Advent Calendar Day 6: Brew Dog Punk, More BBQ, & Adulthood

Being an adult sometimes sucks! When you have to be productive or responsible on a Saturday because you need to run errands or go to your friend's kids birthday, you sometime yearn for those days of yesteryear. I was able to get up at noon and not have a care until I wanted to go hangout with friends. Today I got to sleep in till 8! I had to drop off dry cleaning and compost waste. So there is that...

However a benefit of getting up earlier is that you can have brunch at a newer BBQ place on the Kansas side before they sell of food for the day. The hole wall joint is called Slap's, and... wow, go try this place! The sausage, smoked turkey, ribs, burnt were amazing. The sides dishes weren't sides because I could them all day! That's delicious they were. We came back from Kansas to let the dogs out and relax before a kids birthday party. We got him Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Legos! That wasn't possible when I was younger! My head would have exploded if I got those Legos!

However, before we go to Henry's 5th birthday party, I get to take a few minutes to enjoy a good beer and tell you about it. C handed me a beer to relax with. Something light and that wouldn't knock me on my butt, after all I have to be responsible for the rest of the day. C picked a Brew Dog Punk IPA. And here I thought I had a lot of darker beers in my fridge.

Brew Dog IPA is a light IPA with a good citrus flavor. The beer poured with a nice head and subtle aroma. The flavor was light and I would pair it with a good BBQ. Man I wish I had had this beer while I was eating the sausage and burnt ends at Slap's!

The crazy ideas and off the cuff hilarity from Martin and James of Brew Dogs are really intriguing and I am fired up to try more beers from their brewery. The inventive and down to earth way they feel about craft beer and helping people experience that beer really draws me in. I can't wait for more Brew Dog beers to come to this area. I hope to one day travel like they do and experience the many aspects of beer culture in the cities of the world. We will have to come up with a plan to accomplish this!

Go give Brew Dogs and Slap's a try!

6 down... 18 to go!! Advent Calendar Day 5: Mongolian Grill and Puckering Sour!

Advent Calendar Day 5: Mongolian Grill and Puckering Sour

Warning!!: When typing the name the Kosmic Mother Funk, PLEASE BE SURE TO PROOFREAD PRIOR TO POSTING! Autocorrect is your enemy!!

Celebrating a week is always a good reason to go grab a beer. Celebrating a week in the Christmas season calls for a special beer and an opportunity to relax!

Telling stories and drinking a limited release sour would definitely fall in the category of a good way to celebrate the advent of the weekend and Christmas!

Fortunately I know of a spot that has good bartenders and not yet known as place to get great beer! BDs Mongolian Grill in Independence, Missouri houses The Beer Growler Taphouse. This place gets a lot of beers that people want! I am currently drinking Sam Adam's Kosmic Mother Funk Grand Cru! Which at other bars had been drained before rush hour ended! This is surprisingly dark beer. It also has a picket factor! I really enjoy the strong flavor and the aftertaste really lingers!

The KMF has a lot of hype and while I feel it's a great beer, I would need to do some more drinking of it to see if it lives up to the hype! If you are a fan of sours then you should try this one!

5 down... 19 to go!! Advent Calendar Day 4: Christmas Cards and Fall Beer

Advent Calendar Day 4: Christmas Cards and Fall Beer

I am a little late in getting my Christmas Cards out, but I took the evening and addressed all of the cards I have addresses for. These will go out in the mail in the morning. I feel really pretty accomplished for the evening.

I felt so accomplished that I treated myself to a Crown Valley Imperial Pumpkin Smash. 

This beer is a homage to to my definition of a fall beer. This beer pours dark and thick. While I was pouring the beer looked like it was boiling in the glass as it tumbled over itself. The bottle actually tells the drinker to make sure to drink the beer between 55 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. A far cry for the cold mountains of the Rockies. Why you ask? Well I have this beer cold and let it warm. The aroma and spices come alive and dance in your nose and mouth as the beer comes to temperature.

The pumpkin, chocolate, and roast characteristics of this beer warm me right up on a chilly night. Though it is a kind of a heavy beer, so you may want to have a lighter dinner if you drink this.

Go ahead and drink some Holloween as you ponder next year's costume! (It is never too early! I am thinking something clever my self or Star Wars related!)

4 down... 20 to go!! Advent Calendar Day 3: Chance, Charity, Christmas Tree

Advent Calendar Day 3: Chance, Charity, & Christmas Trees

Tonight I was tricked! C tricked me into cleaning out some of my old boxes of random things. In addition to dust these boxes have collected random things over the years. The premise was that she and I were going to put up a Christmas tree in basement. A common name for this room is a "Man Cave". She prefers "family room" or just the basement. I prefer the man cave nomenclature. This is why I like to showcase mainly beer related items. Maybe I should post about the different items down there... I digress...

The menace known as C tricked me into cleaning out some old boxes under the guise of putting up a Christmas Tree with all of the beer and brewery related as ornaments.This great idea got me excited to go through my stuff and find stickers from breweries like Cinder Block or Boulevard. Pins for Allagash and flyers from Nanobrew Fest. All of these were given a ribbon and hung with care on a Christmas tree in the Man Cave.

This is where I realize I have been bamboozled! I look at the room with odds and ends strewn over tables, couches, and floors. I had a soap opera horrifying realization moment! I knew then that I would have to go through the stuff I have had haphazardly rifled through to put it all away.

In the process of recycling old papers and putting some things away, I found an opportunity to donate some of my belongings so that others may enjoy items I have been blessed with but wasn't currently using. This is always a good opportunity to declutter and give to those less fortunate than me.

As I was doing a good job of getting giving and cleaning, C relented and picked my next Advent beer. I was giving a lot to chance on this one. I didn't know what to expect. She fortunately selected Boulevard's Mid-Coast IPA! This beer pours orange with a nice head on it. As designed the IPA is pretty hoppy and really brings the bitterness in a way that is enjoyable and crisp. I found the piney notes from the beer funny as I picked up the Christmas tree needles from floor. I really do enjoy this beer and was a good one to drink as blew the dust away and decorated a Christmas Tree. 

3 down... 21 to go! Advent Calendar Day 2: River North IPA and Rock & Run

Advent Calendar Day 2: River North IPA and Rock and Run Brewery

C and I recently went to Rock and Run Brewery to enjoy some brunch. They have a really good menu if you are in the mood for breakfast or lunch. They even added some new items! While we were there, we splurged and got the small growlers because C thought they were cute. She also pointed out that we could use them to share home brews out of the kegs we plan to use in the near future. (More on that in a later post!)

One of the choices for the mini growlers was River North IPA. This beer is not over powering nor is it going to wreck your palate. I would in fact consider this India Pale Ale inviting as well as enjoyable by most moderate tastes. If you are thinking about trying an IPA for the first time, this one might be something to consider. The beer pours nice and smooth. Has nice head retention. The hop profile is nice but is balanced by a malt backbone. In other words, any bitterness that the beer has, while noticeable, is countered by a sweetness that mellows the beer out.

While, the beer is not going to blow you away with how good it is, it is a very enjoyable beer that makes for a good IPA. River North Brewing is new to the area and this beer normally comes in a tall boy can four pack. Give it a try and tell me what you think about it!

Like I have said before, for me the holiday season is about sharing and showing appreciation for those you care about. So take some advice from me and grab some beer and share it with those you are close to and smile because you are enjoying the good times.

2 down... 22 to go! Advent Calendar Day 1: Boulevard Beer Dinner

Advent Calendar Day 1: Boulevard Beer dinner!

It is December 1st and that means Christmas carols and decorations, snow, family and loved ones, snow, and of course beer. Being raised as I was in a Catholic family, we were well versed in the advent season. We would light the candles in anticipation of the season. With each candle we knew that Christmas was drawing near.

I don't know if you have noticed or not but I may have a thing for good beer. When I heard about a beer Advent calendar, I knew I had to do it! I am going to share with you at least one beer a day for the rest of December up until Christmas.

I do like to go big so my first iteration of this year's Advent calendar is actually a beer dinner!

Boulevard teamed up with a local BBQ place called Summit Hickory Pit put on a four course meal, with each course paired with a beer. The dinner was local and it wasn't expensive like some many beer dinners can be! Also beer and BBQ go so well together that you couldn't go wrong.

We were started off with my go to beer. Tank 7 is a beer that I can drink anytime and is my "go-to" beer. Tank 7 is light and crisp. I think Tank 7 is the benchmark for good beer. The beer was paired with some amazing sausage and smokey delicious BBQ baked beans.

The second course was a couple meaty ribs paired with Boulevards new Backroads series Last Splash. A wet hopped IPA that had a nice malt characteristic. It went really well with the juicy ribs. Wet hopping by the way is the technique of putting fresh picked hops into a brew within hours of being picked, in this case less than 36 hours.

The third course was amazing. The servers bring out huge plates with a mound of brisket, next to a pile of rice, broccoli, and cheesy roll. When I say mound of brisket, I am not saying a few slices of brisket. I am talking about each plate had two chunks of brisket, each chunk weighing 5 or 6 ounces! This lovely dish was pair very nicely with a Double-wide IPA. The hop and malt balance of the beer really brought out the flavors of char and smoke.

 The final course for the dinner was a delicious apple crisp bread pudding thing with ice cream. The dessert was paired with Sixth Glass, a Quadrupel Ale which is a Belgian style dark ale. This beer really brought out the succulent flavors of the apple. It also made me want to go home and get out some Bourbon Barrel Quad which Sixth glass is the base of.

Overall I really enjoyed myself and had great company. Some beer dinners leave you wanting to go to McDonald's because there wasn't enough food. This one I felt like I had gotten up from Thanksgiving dinner again! I got to eat some really good food with some great beers. The people at Boulevard really have a passion to share quality beer.

I feel this is a great start to the Advent season and will start us down a path of sharing and good times which is what the holiday season is all about! 1 down... 23 to go!

Beer descriptions by @Jeremy_Danner have included dissecting a frog n high school & a social movement to have uniquely identifying ringtones
— Alex Workman (@scoutingthetaps) December 2, 2014

Silver Crawl!

You may or may not have noticed recently that a certain brewery turn 25 years old. Actually at least two breweries turned 25 years old recently. In 1989, Odell Brewing and Boulevard Brewing Companies both started sharing the joy of quality beer with the masses.

This fact might make you feel old because you were at Ponak's on November 17, 1989 drinking a pale ale that was most likely bought for you by some guy at the bar. Or this fact might make you feel really young because last weekend you bought your first legal beer, an unfiltered wheat in a sleek black and yellow aluminum bottle. Either way this makes you feel, as Kansas Citian I know I feel proud and have a lot of respect for any business that can perpetuate itself for 25 years. A small business that turned the corner driven by a commitment to excellence born of passion. This commitment and passion driving the business to a regional, if not a national player in the industry in 25 years is really something to celebrate!

Good thing there was a celebration for both Odell and Boulevard here in Kansas City! More specifically in Westport with the Silver Crawl! Silver, if you didn't know, is the traditional celebratory symbol of 25 years.

Odell and Boulevard organized a pub crawl in Westport and they did it right! Having heard of the pub crawl through social media, C and I jumped on the chance to get a couple of only 600 tickets to join in on the Silver Crawl. A ticket got you a nice t-shirt and a passport book to take along your journey.

Possible stops on the pub crawl included:

• Local Pig Westport/Preservation Market/Bridger's Bottle Shop
• Harry's 
• Kelly's
• Green Room 
• Harpo's
• Port Fonda
• Riot Room
• Westport Ale House
• Firefly

Everyone of these stops had some good beer on tap, including a couple of collaboration beers that Odell and Boulevard put together as a celebration of 25 years.

As there were two versions of the Anniversary beers, there were also many reviews we heard as we went through the day. One of the brews was hoppier and crisp. The other was smoother and mellow, maybe because of the lack of a strong hop presence. I wont tell you which is which because I want you to tell me your thoughts about the beers. I also want you to help me find both on tap at the same bar. So let me know!

If good beer on tap is not your thing or not enough to get you out of your house, good people and a chance at a trip to GABF would have enticed you? Well it did for me! I got to chat with Jeremy Danner, Matt Shadid from Odell, not to mention Trip from Boulevard, (You know the guy that Long Strange Tripel is named after?). These guys and other friendly smiling faces representing both breweries were present and eager to hang out with supporters of the breweries.

What was that about GABF? That's right Great American Beer Fest! If you filled your passport by going to six of the bars and getting a stamp at each place, you were entered into a drawing for a trip to a week of beer drinking in Denver, Colorado. Beer drinking doesn't even do the event justice! GABF brings beer from all over in, what is for me, a bucket list event!

While I was not able to win the trip, C and I had a lot of fun, drank great beer, met great people, and even got a free shirt out of the deal!

I look forward to other celebrations in the future because both breweries are doing well enough that there is plenty to toast to!

"Arm wrestle @matts_odellbrew and you could win some sweet @OdellBrewing gear! #SilverCrawl #Blvd and #Odell pic.twitter.com/yf4O6H5ld2"
— Odell Brewing Co (@OdellBrewing) November 8, 2014