Tap List | Unique Partnership Brews Among Neighbors Local Brewery and Distillery Collaborate For Special Release

Tap List loves beer. Always has and always will. But we take a few detours now and again, especially when a local craft brewer is involved.

To celebrate their fifth anniversary, local Kansas City distillery Lifted Spirits has announced they have partnered with Torn Label Brewing Co. for a limited release spirit. The result, Straight Wheat Whiskey, is their second Lab Series Release.

The collaborators started with a 50% wheat base on top of Torn Label’s House Brew, a coffee wheat stout. They then distilled and aged the whiskey in American Oak barrels for three years.

The resulting whiskey has elements of hop bitterness with flavors of dark chocolate, toffee and fig. The partners tout the whiskey as a “robust and sweetly balanced spirit perfect for the holiday season.”

The distillery only produced 400 bottles of this new whiskey, so if you want one you had better act fast. However, if you do end up missing this release, Lifted Spirits has said they plan to do more collaborations with Torn Label in the future. It’s a unique partnership not often seen in the alcoholic beverage world.

Whether you decide to get a bottle for yourself or as a holiday gift for a loved one, we’d love to hear your thoughts if you try it. 

Beer Releases

Red Crow Brewing Co. — 1062 W. Santa Fe St., Olathe, Kansas — wants you to forget about the cold winter weather with their latest release. Tropical Saison (6% ABV, 35 IBU) is filled with — you guessed it — lots of tropical notes. You’ll get flavors of banana and guava with aromas that smell like you’re on a tropical island.

Pathlight Brewing — 11200 W. 75th St., Shawnee, Kansas — is preparing for Santa with their newest beer. Mega Moo-La is an 8% double milk stout. With flavors of caramel and chocolate, it’s the perfect blend of sweet yet robust. Santa’s got a new beverage to dip his cookies in.

Servaes Brewing Co. — 10921 Johnson Drive, Shawnee, Kansas — just released a nice big stout ahead of the holidays. Gingerdoodle Macaron is a 9% imperial sweet stout. It features lactose, ginger, brown sugar and gingerdoodle macarons from local company Sugarfold. While this beer is plenty decadent on it’s own, it will pair really well with the actual gingerdoodle macarons.

Apex Aleworks — 4356 S. Noland Road, Independence, Missouri — has a brand new holiday beer available for your consumption. The beer, Angry Orange Elf, is a big 9% winter ale and was brewed during one of Apex’s homebrew classes. It’s got flavors of sweet orange peel and cinnamon and is a perfect beer to ring in the holiday season.

Cinder Block Brewery — 110 E. 18th Ave., North Kansas City, Missouri —  released their latest beer, Pleasantly Piney. This 7.3% Northwest-style IPA truly lives up to its name. Brewed with 15 pounds of fresh spruce tips and 14 pounds of juniper berries, Pleasantly Piney is just that — pleasantly piney.

Alma Mader Brewery — 2635 Southwest Blvd., Kansas City, Missouri — continues to crank out beers week in and week out. This week they’ve got three new releases. Brave Noise is a 5.5% ABV juicy pale ale brewed in the wake of the sexual harrassment allegations that plagued the beer industry over the past year. Proceeds from the sales of this beer will be donated to MOCSA. Still Friends is a classic 7% ABV West Coast IPA with notes of honey dew, orange peel and pine. Last but not least is Licious, their newest hazy IPA coming in at 6.5% ABV. This IPA has flavors of apricot and marionberry.

City Barrel — 1740 Holmes St., Kansas City, Missouri — is coming in hot with two big beers. They just released this year’s version of Cosmos. This 12.1% ABV chocolate stout uses Ethiopian cacao nibs and Mexican vanilla to get lots of delicious chocolatey notes. Also on the menu is Boombox Serenade Volume 4. This version rings in at 10.4% ABV and uses four different types of oat and wheat plus six different hops.

Beer Events

Wednesday, Dec. 22

Red Crow Brewing Co. — 1062 W. Santa Fe St., Olathe, Kansas — will be doing a trivia night featuring classic Christmas movies. Prizes will be awarded to the first, second and third place teams. In addition, there will be prizes for the team (and individual) that dresses most festively. Christmas movies, good beer and multiple chances at winning prizes sounds like a winner of a night.

Servaes Brewing Co. — 10921 Johnson Drive, Shawnee, Kansas — is hosting a Holiday Music Bingo & Food Drive night. Bring in a non-perishable food item and you’ll receive 10% off your tab. Holiday music bingo kicks off at 7 p.m. There’s a suggested donation of $5 per bingo card or the donation of a non-perishable food item.

Friday, Dec. 24

Border Brewing Co. — 512 E. 18th St., Kansas City, Missouri — is back again with their You’re The DJ series. If you need to seriously get in the holiday spirit this is the night for you. The Christmas Eve event’s theme is holiday music. All you need to do is download the Rockbot app, choose your favorite holiday songs, order yourself a beer and sit back while listening to the best holiday tunes.

Big Rip Brewing Co. — 216 E. 9th Ave., North Kansas City, Missouri — is helping you kick off Christmas Eve with their annual Xmas Eve Beer Release event. This year they’ll be tapping one single keg of Transfigured Martyr. This beer is a 7.3% ABV brett saison and will be available on tap only (no to-go for this beer). Big Rip will be open at 8 a.m. to help you start your day with something merry and bright.

Grains & Taps — 10 S.W. 3rd St., Lee’s Summit, Missouri — will be hosting their annual Jenny’s Jolly Jammie Jingle Jamboree. In short, it’s a Christmas Eve pajama party! Wear your comfiest and favorite Christmas PJs and drink some delicious beers. The event will run 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. with the taproom closing promptly at 4 p.m., so get there early.

Saturday, Dec. 25

Limitless Brewing — 9765 Widmer Road, Lenexa, Kansas — is offering up a free meal to anyone who wants to swing by the brewery. While they’ll be open from 2-8 p.m. on Christmas Day, the meal starts at 3 p.m. Limitless will be providing ham. While not necessary, they do ask that you bring a side for everyone to share and enjoy.

Sunday, Dec. 26

Stockyards Brewing Co. — 1600 Genessee St., Ste. 100, Kansas City, Missouri — has another iteration of their Sunday Service. This Sunday will feature The Matchsellers. Stockyards will also be running a winter wear roundup. Donate lightly used coats, hats, scarves and/or gloves and receive a free beer.

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.