Tap List | Kaw Point Meadery Build-Out Continues in Strawberry Hill
Published August 7th, 2018 at 6:00 AM
Daniel Bauer said he thinks he’s put about 30 gallons of paint on the side of the building at 613 N. Sixth St. Bright yellow accents flash out from the windows on the second story, a clear beacon drawing you in like bees to a flower.
This is the future home of Kaw Point Meadery. Bauer, John Zumalt, and Sam Suddarth have been working since February to shape the former T-Mobile store into the first meadery in Kansas City, Kansas.
“Strawberry Hill has been great,” Bauer said. “Not everybody here knows mead, but their grandparents are like, ‘oooh, mead.'”
Mead, a fermented honey drink, is having a moment locally. New Axiom Brewing Company, which just opened in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, intends to brew mead and cider in an adjacent space, while Black Labs Meadery out of Olathe, Kansas, began offering its pineapple and black raspberry mead online and via pop-up last month.
Bauer gives me an informal tour of the space, which he’s aiming to open in late fall. The taproom, which will face North Sixth Street, will have dark wooden tables and a bar with a dedicated ordering area (something which New Axiom and East Forty Brewing both opted to build as part of its new taprooms). There will be a small stage — Bauer plays upright bass — for live music, as well.
Kaw Point wants to be family friendly. To that end, the meadery will make its own sodas. Bauer is a big fan of root beer, so that’s the likely starting point.
As for the mead, Bauer will use clover honey for his session series — what will be on tap — in flavors like flowers and bark, cinnamon and hibiscus, lavender lemonade, or rose not rose (which uses rosehips and rose petals).
“I love playing with botanicals,” Bauer said. “The clover honey is available locally and plays well with a number of flavors.”
For what he’s currently calling the standard series, Bauer is aiming to bottle his black currant and toasted marshmallow, pecan praline and maple syrup, or banana walnut (made with black walnuts). The Pollinator’s Reserve will feature monofloral honey (think single origin coffee) like Tasmanian Leatherwood honey or heather honey from Scotland.
“Mead is like a stew,” Bauer said. “You have to develop layers of flavor over time.”
A Festival of Notes
The second annual Hip Hops Hooray, a hip-hop and craft beer festival, will be from 4 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11 at the DeLeon Event Space (3235 Gillham Plaza). The mash-up of music and brews will featured passed appetizers, homebrewers and pro brewers, and plenty of old school hip-hop.
Tap Notes
Strange Days Brewing Company (316 Oak St.) just rolled out a new batch of Episodes. The single-hop pale ale was brewed with Vic Secret hops. And even though the World Cup is over, there’s still plenty of soccer at Strange Days as they’re showing European football matches.
As far as coming attractions, Callsign Brewing (1447 Gentry St., North Kansas City, Missouri) has a wheat and a cream ale that should be available in its taproom in a few weeks.
Boulevard Brewing Company’s Bob’s 47 arrived in six-packs and on draft yesterday. Go ahead and shake hands with fall. This is Boulevard’s Oktoberfest seasonal.
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