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Tap List | 3 KC Area Cities Make ‘Best Of’ Beer List 2 Local Cities Ranked in Top 75 With 1 Near The Bottom

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Above image credit: The view of downtown from Boulevard Brewing Co. (Emily Woodring | Flatland)
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4 minute read

Kansas City, Missouri, and Overland Park, Kansas, ranked 34th and 64th, respectively, in a new ranking of the country’s top cities for beer lovers. Near the bottom of the list was Kansas City, Kansas, coming in at 178th out of 180.

The new ranking was compiled by Lawn Love, best known as a source for lawn care information. The folks at Lawn Love, seemingly acting on the logic that lawn lovers love beer, compiled a database that searched for “cities with plenty of breweries, award-winning beers, cheap pints, beer-centered festivals, and a big beer-loving community.”

It’s little surprise Kansas City, Missouri, ranked well on the list. With several well-known breweries, tons of craft-centric bars and a dedicated craft beer community, Kansas City’s beer scene has exploded in popularity over the past several years. Kansas City’s beer scene has been put on the national stage by breweries like Boulevard Brewing Co and BKS Artisan Ales, who recently medaled at the Great American Beer Festival.

But with its ranking of 178th out of the nation’s 180 largest cities, the database tags KCK as one of the worst beer cities in America. While it’s true that KCK doesn’t have any breweries of its own, there is plenty of access to craft beer right down the road.

Another interesting aspect? Like KCK, Overland Park does not have a single brewery located within city limits and yet it ranks 114 spots ahead of KCK. There are plenty of breweries surrounding Overland Park in cities like Mission, Olathe, Shawnee and Lenexa, but none within city limits. Perhaps the biggest difference between KCK and Overland Park is the number of craft-centric bars. While KCK has practically none, Overland Park has several.

Regardless of where these three cities fall on any list, the area can be proud of our beer scene and how much it’s grown and continues to grow. Feel free to parse the full ranking here.

Maybe it’s just time for someone to open a craft brewery in KCK.  

Beer Releases

City Barrel Brewing Co. — 1740 Holmes St., Kansas City, Missouri — has a fun new IPA called Chocko Taco. Reminiscent of the ice cream treat, this 7.5% ABV beer was brewed with vanilla, chocolate, cone and milk sugar. It’ll make you feel like you’re drinking dessert.

Lost Evenings Brewing Co. — 8625 Hauser Court, Lenexa, Kansas — has a different take on a fall beer. Instead of the darker, malty beers you’ll find around this time of year, they went with a caramel apple sour ale. Not overly sweet nor overly sour, Fall Fest is the perfect 4.5% ABV fall treat.

Pathlight Brewing — 11200 W. 75th St., Shawnee, Kansas — has released Therese, a German-style hefeweizen. Coming in at 6% ABV, it was brewed in honor of Therese Saxony-Hildburghausen, the bride of Prince Ludwig, whose wedding sparked the original Oktoberfest celebration.

Outfield Beer Co. — 10953 Kaw Drive, Edwardsville, Kansas — just released their newest beer, Wild Pitch. Wild Pitch is a 3.5% ABV traditional Berliner weiss. Outfield brewed it with blueberries lending a slight but refreshing tartness.

Fermentation tanks at Crane Brewing Co. in Raytown.
Fermentation tanks at Crane Brewing Co. in Raytown. (Courtesy | Crane Brewing Co.)

Crane Brewing Co. — 6515 Railroad St., Raytown, Missouri — has a new collaboration beer available called EmpowHER Sour Ale. The 7% ABV beer was brewed with InnovateHer KC, an organization dedicated to empowering women. Proceeds from this beer, brewed with lychee, passion fruit, and butterfly pea flowers, will directly benefit the InnovateHer KC organization.

Rockcreek Brewing Co. — 5880 Beverly Ave., Mission, Kansas — has released their 9th New England IPA. Dubbed The Third Square, this beer rings in at 6.7% ABV and 55 IBUs. You’ll receive plenty of juicy tropical flavors like pineapple, mango, guava and papaya in this IPA.

Free State Brewing Co. — 636 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, Kansas — wants you to get your thinking cap on with Transcendental Thought Bubble. This hazy IPA, which is 6% ABV and 43 IBUs, has flavors of grapefruit, sumac, sage and stone fruit.

Beer Events

Friday, Oct. 8

Servaes Brewing Co. — 10921 Johnson Drive, Shawnee, Kansas — is hosting a release party for their new beer Loyally in the Bond. The 5% ABV beer is a sour ale brewed with red carnations and raspberry puree giving it both floral and fruity characteristics. A portion of the proceeds from this beer will go to Safehome, a domestic violence shelter in Johnson County.

Outfield Beer Co. — 10953 Kaw Drive, Edwardsville, Kansas — wants to put your Harry Potter knowledge to the test. They’ll be hosting a Harry Potter Trivia Night where they’ll be asking questions from both the book and movie series.

Saturday, Oct. 9

Brew At The Zoo — 600 Zoo Drive, Kansas City, Missouri — will be taking place from 6:30-11 p.m. on Saturday. Featuring 35 different breweries and wineries from around the area, here’s your chance to share a drink alongside your favorite animals. Ticket purchase includes one drink ticket.

A crowd enters the zoo's front gate.
Brew at the Zoo& Wine Too features 35 breweries and wineries. (Contributed | Kansas City Zoo)

KC Bier Co. — 310 W. 79th St., Kansas City, Missouri — wants to make sure you’re still in the Oktoberfest spirit even if you did miss most of the celebrations. They’ll be hosting Live Polka on the Patio (or inside if it’s raining). Admission is free and there will be plenty of German style bier as well as eats like Bavarian pretzels and sausages.

Sunday, Oct. 10

Boulevard Brewing Co. — 2501 Southwest Blvd., Kansas City, Missouri — is hosting their 8th annual Oktoberfiesta. This event benefits the local Mattie Rhodes Center. Admission to the event is free, though you can grab a $20 ticket which will get you a limited edition Oktoberfiesta stein with the first fill free. The event will also feature live music, family friendly bingo, arts and crafts, and a stein holding competition.

Caturday in the Crossroads — East Crossroads, Kansas City, Missouri — is back with a bar crawl to benefit the cats of KC Pet Project. The bar crawl starts at noon and will feature nine different stops, including City Barrel, Casual Animal, Double Shift Brewing and Torn Label Brewing Co. Each stop will have drink specials and the opportunity to buy raffle tickets for a bag of merch. You can purchase tickets for the event here.

Stockyards Brewing Co. — 1600 Genessee St., Ste. 100, Kansas City, Missouri — has brought back their Sunday Service series. This week will feature 3 Trails West. Music begins at 4 p.m. and will be held on the patio unless there is inclement weather.

Alex Andujar is a former beer sales rep turned personal trainer. When he’s not training clients you can find him trying new beers at many of Kansas City’s great local breweries. 


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One thought on “Tap List | 3 KC Area Cities Make ‘Best Of’ Beer List

  1. “There are plenty of breweries surrounding Overland Park in cities like Mission, Olathe, Shawnee and Lenexa, but none within city limits.”

    The good folks at Brew Lab would like a word with you.

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