Football & beer!

What better combination than watching football with some locally brewed beer? McCoy's has a full tap list, with summertime favorite Ginger Shandy, and two casks! The West Coast IPA dry hopped with Centennial hops is still on, as is the fantastic Malabar Brown. Stop on in for your Saturday afternoon football action!

Hot temps, cool beers

Yeah, it's hot, we know. Luckily, there is beer and thoughts of more moderate temperatures.

On the beer front, McCoy's has a freshly-tapped cask of West Coast IPA dry hopped with Centennial hops. If you haven't had a chance to taste this IPA, WHY NOT? It's delicious and very easy to drink. And if you have, now's a good time to taste it with the Centennial hops featured. These are a very popular American hop, and will provide a great floral and citrus flavor.

While you're there sipping on the cask beer, start clearing all your plans for September 16th. That's the night of the next beer dinner at Beer Kitchen, and you'll want to be there. It's the annual vegetarian dinner, this year benefiting a great cause in New Roots for Refugees. $5 from each ticket will go to this wonderful organization. And the meal will be great, featuring seven courses of vegetarian dishes that won't make you miss meat.

$50 includes your meal with beers, tax, gratuity, and the $5 donation. Get your spot by calling Beer Kitchen at (816) 389-4180 now!

A few days after the beer dinner, join us for the first McCoy's Oktoberfest! September 21st will be your chance to get a liter commemorative stein full of McCoy's Oktoberfest bier for $15. You get to keep the stein! But this isn't any regular "take home the glass" night. We're going all out with a fest in the McCoy's parking lot, complete with 5 other Oktoberfest biers, German food, a bier garden, and German food! If you can't make it to Bavaria, we'll bring Bavaria to you. The party is from 1-5 pm, so be sure your Lederhosen is dry cleaned in time.

Perennial tapping at Foundry!

Head to The Foundry this evening for some delicious beers from across the state! St. Louis' Perennial Artisan Ales is going to have three beers tapping at 6 tonight: Peach Berliner Weisse (a berliner with peaches! And special schuss syrup!), Woodside Trippel (a trippel brewed with local woodside honey!), and Barry Rye (a dark rye ale fermented on local blackberries!). And Plan B (Belgian strong dark ale collabo with Half Acre from Chicago, brewed with black currants!) is already on tap. You can get a 6 oz taster or a full pour if any of them.

All five saisons from the Saison Showdown are still available on tap as well, so it looks like the next few days of your week are planned.

Celebrate five years of AWESOME with the Foundry

The Foundry five year anniversary party kicks off now! All week long, 10% of Boulevard's KC Pils sales from both The Foundry and Beer Kitchen will be donated to KC Pet Project. Drink for a cause!

On Thursday, August 15, join us for a Saison Showdown. When The Foundry opens at 4 p.m., we'll have five different saisons tapped - 4 Hands Pyrus, Anchor Zymaster Series Saison, Boulevard Saison-Brett, Great Divide Colette, and Odell Celestrina. Excellent beers, all rated 88 or higher, with Saison-Brett with a perfect 100. It's a perfect beer. I like saison season, and right now the forecast looks absolutely perfect for sipping on one (or five) on the patio.

Then on Sunday, you won't want to miss our Back to School Beer Ice Cream Social! This is an ice cream social for adults (it's OK to still be a kid at heart but please be 21 at everything else), with beer ice cream and beer floats. The five beer ice creams will be made with Boulevard Harvest Dance, St. Louis Peche, Stiegl Weisse, McCoy's Farmhouse, Bell's Kalamazoo Stout, and the 2 beer floats will be St. Louis Frambois with cheese cake ice cream and McCoy's Stout with white chocolate ice cream. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm yes. Yes. Please.

The party starts at 7 p.m. on Sunday the 18th, and you better believe I'll be there counting down the seconds. Set your DVR to record Breaking Bad so you don't have to hurry and give yourself an ice cream headache. It'll be worth the wait, especially after you polish off the fifth ice cream. And the second float. Because come on, you're going to want to eat all of it and then yell I AM THE ONE WHO EATS ICE CREAM and call yourself Icecreamberg.

Once again, We Say Tomato

Last year's beer dinner with Kurlbaum's heirloom tomatoes opened up my eyes (and taste buds) to the world of heirloom vegetables. I was sort of familiar with the concept, and knew they had a much better flavor than the mass-produced tomatoes usually found in stores, but that was about it. I didn't know the rich history behind the seeds, legacies being traced back hundreds of years, and the different varieties that exist. Check out their website for some more about the history of the tomatoes and what kinds they have on their Tomato Varieties page. They had some information about their farming methods as well - they dry farm, which means they don't irrigate the plants. So you'd think the mild, wet summer we've had would be a boon, but tomatoes actually like warmer, dryer climates. Last year was a great year for them, this year has been a little slower. That just makes this dinner that much more special!

It started off with a reception pairing, almost an amuse-bouche, called "El Matador." A tasty combination of fresh mozzarella, a Juanne Flame tomato, and I believe prosciutto, served with McCoy's Cerveza in a sort of "chelada/cubana" style - some Worcestershire sauce, peppers, and salt. With the tomato it kind of had the feel of a beer Bloody Mary. I could go for having one of these most every morning.

The Juanne Flame is a flavorful tomato, sometimes given the title of "best tasting tomato ever." It certainly worked well with the bit of spiciness in the beer, and the combination of tomato, mozzarella, and pork is one for the ages.

The first course continued the fun presentation, this time with tempura Gold Medal tomatoes with bay scallops and lobster miso butter, served in a "takeout" box. Oh goodness. My love for scallops and lobster has been documented (most recently with the sea scallop taco in the Lips of Faith dinner), and this dish didn't disappoint. The tempura Gold Medal tomato was a subtle addition to some hugely rich flavors (I'm not ashamed to say I nearly licked the lobster butter clean). Tallgrass's Wild Plum Farmhouse Ale cut through the richness of the dish, providing a good, sweet counterbalance. And I learned something about this beer! The plums used were grown near Manhattan, KS, in farmhouses!

Now a salad course to lighten things a little, with pickled Brandy Wine tomato, crisp romaine, charred vinaigrette, and Maytag blue cheese, paired with the latest year-round offering from Boulevard, the Pop-Up Session IPA. The bitterness from the IPA and the acidity from the tomatoes complimented each other beautifully. And another classic pairing, this time with tomato and blue cheese. Maytag is one of the finest available, made in Iowa. Sticks with the local (-ish) theme for the dinner.

The third course was pureed Belmont tomato with crispy bass and gnocchi paired with the Gordon Biersch Hefeweizen. I think it's safe to say now that I like fish. I thought I didn't, but these dinners have turned me. It helps when the fish is as well prepared as this. The Belmont puree was almost like a tomato sauce, but some of the best tomato sauce ever. It gave some acidity to the dish. And gnocchi is just good. A bite of everything on the plate made for a wonderful melding of flavors. The Gordon Biersch Hefe (the first ever GB beer served at Beer Kitchen!) was nice, with a hint of banana and clove, like a good hefeweizen has. It didn't overpower the food, but provided a nice mellow background.

Thanks to Brent for letting me use his plate as a model. His was pretty.

Next was a big one. Berkshire pork with bacon jus and stewed San Marzano tomatoes. Again, the pork/tomato combo. Add in a potato croquette and I want all of it you have. This was delicious. Tender and succulent pork, some tang from tomato, and saltiness from the bacon jus. McCoy's Sticke Alt is malty and sweet, rounding out the flavor profile for the course. Great, now my mouth's watering. This was excellent

So excited to eat, I couldn't get my finger out of the way for the photo

A beer dinner would not be complete without a dessert, especially when tomatoes are involved. Last year's dessert was a cobbler with ice cream. This time around it had macerated Black Krim tomatoes, shortbread, whipped cream, syrup, and Boulevard's Long Strange Tripel. More savory than sweet, it was a great light finish to the evening. The shortbread was crumbly and delicious, with light whipped cream and the sweet tang of the tomatoes.

I'm already looking forward to next year's dinner with the Kurlbaums! And I'm definitely going to have to seek out some heirloom tomatoes for myself.

Keep an eye out here soon for the next beer dinner, which will be the annual vegetarian meal.

McCoy's Sticke Alt now on tap!

Looking to expand your beer horizons this weekend? Come out and try the latest from McCoy's, a collaboration with Gordon Biersch - Sticke Alt. This is a little bit stronger than a usual Altbier, dark and malty and smooooooth. Maybe smoooove. Do people say that? Either way, it's good, and on tap now at both McCoy's and the Foundry.

Bad phone picture, good beer

Or if you're looking to join in the IPA Day celebration, the Foundry has Boulevard's Pop-Up IPA on tap! It's a sessionable IPA, clocking in at only 4.2% ABV. All of the hops you want in an IPA, but you can have one or two without feeling overcome by alcohol like you might with some of the bigger boys.

Don't forget that the beer dinner featuring heirloom tomatoes from Kurlbaum's Farm is just around the corner! It's coming up Monday, August 5th, at 7 pm. If you're not familiar with heirloom tomatoes, read this great blog post from The History Kitchen about the history of heirloom seeds. It's amazing to know that you're eating fruits and vegetables that trace back hundreds of years!