Tap List | GABF Bound & Cinder Block Turns Four
Beer Festival Season has arrived. Are you ready? (Pete Dulin I Flatland)
Published September 26th, 2017 at 6:00 AM
The Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Oct. 5-7, is not only one of the nation’s largest beer festivals, but it is also a prominent beer competition with entries assessed by professional judges. Several area breweries send staff to attend the exhibition, research trends and beers, and submit beers in hopes of garnering a medal.
This year, Boulevard Brewing has entered Changeling in the Wood in the Barrel-Aged Sour category, Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale in the American–Belgo-style Ale category, Zon in the Belgian–Style Witbier category, and Saison Brett in the Contemporary Saison category.
“GABF is arguably the biggest and best beer festival in the country with the opportunity to reach 60,000-plus beer drinkers over the course of three days,” Boulevard ambassador brewer Jeremy Danner said.
The event is also an opportunity for brewers to connect with peers and friends from other breweries across the U.S.
“It’s like going to my high school reunion, if I like the people that I went to high school with,” Danner said. “In addition to sharing beers with industry peers, it’s an excellent opportunity to network and share info, learn about other regions’ beer markets, plant the seed for future collaboration beers, and find breweries that I’d like to invite to Boulevardia Taps & Tastes for the next year.”
Also, Double Shift Brewing in the East Crossroads entered three beers in the GABF Competition: Tin Foil Hat Saison (rye-oat saison) in the Classic Saison category, Sister Abby Dubbel in the Belgian Quad or Dubbel category, and Barrel-Aged Literally Can’t Even in the Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Ale category.
“We send beers to GABF to gain some insight into the product – fermentation conditions, general quality, and some ideas into what we can do to improve,” head brewer Bryan Stewart said. “Overall, the festival is a good way to network, improve, and try some out-of-market products.”
Cinder Block Brewery Turns Four
Cinder Block Brewery (110 E. 18th Ave., North Kansas City, Missouri) celebrates its fourth anniversary with daily events through Sept. 30th. Look for the release of Champagne Cider, a specialty IPA, and a Cranberry Gose scale-up made from homebrewer David Schumacher’s recipe.
“The first version of Champagne Cider was released in 2015,” Cinder Block owner Bryce Schaffter said. “It was very limited and will be again. We used a different yeast strain with it as well as an acid blend and tannins to add some additional complexity.”
“The beer starts very simple with wheat, pilsner, acidulated malt and some brewer salts,” Schaffter said.
Tap Notes
Several beers in Boulevard Brewing Company’s Smokestack Series will be packaged in six-packs instead of the customary four-packs in coming weeks. Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale, The Calling IPA, The Sixth Glass, and Dark Truth Stout will be subject to the expanded packaging format.
Boulevard anticipates pricing for Smokestack Series six-packs to remain the same retail price as four-packs of its year-round barrel-aged beers: Bourbon Barrel Quad and Whiskey Barrel Stout. The brewery will continue to produce limited release beers in four-packs and individual 750-milliliter bottles.
In other Boulevard news, the latest selection of their Sample Twelve pack includes two different year-round beers and two brand new beers from the Tasting Room. Along with Bully! Porter and American Kolsch as year-round favorites, new additions include Tasting Room – Black Walnut Ale (5-percent ABV, 22 IBUs) and Oat Pale Ale (5.1-percent ABV, 59 IBUs).
Black Walnut Ale features walnuts from Hammons Black Walnuts in Stockton, Missouri, a small amount of beechwood-smoked malt, and a touch of sea salt. Anticipate black walnut flavor with a touch of malt sweetness. Oat Pale Ale incorporates Columbus, Equinox, Citra and Mosaic hops. The grain bill includes rolled oats, pale malt, Maris Otter, Amber 50, and Cara 120 malts. Dry in character, Oat Pale Ale has tropical fruit, citrus and piney hop notes with a berry-pine herbal finish. Both beers are available exclusively in the Sample Twelve pack and on draft in the Beer Hall in the Tours & Rec Center (2534 Madison Ave.).
Rock and Run Brewery (110 E. Kansas St., Liberty, Missouri) recently brewed Cherry Bomb Wheat that will be released Sept. 29th.
“We have a brand-new menu and have moved most of our guest taps to [highlight] local and regional breweries,” head brewer and co-owner Gene DeClue said. “We just released our B-Weisser with locally-grown organic pears from Prairie Birthday Farms. We just brewed two pale ales, Wet Cascade Pale and Wet Centennial Pale, with locally-grown hops from Royal Hop Farms.”
The pale ales will be released Oct. 6.
See more beer releases for the coming week in the calendar listings below.
Boulevard’s got two new beers in its Sample Twelve Pack: Tasting Room Black Walnut Ale and Oat Pale Ale. (Courtesy of Boulevard Brewing Company)
This Week
Tuesday, Sept. 26
Prairie Artisan Ales Tap Takeover commences at 5 p.m. at Barley’s Kitchen + Tap Shawnee (16649 Midland Drive, Shawnee, Kansas). The taps will feature imperial stouts, such as Coffee Bomb, Vanilla Bomb, Cocoa Bomb and Chili Bomb.
Cinder Block Brewery (110 E. 18th Ave, North Kansas City, Missouri) releases Champagne Cider and has free trivia tonight.
Wednesday, Sept. 27
Set your clock for Yappy Hour from 6 to 8 p.m. at Kansas City Bier Company (310 W. 79th St.). Tables from Beer Paws and Humane Society of Greater KC will be set up in the Biergarten. Beer Paws will donate 10 percent of all sales and KC Bier Co will donate 100 percent of its Gose Sour Wheat Ale sales.
Fringe Beerworks (224 SE Douglas St., Lees Summit, Missouri) releases Pineapple Whip IPA (5.7-percent ABV, 42 IBUs), a hazy, juicy New England-style IPA. Only 40 people admitted to the taproom at a time. Limit one crowler per person.
Hug a Yeti and drink some Yeti beers at The Burger Stand at The Casbah (803 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, Kansas). The burger and brews joint will have house-cellared Yeti brews, including Oak-aged Yeti, Chocolate Yeti and Espresso Yeti. A magical beast may be in attendance, too.
Thursday, Sept. 28
Double Shift Brewing (412 E. 18th St.) releases Equal Night Autumn Lager (6.6-percent ABV, 23 IBUs), a balanced, malt-forward lager inspired by Vienna lager. Brewed exclusively with German malts, the lager exhibits notes of biscuits, toasted bread and continental hops.
The First Annual Westport Oktoberfest runs Thursday, Sept. 28th through Sunday, Oct. 1st, and includes a ceremonial tapping of the Oktoberfest keg, German-style food, special beer tappings, stein hoisting, live music, a 5K run, and more. Saturday’s events include German dance lessons, Weiner dog races and marionette theatre.
Cinder Block Brewery releases Cranberry Gose, a scale-up recipe by homebrewer David Schumacher of SchuBrew produced at Cinder Block’s brewhouse.
Dive into imperial stouts at Waldo Pizza (1543 NE Douglas St., Lee’s Summit, Missouri). For $25, try a flight of Prairie’s Vanilla Bomb, Chocolate Bomb, Coffee Bomb and Chili Bomb, plus a full pour of the original Bomb for comparison.
Smokin’ Guns BBQ & Catering (1218 Swift Ave., North Kansas City, Missouri) returns with its monthly beer dinner series, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., featuring Founders Brewing beers.
Oktoberfest is coming to Westport. (Courtesy of Westport)
Friday, Sept. 29
Double Shift Brewing releases Hollow Moon Rye Porter (6.1-percent ABV, 37 IBUs). “Unlike any other stout or porter we’ve brewed, Hollow Moon is layered with notes of roasted coffee, smoke and black pepper provided by the addition of rye,” said head brewer Bryan Stewart. The beer is also rested over charred oak prior to packaging.
Bon Bon (804 Pennsylvania St., Lawrence, Kansas) heralds Oktoberfest with a parking lot shindig. Enjoy German-style beers, food cooked on a custom yakitori grill, and lawn games.
Saturday, Sept. 30
Double Shift Brewing releases Reaper’s Wine (9.9-percent, 40 IBUs). Similar to a barleywine, Reaper’s Wine has “intense additions of rye and wheat for a flavorful, full-bodied beer with notes of toffee and honey,” head brewer Bryan Stewart said.
Grain to Glass (1611 Swift, North Kansas City, Missouri) celebrates its Fourth Annual Cider Day and Oktoberfest from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. At the family-friendly event, the shop serves bratwursts, pretzels and beer. The homebrew supply shop and taproom will also press apples in the parking lot. They’ll also have more than a half-dozen varieties of apples from Sibley Orchards, along with the necessary ingredients, for those who want to try to make hard cider at home.
“It takes about 25 pounds of apples to make a gallon of juice,” shop owner Jennifer Helber said. “We’re taking orders through Sept. 26th to guarantee you’ll have apples of your choice.”
Deschutes Brewery and the Human Rights Campaign team up for a benefit on behalf of LGBTQ equality at Bier Station (120 E. Gregory Blvd). DJ Scooby spins Nineties beats as guests smash pumpkins from 3 to 7 p.m. From noon to 9 p.m., buy drink tickets good for pours of Deschutes Hopzeit Autumn IPA and American Wheat. All proceeds benefit the HRC.
Sunday, Oct. 1
¡Oktoberfiesta! at BLVD Tours and Rec Center (2534 Madison Ave.) combines Oktoberfest and Día de los Muertos for a Sunday fun-fest from 1 to 4 p.m. The mashup, a benefit for the neighboring Mattie Rhodes Center, celebrates Bob’s 47 Oktoberfest-style beer with a Bob’s 47 logo glass to keep, food specials, live German polka, Day of the Dead crafts and Oktoberfest competitions.
— 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.