It's Saturday in Missouri and it's 70 degrees outside in early February. I'm celebrating, which means I'm on my 2nd beer and it's only 3pm. But, despite that, I have a few comments:
- I work out in Shawnee, near the nexus of Shawnee-Mission Parkway and K-7. As a result, I've been to K-7 Liquor more than a few times to check out the selection. Despite its location, it carries a veritable cornucopia (as John would say) of beer options. I was asked to pick up "something Irish" on Friday for Beer Friday and ventured over to K-7 Liquor. As I perused the options, one of the employees asked me if I needed any help. His name is James and I feel he deserves props. He's extremely knowledgeable about beer (even hop types) and made a recommendation to me that was on the mark (Great Divide's Fresh Hop, which is an APA hoppier than any IPA I've had out of the midwest and absolutely delicious). He's going to hold a couple of Boulder Brewing's Mojo Risin' and a 6-pack of SN's Torpedo for me (coming next week and next month, respectively). If you ever find yourself in this area, see if James is working and ask him for a recommendation. And thank him for working with his distributor to get some hoppy beer into NE Kansas.
- We went to Barley's in OP last night for dinner, after purchasing a kegerator for our homebrew off Craigslist. They have two new brews from New Belgium, Mighty Arrow and Dark Kriek (from their Lips of Faith series). Mighty Arrow is an APA and the Dark Kriek is a delicious blend of Belgian Dark Ale and Kriek. The Kriek is highly recommended - I had a snifter and thoroughly enjoyed it... it reminded me of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia - notes of dried cherry, vanilla, dark chocolate. It is dry but not sour, and way too easy to drink. They had several new items on tap and the bartender mentioned that they're working on improving their IPA selections. It shows.
- A few weeks ago I bought a bottle of Schlafly's Tripel. We just opened it today and it is by FAR my favorite from this brewery. It is a fantastic representation of the Belgian style - dry, estery, banana-y, a tiny bit peppery, potent. This is delicious!! HIGHLY recommended.
John's making a tripel today and I need to go do some sanitizing stuff. We're going to check out Grinder's tonight so I plan on reporting back on its current offerings. Ciao!
I'd second the recommendation of K-7 Liquors. My son takes guitar lessons out there, and I stopped in for a bottle of wine to go with dinner. I was impressed by their beer selection. I think I met the same guy.
ReplyDeleteI bought a six of the Mighty Arrow, and I thought it was a pretty good APA. It seemed really fresh which always helps.
I haven't cracked my bottle of the Schlafly Tripel. I did drink the Grand Cru, and it was tasty.
Now I have to go to Barley's tonight to try Dark Kriek.
ReplyDeleteIt's a large burden to carry, I know.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure it's the 30 Degree Dunkleweizen that Barley's has. Check it out on beer advocate.
ReplyDeletehttp://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/1804664
That’s what our bartender told us. If it’s a dunkelweiss, someone ought to tell New Belgium that a boatload of Kriek got dumped into it. There’s no WAY that’s a dunkelweiss and I think there was a mix-up or miscommunication somewhere. But hey, if you don’t believe me, try it yourself. It’s easy drinkin’ no matter what you call it. :)
ReplyDelete