Summer's Here

There are a few things I love about summer:

• Sitting/eating/drinking outside
• Fresh summer beer that's light and refreshing

OK, maybe "a few" is an exaggeration.

A couple of weekends ago, we hiked on over to 75th Street Brewery and checked out their brand-spanking-new beer garden. It's in the old Kennedy's space; they ripped the roof right off and slightly redesigned the layout into a great partially-covered beer garden. Some hop bines are growing up one wall and over the top; they should provide some shade this summer and for years to come. There's a bar out there, too. I snapped a couple of pictures with my (new!!) cell phone (that has a camera on it!!):

As a side note, they had a ginger mango wheat on tap for American Craft Beer Week; I ended up drinking an entire pint of it and wanted more. It was lightly fruity and refreshing; the ginger gave the beer a little sweet spiciness, and the mango wasn't overpowering or too sweet. Great for summer, and if you see it there I recommend ordering a pint. My only complaint about it was that I would have liked a bit more carbonated. It was, however, quite enjoyable.

Last night we walked down to Swagger, then back up to Waldo Pizza, for a Friday night on the town. My first pint at Swagger was a $3 Czechvar (known as "Budvar" outside the US & Canada; the Czechvar name is thanks to labeling and trademark laws). I'd never had it on tap before, and it sounded perfect after a 1.5 mile walk in 90-degree heat. I'm always up for a non-skunked Czech Pils, and this one did not disappoint. Cold, grainy/malty, and a wonderful dry bitter finish. I heard one of the bartenders say they ran out, but I'm not sure if she was referring to keg or bottle form. In any case, if you do see Czechvar on tap and don't have an aversion to beers that finish dry & lightly bitter, order up a pint. It's perfect for a hot & humid Kansas City evening.

On our Waldo Pizza stop, I ordered a Goose Island Summertime- their version of a German Kölsch. It immediately imparts a lemony-citrus aroma and follows through with that in the flavor. Body's nice and light and, like the Bohemian Pils, well-carbonated.

We enjoyed our own version of our Waldo-Crawldo, but you can be a part of the official pub crawl in what I think is KC's best beer neighborhood next weekend for $5 (in advance).

On Tap Around Town

Sure are a lot of new beers going on tap lately.

Barley's out in Shawnee has had some rare Bear Republic kegs on tap the past few weeks. If you haven't had Racer X or Mach 10, they're a (west coast) hoppy treat - and they probably won't be around much longer.

McCoy's in Westport just put on a keg of their Imperial Steam Beer. I haven't had any yet but am looking forward to trying it. I'll be curious to see what an Imperial steam beer is like... I'm guessing lots of sweet & bready flavor with a bit more fruity esters. Most people are probably familiar with Anchor Steam but don't know that it's a lager brewed at ale temperatures. German brewers who immigrated to California in the 1800s didn't have the technology or cold Alpen caves to lager their beers, so they fermented their lagers at California's more temperate climate. Anchor trademarked the "Steam" name, so you might see this style called California Common elsewhere.

Speaking of California Common, Free State just put one on on tap ("Prairie Fog Ale") along with a new Vienna Lager. Vienna Lager is a cousin to the Oktoberfest and Märzen styles and isn't very easy to find (outside of Negra Modello). You can read more about these three closely-related styles in Ray Daniels' Designing Great Beers or George Fix's Vienna/Märzen/Oktoberfest edition of Brewing Classic Styles. I've become a fan of Fix - reading about chemistry seems about as appealing to me as getting jabbed in the eye, but his Principles of Brewing Science was actually really interesting. If you're curious about what happens when you do hop additions during the wort boil or what is actually going on during fermentation, I highly recommend Principles.

But I digress. McCoy's also recently put on a Bohemian Pilsener and should have their Coffee Stout available as well. They'll be coming out with a Winter Warmer here some time soon. I'm not sure when, but it'll be at their Christmas Ale dinner on 12/1. Not to be left out, 75th Street is tapping a keg of their Coffee Porter tonight (11/13) and will have it on nitro to give it more body & a creamy mouthfeel.

And finally, next Thursday Flying Saucer will be tapping a keg of Sierra Nevada's Harvest Estate ale, an American IPA that was made using only hops & barley grown on the brewery's property. With almost all of the brewery's energy coming from their own private solar array and their efforts to use recycled water, perhaps one of these days we'll see a Sierra Nevada "Off The Grid IPA" on the shelves.

So there you go - plans for next week!

Local Breweries to Host Notable Beer Dinners

There is no shortage of beer and food pairings these days, but what caught my eye recently were two dinners at McCoy’s and 75th Street Brewing. Here we have two small, local brewpubs hosting their own beer dinners – and only one local brew between them. Interesting.

McCoy's is hosting a Trappist ale dinner on November 3rd at 6:30pm. They're serving six courses featuring beers from 6 of the 7 Trappist breweries for $50 per person. That’s quite a deal given the items they’re serving (as posted on BeerAdvocate):

• Chimay Tripel & Hazelnut encrusted Chevre goat cheese truffles with rosemary honey.
• Orval & Pumpkin Ale soup with sage croutons and nutmeg whipped cream.
• Rochefort 10 & roast duck salad with sun dried cherries, candied walnuts and Roquefort cheese.
• Achel Bruin 8 & seared diver scallops over butternut squash with brown butter sauce and prosciutto.
• Westmalle Dubbel & braised beef short ribs with shiitake mushrooms and parsnip-turnip puree.
• La Trappe Quadrupel (Koningshoeven) & double layer butternut squash pecan pie with apricot glaze and maple whipped cream.

Why beer from only 6 of 7 breweries? You can't legitimately get that 7th one here in the states - or anywhere outside of the brewery or its adjoining cafe. Westvleteren is the only trappist brewery remaining that still has monk brewers, and they only brew enough beer to sustain the operations and charitable causes of the monastery. They also specifically request that their beer not be re-sold by those who purchase it. Additionally, if you do make the trek out to the monastery, you can only get one case of their beer per month and it must be reserved in advance. 

Now on to 75th Street Brewing. On October 20th, they’re hosting a subdued version of Oktoberfest with a much different tap list than the Munich-based affair. Whoever did their beer selection did a mighty fine job! On the beer list will be Ayinger Jarhrhundert, Tucher Dunkeles Hefeweizen, Brugge Bad Kitty, 75th Street Alt, and Aventinus Eisbock. I wasn’t familiar with the Brugge beer so I looked it up – it’s a Gose! If I could high-five 75th Street, I would.

What’s a Gose? I’ll tell you tomorrow.

Stuff to Keep on the Radar

I started building a list of things to do during the week, specifically happy hours or notable beer deals (think sidebar list gadget). In looking around for beer-related happy hours, it seemed most of what I could find was "domestic bottles" paired with shots. While I did get to learn what a "starburst shot" is, I'm not sure I found everything I was looking for. Here's what I got - what else can I add?

• Mondays: OK so this one isn't beer, but it's such a good deal and I enjoy wine as well, so I can't help it. Every Monday from 11:30am - 6pm, Extra Virgin does one hell of a happy hour day. Half-price bottles of wine (under $100) and tapas. Where else are you going to get halibut cheeks and grilled beef tongue for under $10?
• Mondays, pt II: What, not up for adventurous food? McCoys does a great happy hour on Monday: $7 each for a pitcher, a burger or a pizza. Some of their special brews have been noteworthy (and I was too late for their coffee stout, damn it, but their Cerveza is quite good), and if you're not following their blog, you should be.
• Mondays, pt III: Not convinced that Monday happy hour is a great way to drown your sorrows over the end of the weekend? Head out to Free State in Lawrence for $1.75 beers. A dollar seventy five!

• Tuesdays: 75th Street recently started up "Big Ass Beer Night" on Tuesdays, where they feature some special beers. Tonight is Founders Breakfast Stout. They don't currently publish this on the web, but if you sign up for their email list you'll get notified.
• Wednesdays: Glass night at Flying Saucer. These are pretty widely known now, so you could always work on maximizing your caloric intake at Old Chicago and get $1 off their featured beer.
• Thursdays: Flying Saucer wins again. They started their Rare Beer Nights this summer, tapping a special keg each week. Everyone's looking forward to October 1st when they tap that keg of Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout. Imperial Stout aged in maple barrels. Seriously.
• Fridays: Exercise your brain at The Brick for Trivia Riot while ordering beer off a menu that is never up-to-date and eating good but cheap food. And for the diet-conscious, they offer raw veggies as a side instead of fries. Sometimes I want a gut bomb, but not always; it's nice they offer the choice. They also have lots of vegetarian options, too. And a bacon fluffernutter.
  
• Fridays, pt II: Need more glassware? Old Chicago does glass night too, on Fridays. More caloric maximization. Now with a glass.

Other various things:

• Royal Liquor now has Seeyoulator available. I also picked up an O'Fallon Chocolate By the Barrel Cream Stout and, when paying for it, got to talking to Cody there about the Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout (scroll down to the bottom of the page). This is a summer seasonal and may no longer be around, but if you haven't had it, you should try it. You'll probably want to share it, but man is it good.
• The O'Fallon stout, by the way, was good but not worth it. It was $12 (including tax) and a little thin on mouthfeel. Bitter from the cocoa and not sweet enough, in my opinion, for the style. Disappointing. Oh well; it happens.
• Speaking of Royal Liquor, they're doing a huge beer tasting and bottle discount on October 1st from 6-8pm. If you're not that keen on the Canadian Breakfast Stout at Flying Saucer, definitely check this out (or stop by Royal on your way to/from P&L). They're sampling a ton of craft brews that are worth trying.
• Free State's pouring a small beer, not something you see very often. Anchor does one (from its Old Foghorn), but I don't believe we get it out here. The second runnings from Old Backus, Little Backus, is full of Cascade & Simcoe hops but appropriately at 33IBUs for the style. Sounds good, doesn't it?
• Lagunitas is now in KS and MO. Hurrah! Do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle of Hop Stoopid. At around $4 for a 22oz bottle, you're almost losing money not buying it.

What else?

Hope & Change for 75th Street Brewery

For the past several months, we've been rather disappointed with 75th Street Brewery. Well, maybe not "disappointed" but on the bored side of unimpressed. Half their beers all tasted the same (I could barely tell their Golden Ale and IPA apart), the entree salads were small enough to be considered starting courses, and they didn't have many new releases for a very long time.

Everything has changed.

We hopped over to the brewery today for lunch, just to see what was on tap and get a bite to eat. While the standard 75th Street offerings are available (raspberry wheat, Irish Red, IPA, etc), there are some new brews as well. Their oatmeal porter is delicious and definitely worth trying. They're out of their Coconut Red, but KC Hop Head had some at their anniversary bash and highly recommends it. If it reappears, buy a glass.

We both ordered a "Dirty Miguel" - a hatch chile beer - which impressed me quite a bit. I've had a few chile beers (Rogue Chipotle Ale, Flat Branch Green Chile, and at least one more I'm forgetting, and no it isn't Dave's Cave Creek) and I generally like the style. The one at Flat Branch tasted awesome (good) but stuck with me for a couple of hours (bad). 75th's was better. Clean, fresh, and vibrant with green chile flavor with just a tinge of heat. There was just enough citrusy hops present to bitter the beer, but not so much that it competed with the chile flavor. This beer was just begging to be consumed with their 7-hour roasted pork.

I wasn't that hungry, though, so I had a salad from their completely revised menu. Gone are the multi-paged vinyl-covered menus, having been replaced by double-sided tabloid-sized pieces of card paper that must have over a dozen new food items. Lump crab cakes, mussels, and new salads, sandwiches, and pizzas are now the latest offerings; I can't wait to try the fig & prosciutto pizza. If you've had anything from the other KC Hopps places, you'll recognize a few of the items new to 75th Street: Napa chopped salad, Grill-pressed hunt club, salmon BLT, etc.

While seated at the bar, John caught parts of another customer's conversation that 75th Street will be expanding. We talked to our bartender and confirmed it - 75th Street is expanding to the old Kennedy's space, removing the roof, and constructing a beer garden. Finally! I have been wishing for a beer garden there (or at Waldo Pizza) ever since we moved here in 2007. They better not serve my beer in plastic cups.

With The Well and its giant rooftop patio now open, the changes at 75th Street, Waldo Pizza's continued beer greatness, Lew's, Swagger, two annual Waldo Crawldos, and various other places and goings-on, things are looking up for the Waldo beer scene. Sweet.

It's a Coupon Letdown Extravaganza!

About a month ago, I was at Barley's Midland for lunch and our server handed out a few coupons announcing KC Hopps' anniversary week. The coupon had the logos of all the KC Hopps businesses (Barley's, 75th Street, Blue Moose, 810 Zone, O'Dowds) and 5 little scratch-off circles. If any two icons matched after scratching off the silver covering, you received that prize - free meal, $5 off, and various other little prizes.

The first day of "anniversary week", we walked over to 75th Street Brewery for some grub and brought our tickets. The tickets apparently confused our bartender, who stepped away for a few minutes to figure out what they were for. When she returned, she explained that they were only good at the Barley's Midland location. Okay, no problem. We go there frequently and would exchange our coupons later (totaling $10 off our bill, by the way).

... but it begs the question - why put all the KC Hopps logos on there without ANY specification of valid locations? The coupons clearly stated a date range in which they were valid, so it wasn't as if they were generic prize coupons that could be used for any event. I never did figure that out and, to my discredit, didn't bring this up with KC Hopps management.


Fast forward to today. We went to 75th Street for lunch on this dreadfully hot June afternoon. I ordered a Royal Raspberry Wheat (which is refreshing and dry) and one of their seasonal salads, the Spring Beet and Chevre salad. Now, I had the Pear & Endive salad a couple of weeks ago at Barley's Midland and absolutely loved it. It was fresh, had a nice balance of flavors, and definitely large enough to be an entree - I didn't even finish it. When my beet salad arrived at 75th street, though, I almost sent it back (and, perhaps, should have).

What was placed before me was a handful of greens topped with a few pieces of baby asparagus, two slices of chevre (the only item I felt was of an appropriate amount), some walnuts, and nine 1/2" cubed pieces of yellow beet. Nine. !!! I've had SIDE salads bigger than that! This is the second time I've ordered a salad at 75th Street and found it to be grossly underwhelming. I got their pecan-crusted goat cheese salad once, and my experience was similar - a tiny pile of greens drenched in oil and topped with about 1/2 ounce of goat cheese and accompanied by a couple of crackers. I wish I had a camera phone so I could provide an example, but the pile of greens on both salads was about the size of a softball.


To top it off, while we were wrapping up our meal, someone whom I presume to be the shift manager presented us with a 25% off lunch coupon. YAY! I love coupons! But as I got to looking at it, not only is it for our next visit, the holder of the coupon has to bring another person with them AND it has to be on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday between 11-2pm. Seriously?

Maybe I need to come up with some coupon rules, a la Bull E Vard's Happy Hour guidelines... Though I haven't said anything to management before now, this was my breaking point. I mean, really... You guys can do better than this.

Is it hot in here, or is it just my beer?

We went to 75th Street Brewing yesterday and noticed "Hot Chocolate" on their list of draft beers. I gave it a second look since it seemed odd to have that on the list , but figured they were simply highlighting this warm wintertime drink due to the sharp drop in temperature the past couple of days.

Much to my delight, I was wrong - the brewers at 75th Street have put a new spin on a prior release, the Chocolate Ascent. They've added cayenne to this delicious brew and named it - you guessed it - "Hot Chocolate". It's just as rich and chocolatey as the original Chocolate Ascent, with a warming kick at the end. Very drinkable and a really nice alternative to an already-great beer. It reminded me quite a bit of those dark chocolate truffles with chili powder. Rich, slightly bitter, roasted chocolate taste followed by warmness then a slightly sharp pepper flavor. Well done, 75th Street!


In other news, it looks like Sierra Nevada is releasing yet another year-round beer! It's due to arrive some time this summer and is borne of German-style Hefeweizen. They're using open, shallow fermentation tanks rather than those tall, cylindrical fermenters, leading to more complex flavor found in German hefe.

Kellerweis is a light and refreshing beer with deep complexity of flavor. The yeast provides hints of fruit flavors and spices, including ripe banana and clove. This hazy-golden beer glows with suspended yeast creating a velvety texture; perfect for a sunny California day.

Is it summer yet?

IIPA at 75th Street This Week

Just a very brief note - 75th Street Brewing will be putting an Imperial IPA on draught this Wednesday (2/25) and will have it available in the firkin keg this Friday (2/27).

My Emancipation Proclamation

Sunday was a quiet & lazy day for us, one that turned into a mini beer tour of eastern Kansas. 

A coworker of mine mentioned on Saturday afternoon that 75th Street had a Belgian Pale Ale on cask, but by the time we got there on Sunday it was gone (no surprise). I was hoping they'd at least have it on tap, but alas - they did not. I spoke to the bartender who informed me that it will be available again in early February. 

A while ago, John mentioned the High Noon Saloon & Brewery in Leavenworth, KS. We decided to take a trip on over to check it out. We both started out with a pint of their Rough Rider Pale Ale, which won a Silver in the '04 World Beer Championships. We also ordered some lunch (me: grilled cheese; John: burger). I also tasted their Raspberry Wheat, which won gold at the '98 GABF, and is made with Oregon raspberries. I'm not a big fan of American Wheat or fruity beers (save Bells' Cherry Stout), but this one's actually pretty good. It's nice and dry but with just a hint of sweetness. The raspberries lend some tartness to the beer as well, rounding it out nicely. 

Overall, the food & beer were good and satisfying, but not remarkable. The food menu does have a lot of options, which is a plus. Burgers, chicken fried chicken, steak, chops, salads, sandwiches... Given that smoking is prevalent in the saloon, and cigars are sold in the bar, I probably won't be returning soon. It is, however, worth a trip just to visit and support. And, the VA hospital on K-7 out there is impressive to see, even just from the roadside.

We hopped back onto K-7, on to I-70, and over to Free State. They have a new Pale Ale on tap that is wonderful. The Free State Emancipation Pale Ale is a deliciously hoppy pale ale that gives me hope that one day we might see a good, hoppy IPA born out of the midwest. It was hoppy and glorious! Great balanced mouthfeel, reasonably malty without being overtly so, and hoppy from initial aroma to after-taste. It was a perfect way to wash down the chips & salsa we were snacking on. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I had a John Brown Ale after that and, though I quite like it, I couldn't stop thinking about the Emancipation. So, I ordered a 10oz glass of Emancipation to wrap up the day. 10 little ounces of delicious. Thank you, Columbus hops, and thank you Free State.

Two (somewhat) new brews at 75th Street

Color me impressed.

After reading a beer sort of girl's post about 75th Street's Chocolate Stout, we decided to stop by for lunch on Saturday and see for ourselves all about this caucophony of chocolate. I have to be honest - I expected a pretty sweet chocolatey stout, almost like Young's Double Chocolate only not quite as good.

Instead, what I got was a pint of delicious stout that had a wonderful bitter chocolate flavor to it. While its richness convinced me to drink only one pint of it, I thoroughly enjoyed that pint. Mouthfeel was right about where an American Stout should be - a bit soft and velvety, but not too fluffy. The chocolate flavor was not sweet at all, but imparted a gentle bitterness from initial sip to aftertaste. It was, in fact, reminiscent of good dark chocolate.

I highly recommend their chocolate stout, and am even more disappointed now that I missed it on Firkin Friday. Now more than ever, I'm looking forward to their Imperial Stout in February.

We also sampled Dan of Gone Mild's Triple Sugar Tripel, which we tried with initial reservation due to a suspicion it would overwhelm us with sugary sweetness. I was delighted to be wrong about the Tripel; this is a fantastic beer. Well done, Dan! It's appropriately attenuated for a tripel, giving off just a hint of sweetness, the warming effect of a tripel, just a hint of hoppiness, and a great lingering Belgian-yeast aftertaste.

My only disappointment is that there was nothing in the brewery (that I saw) giving Dan any sort of recognition, or even mentioning that this beer was the winner of their annual homebrewers' competition. Hopefully this was just my oversight, and appropriate recognition was given.

Kansas City Brewing Co?

We were at Barley's in Shawnee the other night, at the bar. The bar itself is quite nice, decorated with scattered beer labels covered by a thick lacquer. Most of the labels are retro, but some of them are relatively modern. One label is for Yardbird's, a golden ale that 75th Street brewing used to make (in the 90s, from what I can tell). 

The address on the label was right - 520 W 75th St. But the logo and name of the brewery were different. The logo had some barley stalks around some buildings (if I recall correctly), and the name of the brewery was "Kansas City Brewing Co."

I've Googled around this morning, looking for indications of a change in name or ownership, but can't find a thing. Perhaps some of the native KCers can help me out. Was 75th Street once named Kansas City Brewing Co? Did they used to package their beer? Was this a fake label? Was this something that was made when 75th Street Brewing was just a twinkle in the founder's eye? Enquiring minds want to know!

Texas, Beer, and UFOs

Thank you, Lee! 

I had the GREATEST time hanging out with the KC-beer-blogging (and drinking) mini-gang Lee assembled on Friday night. We went to 75th Street and occupied at least a couple of tables for a handful of hours. I can't remember everything we talked about, but the topics of conversation included beer, Oregon, knitting, running, swimming, losing weight, and homebrewing. I can't even begin to do the evening justice, so I'll just say that I enjoyed the company to the fullest and was so glad that I went.

Lee was also kind enough to bring some Texas beer with him - Saint Arnold Christmas Ale & Real Ale Firemans #4.  I'm currently enjoying the Christmas ale - YUM, thank you! I have yet to crack open the #4 but probably will tomorrow.

Upon the mention of Texas beer, I shared a story about the time I went to Dallas for work and spent a lovely Wednesday evening at the Flying Saucer in Addison to get some work & drinking done (multi-tasking is a beautiful thing). Long story short, the place was packed so I grabbed a spot at a table in the corner where a middle-aged guy was working with his laptop. I thought for sure I'd get some work done. I thought wrong. I ordered a Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA (which I can't get in KC and miss dearly) and it all started from there. The guy wouldn't stop talking! I learned a lot about Texas brewing and was even encouraged to try a beer I wouldn't have otherwise tried - Live Oak Hefeweizen. It's a German-style hefeweizen and absolutely delicious. It reminded me a lot of Paulaner, which I think is a fantastic representation of German hefe. I also ordered an Arrogant Bastard and the talking continued. 

I didn't get a lot of work done that night, but I did learn a lot about goings-on in Texas... most of which I've since forgotten. I will not, however, forget that glass of Live Oak.

Which also brings me to the 2nd of two things I came here to post. It irritates me that Flying Saucer in KC is located in the P&L district. Not only is that area not my type of hang-out, I'm just not keen on hose planned urban "entertainment centers" with their targeted dress codes and sugary sweet vodka "martinis" (IT'S NOT A MARTINI!) and "sexy co-ed" ads etc etc... 

What was I saying? Oh yeah, Flying Saucer. As I mentioned, I was in the Addison location on a Wednesday night. At every location it seems, Wednesday night is Pint Night where you can get a pint glass of their featured brewery & keep the glass. This December, KC's Flying Saucer featured Chimay, Gouden Carolus, and La Chouffe. January's beers are yet TBD, but I'd keep my eye on their calendar. December looked like a good month to add to the glassware collection.

... and a good time was had by all

My coworkers bought John and I a one-year membership to a Beer of the Month club and we received our third shipment yesterday. It comes with 3 bottles of 4 different beers. Yesterday's shipment included Lancaster Winter Warmer, Sand Creek English Special Ale, Karlovacko Svjetlo (pilsner from Croatia), and Lomza Mocne (strong lager from Poland). We each had a bottle of the Sand Creek ale, I had the Winter Warmer, and John had the Lomza Mocne. All were pretty good, but the Winter Warmer was my favorite. We stood around in the kitchen & chatted for a while, which seems to be our Friday after-work routine lately. 

We then decided to head out to 75th Street for a couple of beers. I called ahead to find out what they had on tap, since it seems the past 3 times we've been the selection was subpar. Much to my delight, they had an IPA (not Good Hope), the IPA on cask/firkin, and a bourbon barrel brown. We hopped in the car & dashed over (yeah, yeah, we could have walked - but it was 25 degrees outside. I'm a wuss.). 

The place was packed! I don't know that I've ever seen it so crowded. We snagged 2 stools at the bar and ordered up 2 pints of the firkin IPA. Holy cow it was good. Best IPA I've had at 75th Street and highly recommended. Citrusy, grassy, spicy, bitter - very "green" smelling. I watched the bartender pour two bourbon browns and recalled our experience at Free State with Owd Mac. (A couple of weeks ago at Free State, John got a glass of Owd Mac. We loved it so much we ordered another round, but they were out. For good.) So we asked the bartender how much of the brown they had left, and he said they ran out at 5:45 (well after I'd called)! BUT, they did put a whiskey barrel stout on tap. We ordered 2 glasses and it came to us in two small snifters.

We finished our firkin IPAs while chowing down on dinner. I love 75th Street's chicken tender basket with sweet potato fries. I don't get it often because it's such a caloric gut-bomb (though not greasy), but every once in a while I throw caution to the wind and order it anyway. John ordered their Kobe burger, medium rare, which is a reminder of our days spent at Rogue's Distillery & Public House in Portland (Corey we miss you!). Again, it came to order. I can't think of another restaurant in the area that has actually cooked a burger as requested (rare or medium-rare, specifically), including orders for 75th Street's standard burgers.

I should note that when we first walked in to 75th Street, I ran into 2 coworkers - one of whom I found out lives not far from us. As we ate dinner, I saw another coworker at the bar... soon after that, another coworker showed up. They had been to the Boulevard tour earlier in the day and were finishing the day at 75th street. John and I started chatting with them and before I knew it we were actually socializing at our local brewpub. 

One of my coworkers is single and wanted to talk to a woman in the bar who was with a couple of friends. I went over to the women and told one of them that my friend & coworker wanted to talk to her but didn't have the nerve to do it himself... I got to chatting with them and couldn't tear myself away - they were a LOT of fun! John came over after a while and the 5 of us sat there chatting. 

I was getting pretty buzzed so I switched to water. I think I drank about 2 liters of water, I was so thirsty. Beer + dry winter = dehydration nation. Over the rest of the evening, however, I did have 2 more small (10oz) glasses of the firkin IPA. I wanted to drink more before they ran out! As the 5 of us stood around chatting up a storm, my coworkers popped in & out of the conversation. I had the best time and made a few new friends in the process. 

They do Firkin Fridays every other week. Two weeks ago, they put their XXXmas ale in a firkin and the opinion of one apparently frequent 75th Street patron was that it was incredibly good. We'll see what they have next time. My faith in the brewery has been restored. Thank you, 75th Street!