Join our family of curious Kansas Citians

Discover unheard stories about Kansas City, every Thursday.

Thank you for subscribing!

Check your inbox, you should see something from us.

Sign Me Up
Hit enter to search or ESC to close

Origin Story | Cinder Block Brewery’s Black Squirrel

Jonathan Bender
Share this story

Published February 15th, 2017 at 10:25 AM

Back in summer 2013, a few weeks after Cinder Block Brewery began operation, they were brewing an unnamed Russian Imperial Stout.

A faulty temperature sensor meant that their brew system kept dumping food-grade glycol on the cement behind the brewhouse.

Owner Bryce Schaffter went outside to investigate and that’s when he saw it...

I looked over to the left and there was a black squirrel lapping up the glycol on the ground because it was sweet. I thought that’s the biggest rat I’ve ever seen with a fluffy tail.

Bryce Googled it and discovered there are black squirrels in Missouri.

For the next two weeks, the squirrel came back looking for more glycol.

And ever since, then there’s a single family of black squirrels that we see once or twice a year.

It’s like a sasquatch, but we call it a squirrel-squatch.

Black Squirrel launches this week. Check out #TapList, our new weekly beer calendar, for details. Got an origin story you think we should illustrate? Drop us a line on Twitter. 

Like what you are reading?

Discover more unheard stories about Kansas City, every Thursday.

Thank you for subscribing!

Check your inbox, you should see something from us.

Enter Email
Power Kansas City journalists to tell stories you love, about the community you love. Donate to Flatland.

Related Stories

Questions Answered

curiousKC: Home Sweet (12th Street) Hotel

A Childhood Spent in Hectic Kansas City Hotel Triggers Memories

by Clarence Dennis | 07-05-2021

Eats & Drinks

Tap List | Local Breweries Teeing Up Toasts for Trick-or-Treating

Full Schedule of Halloween Beer Events This Weekend

by Marco Camacho | 10-27-2020

Eats & Drinks

Tap List | Skateboarding, Beer and Regrets

Life is a Cost-Benefit Analysis

by Marco Camacho | 10-06-2020

Eats & Drinks

Tap List | Toasting the Summer Solstice in Style

Beer Releases Picking Up the Pace

by Marco Camacho | 06-16-2020

Eats & Drinks

Tap List | Let the Kansas City Craft Beer Comeback Begin

Local Brewers Are Reopening Their Doors

by Marco Camacho | 06-02-2020

Eats & Drinks

Tap List | Resolving to Drink More Beer in 2020

Happy Beer Year!

by Marco Camacho | 01-07-2020

Eats & Drinks

Tap List | Hoppy Holidays

Beer Enthusiast Cassie Niemeyer Toasts the Season

by Emily Woodring | 12-17-2019

Eats & Drinks

Tap List | Beer and Candy Pairings for Halloween

by Emily Woodring | 10-29-2019

Eats & Drinks

Pizza Hut Started With a $600 Loan from A Mom In Wichita

A Story That Spans Space, A Mustache And All Of The Cheese

by Jonathan Bender | 01-16-2019

Eats & Drinks

Tap List | Limitless Brewing & Black Squirrel Friday

by Jonathan Bender | 11-20-2018

Tags: • •

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *