had been to on a previous trip, but it turned out to be one of the most fun stops of the whole trip. First, Kansas City's Beer Ranger (and all around great dude) Adam Satz hooked us up with some beer and a free shirt - both La Folie for me, obviously. Then we got to play Rolle Bolle! It's sort of a combination of horseshoes and shuffleboard and bocce ball, played with wooden "bolles" that kind of look like wheels of cheese. SO MUCH FUN. I am now looking forward to finding a way to bring this to Kansas City.

Those weren't all of the breweries, but some of the photographic highlights. Denver/Ft. Collins is a brewing mecca, with new breweries popping up seemingly overnight. It's not too bad of a trip for a long weekend, and great to visit some of our brewing brothers and sisters to the west! 

This was while sitting outside at River North. It was waaaaaay prettier than this picture can show.

Any beer travels coming up for you this summer? We'd love to hear about them!

Summer Beer Fest is approaching! Plus recap of New Belgium Lips of Faith Dinner

The Summer Beer Festival hits Westport THIS SATURDAY! Get your tickets now to save yourself $5. They're $25, but go up to $30 at the gate. From 5 - 9 PM rain or shine. It's going to be a great event with an amazing cause - proceeds benefit AIDS Walk KC.

Now, time for a recap of the New Belgium Lips of Faith Beer Dinner.

New Belgium Clips Beer & Film Tour - TONIGHT!

There'll be a proper write-up of this week's New Belgium beer dinner (crib notes: SO SO SO GOOD), but wanted to make a quick reminder to everyone about tonight's New Belgium Clips Beer & Film Tour event! It'll be another chance for anyone who went to the dinner to re-sample some of the Lips of Faith beers they had Monday, or, if you didn't make it, then you have an opportunity to get some tastes! If you check the Facebook page for the event, you can find a list of beers they'll have. For the lazy, I'll copy and paste it here (I'm including myself in there. I don't think I'd click on it and scroll through the page to look for the list).

Here's the drool-worthy beer list for the KC event: Blue Paddle, Shift, Cascara Quad, Heavenly Feijoa Tripel, Abbey, Biere de Mars, Trippel, Fat Tire, Biere de Gaarde, Rolle Bolle, Paardebloem, Hoppy Bock Lager, Pluot Ale, Rampant, La Folie, Hoppy Bock and Ranger.

So unless you've been to one of their other events this week, it'll be the first chance to get Paardebloem and Pluot. Plus LA FOLIE YES YEAH YEAH!

Starts at 7, films start at dusk. Food vendors will be cash only, but beer tokens can be purchased with cash or credit card. Bring blankets, a picnic, friends, family, dogs, maybe a book if you want to relax before the films. 

Oh yeah, where is it. Important part. It's at Theis Park, just south of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. To make it an even better event, it benefits BikeWalkKC! Bike/walk/carpool on down, high five some friends, drink some amazing handmade beers, and enjoy handmade movies.

A block party, a beer fest, a beer dinner. What more do you need?!

This Sunday, after you get done mainlining all 15 episodes of Arrested Development, head to Westport at 8 pm for the annual Kelly's Westport Inn & McCoy's Public House Block Party - $5 gets you in for live music, food and drink specials, and more, as we celebrate another year of two institutions!

And while you're thinking about it, pick up your tickets for another party next month in Westport. The Summer Beer Festival is coming up on June 15th! $25 will get you in with a souvenir glass and tastes of of some delicious, delicious beers. Plus, proceeds benefit Aids Walk Kansas City, so it's for a very good cause. Get your tickets at http://www.etix.com/ticket/online/performanceSearch.jsp?performance_id=1718889 before they go up to $30 the day of the event. If there are any left!

Alright, so I had teased that the next beer dinner would be EPIC...

Yeah, 10 courses, 10 beers. 10 beers from the New Belgium Lips of Faith series. This is exciting to me, and it should be for you. First of all, the food. It's always great, but four cheese courses? General Tso's Lobster? SEA SCALLOP TACO???? Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. And then the beers. This is an excellent chance to try a variety of high quality suds. Plus there are some beers new to the area that you may only see at this dinner... Paardebloem (Flemish for dandelion - a beer bittered with dandelions with some wild Belgian yeasts and grains of paradise and I want it right now) and Pluot (a plum and apricot make a baby fruit and it hangs out with Brettanomyces). This is going to be fun. $65 covers everything - your seat, the food, the beer, the tax, and the gratuity. Hurry up, this one will probably fill up fast! Call Beer Kitchen at (816) 389-4180 and get your spot today!

Take a Shift at the Foundry

Tuesday, February 19 (tomorrow!), New Belgium Beer Ranger Adam Satz will be at the Foundry to join in the fun as we tap a keg of Shift Pale Lager! If you haven't had this one, WHY NOT??!?!?! Tomorrow will be a great opportunity to have this crisp, easy-drinking lager. To sweeten the deal, you'll be able to take home a New Belgium globe, if you're there while the supplies last. The party starts at 8, so come say hello to Adam, get a beer, get a new glass to add to your collection, and have a tasty lager.

Then don't forget next Tuesday (the 26th) is the Foundry's Big Ass Stout Night! 10 big ass stouts will be tapped at 4 pm. You can get 6 oz pours if you want to try a few different ones, or full pours if you find one you love. Here's a look at what we'll have -

• Bell's Java Stout
• Bell's Expedition 
• Deschutes Abyss 2012 
• Deschutes Black Butte Porter XXIV 
• Founders Imperial Stout 
• Founders Breakfast Stout 
• Goose Island Night Stalker 
• Goose Island Bourbon County Stout 
• Goose Island Big John 
• Southern Tier Choklat

Yes yes. Price will very depending on which beer you get, but there's no charge to get in, no tickets or anything like that. Just great beers. The next two Tuesdays look to be shaping up quite nicely.

Drink a beer, get a glass, support a great cause

Come have a New Belgium beer at The Foundry today, and you'll get a New Belgium globe glass to take home! Usually that's enough to convince me to stop by for a drink, but New Belgium is taking it further. With every glass that is given out, New Belgium will donate $1 to Wayside Waifs! Today only, so don't miss out!

You want beer? We've got beer!

Lederhosen optional, but preferred

We're just a few days away from the next beer dinner at Beer Kitchen! Oktober 22nd is our Oktoberfest-themed dinner, with German-style food paired with German-style beer. $50 will get you the five-course meal and beers, with tax and gratuity included. 7:00 pm. Don't miss it! Call us at 816-389-4180 to reserve your spot.

While McCoy's beers didn't place in this year's GABF, our Kansas City brothers in brewing came home with two golds! Congratulations to Boulevard, picking up gold medals in the Other Strong Beer category with Reverb and ZON winning the Belgian-Style Witbier category. They have a great post that goes into some more details of the fest and judging - Bringing Home the Gold!!!

You're going to have a chance to sample a few winners from GABF at the Beer KC Strong Ale Fest! Below is an ever-evolving list of beers that will be on tap. Some of the medal winners include a couple locals - Lawrence, KS's Free State won a bronze in American-Style Stout with Iron Man Imperial Stout, and Perennial from St. Louis took silver in Other Strong Beer with Heart of Gold (a wheat wine).

Firestone Walker's Wookey Jack won the gold in American-Style Black Ale, and Sierra Nevada got the Imperial Stout silver (while the official GABF list of winners doesn't have the Narwhal name listed, I'm pretty sure it's the same beer).

New Belgium's Eric Salazar

Here are a few quick photos of Eric Salazar's visit to The Foundry on Thursday.

Eric was more than happy to talk beer, and answer any questions about New Belgium

The real star of the day!

Lots of these guys met their end

Eric Salazar and local Beer Ranger Adam Satz made it a great afternoon!

It was a great, low-key time, with good beers and conversation.  Did anyone make it to the dinner at Julian, or the special blending session on Friday?  We'd love to hear about it!

Don't Miss Eric Salazar Tonight!

From 4:15-5:45 tonight, New Belgium's Eric Salazar will be at the Foundry!  Like New Belgium's sour beers?  He's their sour beer guy.  Stop in and say hello, and have some of the vintage La Folies we'll have for the occasion. 

While he's in town, Eric will be part of a cool event at Julian tomorrow evening, doing an interactive blending of some New Belgium beers!  If you'd like more info, or want to reserve your spot, email

info@JulianKC.com.