Exciting Upcoming Beer Events!

Have you been to any of our events where we've Randyl'd McCoy's beers? Well, if you want to try more while learning about the Randyl'ing process, keep your eyes and ears open for an interactive beer talk at Julian, featuring McCoy's Brewmaster Keith Thompson. Originally scheduled for tonight, it's been postponed for a later date (Chef Tio's a little busier than she had first anticipated - not a bad problem at all!). 

We'll let you know more details about this great beer interactive, followed by a fantastic dinner, in the near future. Until then, here's a reminder of another dinner, the Local Pig beer dinner, featuring Chef Alex Pope, at Beer Kitchen.

This is one you won't want to miss, so call Beer Kitchen at 816-389-4180 to reserve your spot today!!

Coming in September: Local Pig Beer Dinner

Finally recovered from the Great Nebraska Beer Fest. It was a fantastic time, rain and all!

The view from under a tent

One of the big takeaways from the fest for me was that Cinder Block can't get here fast enough! I really enjoyed their beers (especially the lemongrass saison and the sour they brought!), and think they'll be a welcome addition to Kansas City. Any other readers make it to the fest, and have any standouts?

Now, how about a little news about our next beer dinner?

On Monday, September 17th, Beer Kitchen will host a 6-course beer diner, featuring Chef Alex Pope of Local Pig. If you're not familiar with Local Pig, why not?? It's a charcuterie, located in Kansas City's East Bottoms, specializing in hormone, steroid, and antibiotic free meats, from the Kansas City area. They make their own sausage, cure their own meats, and offer classes on butchering whole animals or making sausage, among other meat skills. And if you're a home brewer, they'll even trade you a sausage for one of your beers (I believe it's up to 6). They appreciate good beer, and sell some of the best meats you'll find. So this is a beautiful fit for a beer dinner.

Here's a quick rundown of the courses we'll be having:

First Course: 
Stillwater Debutante paired with dry-aged beef tartare, slow-roasted tomatoes, Green Dirt Farm cheese, and gaufrettes

Second Course:
Crabtree Ginger Bee with coppa, sweet corn (bread), soy-braised shiitake, red pepper custard and fennel

Third Course:
Deschutes Chainbreaker with chorizo verde, grilled scallions & almonds in phyllo, and a kale & berber vinaigrette

Fourth Course:
Hofstetten Granitbock paired with a manchego-stuffed pork chop, smoked sauerkraut, and butternut, dry-hopped honey, and apples

Fifth Course:
Contreras Valier Extra with whipped bleu cheese, beet pie, pickled melon rind relish, and balsamic

Sixth Course:
Tommyknocker Maple Nut Brown, pretzel bread pudding, morita white chocolate ice cream with rosemary pecans and roasted pear

Oh my. Oh my. First off, there are a few beers here I've never tried (I think the Deschutes and Tommyknocker are the only two I've had). Then, the food. Mmmmmmmm. I LOVE beef tartare, and fell in love with Green Dirt Farms in their beer dinner a couple months ago. So this is rockin' right off the bat. And really, I don't know that I can single out a course I'd prefer over any other right now on paper. Bread pudding is a weakness of mine, so I'm excited about a pretzel bread version of it.

This beer dinner has limited seating, so make your reservations soon! $65 per person will get you all six courses with tax and gratuity included. Hurry, this one is sure to sell out! Call us at 816-389-4180 to get your spot.

Summer Harvest Vegetarian Dinner

Being an avid lover of carnivorous dishes, I was a little nervous that after Monday night's vegetarian beer dinner, I'd have to go out and get a mess of greasy hamburgers to sate my appetite. How wrong I was. Starting with the first course, I was satisfied (and well fed!).

Up first was a roasted heirloom tomato (from Kurlbaum's) with citrus-feta orzo, paired with the Leipziger Gose. Every aspect of this course worked together. The citrus and feta orzo had a salty aspect that matched up with the gose, and the tomato had a sweetness to balance it all. Also, I still have a crush on heirloom tomatoes, and this did nothing to dissuade it. A great start to the dinner, and not suffering from a lack of meat.

This is my artsy picture

Next was seared shiitakes, wilted spinach, and fennel vinaigrette. With crispy bread and Gouden Carolus Ambrio, this was another winner. I love mushrooms, and spinach, and Parmesan cheese, and fennel. So yeah, I liked the food. This time the Gouden Carolus Ambrio provided the sweetness for the dish. And I think this was the first time I'd had this particular beer. It had some dark fruit tones, nice with the earthier flavors of the mushroom and spinach. Mushrooms took the place of meat, without taking away any of the flavor.

This was my probably favorite course. Smoked potato and leek skewer with warm gouda, paired with Orkney Skull Splitter. Rich and creamy gouda "fondue" was a perfect condiment for the smoky potatoes and leeks, and the peat in the Skull Splitter went right with it. I wanted about twenty more plates of this.

If there was one course that wasn't a crowd-pleaser, it was the tofu course. It's a divisive product, for sure. Personally, I like it, but I understand people not enjoying it. It's got an unusual texture, not a lot of flavor of its own, and not . But this worked well with the black beans, barbecue sauce, and the watercress slaw. For me, though, tofu can't be a proper substitute for meat in barbecue. Deschutes Black Butte was the beer pairing, and the porter was a great compliment.

The dessert course was possibly the best overall pairing in the meal, matching house-made Ice Chai Neapolitan  - strawberry balsamic, chocolate lavender, and peach honey vanilla, all made with chai ice cream - with McCoy's Hogpound Brown, "Randyl'd" with tea leaves and chai spices (including clove, orange peal, cardamom, peppercorn, ginger, cinnamon, star anise, and bay leaves). Again, it's another case where I like the main component of a dish, and it's knocked out of the park. Chai is a natural fit with the brown ale, as well as the three ice cream flavors. Fantastic, all around.

It was a fine night and a fine meal, and a fine example of vegetarian dishes. It wasn't a case where there were "meat substitutes," (which is where I can get derailed), but a meal made up of well-crafted dishes, dishes that required no meat component. Of course, September's beer dinner will be on the other end of the spectrum. On September 17th, Beer Kitchen will be hosting a 6-course meal with Local Pig, featuring Chef Alex Pope!  I'll put more details up soon, but this is one that you won't want to miss! I mean, aside from the vegetarians. I'm not sure there'll be much for them, so they'll probably want to miss it.

The Great Nebraska Beer Fest Approaches!

No plans next weekend? Why not make a weekend trip to Papillion, Nebraska, for the Great Nebraska Beer Fest! We'll have beer available there, including our Ginger Shandy, Kolsch, ESB, and Pacific Jade DPA. There's a great list of breweries that will be at the fest, many that we don't usually see around these parts! Here are a few highlights - 

Funkwerks

A great brewery out of the land of great breweries, Colorado. Fort Collins to be specific. They generally make saisons, and make them very well. Tropic King is a favorite of mine, but they're all top-notch. As far as I know, you can't get their bottles outside of Colorado, so it's a treat for them to be this far away from home!

Cigar City

Another that doesn't get too far from its home state, Cigar City has been making some fine beers in Tampa, FL. The Jai Alai is a great IPA, and I'm really intrigued by the Cucumber Saison and the Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale.

Great River Brewery

This one is near my heart, as it's from the city where I was born, Davenport, IA. Their Red Band Stout is ridiculously good. If you like coffee stouts, seek this one out. Granted, that's the one beer I've had from them, but it was fantastic. I'm excited to try more.

Peace Tree

Another from my home state. What can I say, I'm a sucker. But Peace Tree earns it, making a wide variety of tasty, tasty beers in Knoxville, IA. At last year's fest, they had a version of their Cornucopia Saison with Brett that was AMAZING. My favorite beer at the fest. This year, they're bringing a Wild Templeton Red, a beer that has gotten nothing but rave reviews from those who have had it. 

Of course, Missouri and Kansas breweries will be well-represented, too! KC will have McCoy's, Boulevard, and soon-to-be newcomer Cinder Block. Some of our friends from St. Louis will be on hand as well - Morgan Street, 4 Hands, Schlafly, Cathedral Square, and Perennial. 23rd St, Little Apple, Blind Tiger, Free State, and Tallgrass will be part of the Kansas contingency. And then there are lots of smaller breweries and even home brewed beers that will be there.

I could go on and on listing many more of the breweries, but then I'd just end up with the list posted on the site. So check it out, and hopefully we'll see you there next weekend! 

Dog Days and the next Beer Dinner

Saturday's Dog Days of Summer was a great end to Base Camp! There were some great beers from Deschutes, including some goodies in Woody. If you missed it, you might find a few of the beers still around. . . The Foundry has Black Butte XXIV on tap, and Beer Kitchen still has some of the Black Butte XXIII! The Horse Ridge IPA went pretty quickly at McCoy's, so get here and try these before they're gone.

Getting the Black Butte XXIII marked off on the passport

Fans lining up for Woody!

We have another exciting event coming up in a few short weeks, as it's once again time for our annual vegetarian beer dinner.

On Monday, August 20th, Beer Kitchen will host a five-course Summer Harvest Vegetarian Dinner, featuring local produce!

You may recognize the Leipziger Gose from an earlier post, in a lineup of fantastic beers. After the gose, there's a great Belgian Strong Ale, a delicious Scotch ale, one of the best porters around, and then an excellent local beer, "Randyl'd" with something special! And the food features local produce, appealing to the vegetarian fans! 

$50 will get your ticket, and includes all food and beers on the menu, tax, and gratuity for the night! Call 816-389-4180 to reserve your spot!

Celebrate #IPADay with a hometown brew!

If you're looking for a place to properly celebrate International #IPADay today, we've got you covered at McCoy's!

Pacific Jade DPA!!

McCoy's has their Newcom's IPA on tap, and the next beer in the double pale ale series is now tapped!  This new DPA features the Pacific Jade hops - a fairly new hop to the scene, out of New Zealand.  It's a smooth, hoppy beer, but with a little more malt than a straight IPA.  There are some citrus notes there, but this is a good representative of the New Zealand style of hops, as opposed to the American Pacific Northwest style that's been hot in recent years.  To me, the NZ hops are a little grassier and fruitier.  This beer is a great chance to try a different kind of hop!

Beer Base Camp comes to Kansas City!

The Deschutes Base Camp week has kicked off here in Kansas City!  We're happy to be a part of the festivities this year, and proud to be benefiting a charity near to our hearts.

Click on the image to see the Deschutes Flickr account, full of great pics of Woody!

On Saturday, August 4th, we are hosting the closing event for Base Camp in Kansas City, so of course we're going to make sure it goes out with a bang!  From 2 pm - 6 pm Woody, the big beautiful barrel of beer from Deschutes will be on hand, bringing bodacious brews - Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Black Butte Porter, Twilight Summer Ale, Inversion IPA, Chainbreaker White IPA, Hop in the Dark Cascadian Dark Ale, Horse Ridge IPA, Nitro Obsidian Stout and Black Butte XXIII.  To top it all off, we'll have Deschutes Brewery’s limited anniversary brew for 2012, Black Butte XXIV!

For a little adventure, you'll also have the opportunity to fill out a passport!  Stop in to any of our restaurants to get your passport.  Then, get three stamps by drinking a beer at each location - McCoy's, The Foundry, and Beer Kitchen, and claim your prize at Woody!  We'll be offering full and 6 oz. pours of Nitro'd Obsidian, Black Butte XXIII and XXIIII, and Horse Ridge IPA at the restaurants, and 12 oz. pours from Woody.

What can make it better?  Well, $1 from every beer sold from Woody will be donated to Wayside Waifs, Kansas City's largest no-kill animal shelter.  Bring your pooches, sit on a patio, and grab some beers from Woody for a fantastic cause!

Check out our friends over at the KC Beer Blog for a full rundown of happenings around town throughout the week, and we'll see you Saturday afternoon!  Cheers!

You Say Tomato, I Say Tomato (doesn't really work in text)

Last night's beer dinner featuring Kurlbaum's heirloom tomatoes was a great success!!  Five courses of some of the best tomatoes you can get in Kansas City in delicious dishes, paired with fantastic beers.

Sky, Liz, and Sally were in attendance representing the farm, telling the fellow diners about their farm and the tomatoes used in the dishes.  There were some great facts about heirloom tomatoes, and the Kurlbaum farm.  They have a dry farm - meaning they don't use any irrigation, only rain - and 43 different varieties of tomatoes.  The hot, dry summer has actually helped produce some of the best tomatoes they've had.  And heirloom tomato seeds can be traced back hundreds of years.  Very cool.

Onto the meal.

The first course paired agnolotti & warm lump crab in a crunchy broth, smoked trout ricotta, and Juanne Flame tomatoes.  The tomato was filled with the smoked trout ricotta and bits of sea salt.  The sweet, smoky, and salty flavors blended perfectly!  And the agnolotti (sort of like a ravioli) with the lump crab and crunchy broth was delicious.  All of it went well with the sweeter Tripel Kermeliet.  A great start to the dinner!

Next was one I was really looking forward to - ginger pork belly, iceberg lettuce, and mayo (pictured on the right) and a short stack with pancetta.  The tomato rounding out the fanciest BLT I've ever had was the Gold Medal, and Nebraska Brewing Co.'s Apricot au Poivre tied it all together.  So good.  A sweeter tomato, the Gold Medal was perfect for the saltier pork belly.  Then, the savory and sweet short stack provided a nice contrast.  Apricot au Poivre is a great beer for this course.  It's sweet, with a good spice from black pepper used in the brewing.  I would have so much more of everything in this course.  Like, a full sandwich, the size of my face.  Two or three of them.  I would eat all of it.

The third course brought us the Cherokee Purple tomato charred & chilled and served as a sort of soup, with a seared day boat scallop and lobster cream. YUM. I love scallops, I love lobster, and I may love this tomato. It's got a smoky flavor. It worked well with the cream and seared scallop. The Odell Double Pilsner held up well with the dish. Fuller bodied, sweet malt with a good hop backing. Smooth. Like the dish.

A Brandywine tomato wedge with Maytag blue cheese and a tomato jerky might have been my favorite use of tomato on the night.  It was fairly straightforward, but with high quality ingredients, you don't need much.  Then with the smoked marrow emulsion and the braised beef toast, this was a great course.  New Belgium's Belgo is a good beer.  The hops may have been a bit strong for the more delicate flavors of the tomato wedge portion, but I think the beef toast and emulsion had enough backing to keep up with the beer.

Finally, dessert.  A cobbler featuring a Chocolate Striped tomato, topped with a Hillbilly Potato Leaf "frozen & spun" ice cream.  It sounds a little strange, but it actually worked really well, especially getting a bite of the ice cream and cobbler together.  The cobbler was better on its own than the ice cream, but it was impressive work to make a tasty sweet treat out from the tomatoes.  The beer pairing, Ommegang Witte, was a nice, light way to finish the meal.

Yes, a great, great meal.  Once again, Chef Michael Peterson created a fantastic menu.  I'm already looking forward to the next one!  Keep an eye out for the date and menu for the August beer dinner - it'll be our annual vegetarian meal!  Cheers