Tap List | New Axiom Brewing Coming to Lee’s Summit
Published November 14th, 2017 at 6:00 AM
Homebrewers from 11 Letter Brews and Middle Ground Zymurgy and Tapworx have joined forces to create New Axiom Brewing Company (949 NE Columbus St., Lee’s Summit, Missouri). Head brewers Mac Lamken, Devin Glaser, Sean Householder and Joe Migletz, director of taproom operations, are behind the brewery-in-planning. While New Axiom’s team has just begun demolition on their 3,000 square-foot space, they plan to open in 2018. The group sheds more light on its plans. Householder responded to our questions via email on behalf of the New Axiom team.
Why base the brewery in Lee’s Summit?
“We see a huge opportunity in this area. We enjoy visiting breweries, but don’t enjoy the hubbub connected with driving and parking in downtown Kansas City or going to North Kansas City. We live in this area, and investing in our own community is important to us. The goal is to create a good beer scene in eastern Jackson County so that it can be an any night activity, not just when you have time to make the trek downtown.”
What type of brewery do you have planned?
“We will open as a brewery and taproom with no distribution. We want to focus intently on experimenting and small batch beers in the beginning. Brewing in quantities needed for distribution could potentially hinder our ability to do so. We will not do any food in-house, but plan to have some catered nights. We have also already spoken to surrounding restaurants about delivery options.”
How will you use the space?
“We have dedicated as much space as we could to the taproom and customer space to have an occupancy of almost 100 people inside. We also have planned a 1,000 square-foot deck to the side of the building that will overlook an adjacent pond. The three-barrel brewhouse will have eight six-barrel fermenters and four six-barrel brite tanks. We will have several additional smaller fermenters dedicated to cider production.”
Tell us about the beers you plan to brew.
“We have several beers that have been very successful at the local beer events, such as Go(o)se Hunting Gose (tart cherry hibiscus gose), Rooted Rye (root beer spiced rye ale), Banana Bread, and blood orange hefeweizen. Several new recipes include different IPAs, lagers and stout variants. We plan to have a barrel program from day one and offer special releases throughout the year. Several ciders will range from sweet to dry with fun and exciting flavor combinations.”
What’s the goal of New Axiom’s recent bottle drop events?
“We want to create a brand and following before opening. It is really up to people whether we fail, survive, or thrive. Also, it has allowed us to start symbiotic relationships with other local breweries. As we approach opening, we want to put good relationships in place with the local experts in our field.”
Tap Notes
Colony KC (312 Armour Road, North Kansas City, Missouri) released Vision Quest, a carrot cake cream ale.
Double Shift Brewing (412 E. 18th St.) released Surreal Skies (9.2-percent ABV, 37 IBUs), a dark blood orange imperial saison, brewed with dark malt. Citrus peel and flesh was added at various stages of the boil, and blood orange was added post-fermentation. Tasting slightly sweet and juicy, the beer finishes dry in the spirit of Belgian saisons.
Also from Double Shift Brewing, Bring Out Your Dead (7.4-percent ABV, 35 IBUs) is a blond coffee ale. Think pale coffee stout brewed with lactose and oats for a velvety body and notes of fresh Mexican vanilla bean. The beer was conditioned with Messenger Coffee’s single-origin Papua New Guinea Blend and roasted cacao from Maps Coffee Roasters.
A third release from Double Shift Brewing is Ginger Root Peach Pale Ale (4.7-percent ABV, 31 IBUs). The beer was brewed to support Drink Local, Think Global’s fundraising campaign to raise $45,000 through Nov. 20. Inspired by ginger beer, the brewers made a low-alcohol oatmeal pale ale beer hopped with Mosaic and Hallertau Blanc hops. Fresh Peruvian ginger root, palm sugar and sweet peaches contribute to a nose of white wine with initial flavors of fresh-grated ginger and sweetness yielding to a dry, ginger-forward finish with peach.
Torn Label Brewing (1708 Campbell St.) has created its first and only barrel-fermented beer. Ingmar, a wild strawberry ale, began as a semi-traditional Belgian saison and was transferred to red wine barrels previously used to finish gin. After fermenting in the barrels, the beer aged for five months and was conditioned on strawberry purée. Funky and fruity, Ingmar will be released in bottles at 5 p.m. on Dec. 1 and will also be available on draft. Also recently released, Petit Soleil (Little Sun), a winter saison that showcases Mandarina Bavaria hops, is crisp and refreshing with notes of white wine and grape must.
Martin City Brewing Company (500 E. 135th St.) released Kentucky Friar (11.8-percent ABV, 41 IBUs), a Belgian-style golden strong ale aged in bourbon barrels, on draft at its taproom and select locations in Kansas City.
Free State Brewing Company (636 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, Kansas) has released Breakaway IPA 6-percent ABV, 61 IBUs). Crystal, Citra, and Amarillo hops complement the toasty malt character and produce tangerine and grapefruit flavors. The IPA marries the malty qualities of Free State’s Octoberfest with the juicy character of a tropical IPA. It’s available in six-packs and on draft. Other tap releases at the brewery include Basil-Lime “Rickey,” a sour wheat beer with an infusion of local Irick Farms basil and lime zest. Tahiti Nui IPA features five hop varieties and more than 80 pounds of pineapple puree added during conditioning. Naturally, Tahiti Nui surfs on waves of big tropical fruit notes.
— Pete Dulin writes about food trends for Flatland and is the author of The KC Ale Trail. Follow @FlatlandKC and #TapList on Twitter for more food news and trends.