On Tap Now - Oktoberfest

Our 2009 Oktoberfest is rich with malt and balanced with spicy German hops. The flavor is slightly sweet, yet refreshingly crisp and smooth. During our cold lagering stage, the yeast settled nicely so this year we are serving it unfiltered to perserve all the delicious flavors available.

Style Notes:
Before the invention of refrigerators, it was nearly impossible to brew beer in the summer due to hot weather and bacterial infections. Brewing typically ended with the coming of Spring and beginning again in the Fall; thus most beers were brewed in March (Marzen). These brews were kept in cold storage over the Spring and Summer months to enjoy during the early stages of Fall and Oktoberfest. Marzenbier (or Oktoberfest), is full bodied, rich, toasty, typically dark copper in color with a medium to high alcohol content.

The Modern Celebration:
Oktoberfest is a 16 day festival, held each year in Munich, Germany during late September and running into early October. It is one of the most famous events in Germany, and the world's largest fair with some 6 million people attending every year. The festival is held on an area known as Theresienwiese (the field of Therese), often called d'Wiesen for short. Visitors from across the globe gather to celebrate Oktoberfest by drinking beer and eating huge amounts of hearty traditional German fare. Oktoberfest is a very important part of Bavarian culture. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations modeled after the wildly popular Munich event.

Brewer's specs:

Malt:
German Pilsener Malt
German Munich Malt
German Vienna Malt
Carapils
Crystal Malt
Chocolate Malt

Hops:
German Hallertauer
German Spalt
Czech Saaz

Fermented with our house Lager yeast
Unfiltered

OG 16.3 Plato
5.6% ABV

October Brewmaster's Dinner

Back at it once again Tuesday, October 6 at 6:30! This month's dinner will feature 5 Asian influenced courses paired with 5 delicious beers from breweries such as Rogue, Hitachino, Boon Rawd & of course, McCoy's. Tickets are $40 including tax & gratuity. These dinners continue to sell out so please stop by or call us at 816-960-0866 to make your reservations today!

Now on Tap - Blackberry Lager

It's been several years since we brewed this and we're proud to say it's back on tap. This is a clean, crisp lager with a bold blackberry presence. While some breweries may use extracts, syrups or processed flavors, we used over 150 lbs. of fresh Oregon blackberries for this bottom fermenting lager. The malt flavor is hidden with a low hop bitterness to allow the fruit to dominate.

Made with American 2 row malt, German Hallertauer & Spalt hops.

150 lbs. of blackberries added in fermenter.

Fermented with our house lager yeast; lagered for 6 months.

4.8% ABV

Pics - Smokin' Brews 9.01.09

Wow, another amazing night of great food and beer! This was one of the more adventurous dinners we've had and I really think it was a success. The pairings were executed wonderfully as each dish, and accompanying beer, were interesting & bold enough to stand on their own, but together they complimented each other wonderfully. Many thanks to those of you who made it out and for those that didn't, here's what you missed:

The dinner was hosted by owner James Westphal & brewmaster Keith Thompson (pictured). James discussed the ingredients and ideas behind the food dishes, while Keith explained the beers.

Ducktrap River smoked trout on wild rice blue-corn flapjacks with horseradish creme fraiche & Fort Collins Brewing's Z Lager.

Smoked gouda, spinach & chorizo sausage stuffed mushrooms with smoked tomato sauce & Mexican queso fresco. Paired with Aecht Schlenkerla's Urbock rauchbier.

O'Fallon Smoke braised osso bucco pork shank with cowboy beans, 4 pepper coulis, Longhorn cotija corn & blue cornmuffin paired with O'Fallon Smoked Porter.

Smoked almond chocolate tart with "burnt" honey ice cream & carmelized orange slice with McCoy's Oak Aged Wee Willy Scotch Ale (which will be on tap at McCoy's very soon!).

Our next Brewmaster's Dinner - Thai One On - will be October 6, 2009 featuring beers from Singha, Rogue, McCoy's & Hitachino.

On Tap Now - Double IPA

Double India Pale Ales are a relatively recent innovation, reflecting the trend of American craft brewers 'pushing the envelope' to satisfy the need of beer aficianados for increasingly intense products. The adjective "double" is arbitrary and simply implies a stronger version of an IPA; "imperial", "extra", "extreme" or any other of variety of adjectives would be equally valid. This ale is an intensely hoppy, very strong pale ale without the big maltiness and/or deeper malt flavors of an American barleywine.

The aroma showcases a prominent hop nose that was derived using 100% Bravo hops from the Pacific Northwest; a remarkable citrusy hop character is at the forefront. We also dry-hopped for an additional resinous, or grassy, aroma. Some clean, malty sweetness is found in the background, while slight fruitiness, either from hops or esters, is also detected. 50 lbs. of local honey was added during the boil to reduce some of the bitterness and impart a more balanced, sweeter characteristic. Some alcohol can usually be noted, but this does not have a "hot" character. Color is golden amber to copper.

Brewer's specs:

Malt:
85% pale 2-row malt
10% Vienna malt
5% malted white wheat

Hops:
100% Bravo hops added at ten different times from start to finish

50 lbs. of honey from a local beekeeper added to boil

105 minute boil

Fermented 7 days at 19C with our house ale yeast

OG 23 Plato
10% ABV; 90+ IBU