The Maibocks are Coming

It's that time of year again, when the Maibocks start appearing on shelves and tap handles. We got a preview of this spring seasonal out in Lawrence, when Free State was pouring its Kansas anniversary beer, K-150. It's gone now, I believe, but hopefully you were able to get some while they had it.

Next week, Gordon Biersch will start pouring its Maibock seasonal on Wednesday at 5:30pm. It is accompanied by its Pacific Rim menu, which we also saw last year. I'm not really sure where this association between maibock and banana spring rolls comes from, but I don't go there for the food anyway. Note to American Homebrewers Association members - Gordon Biersch participates in the AHA pub discount program. Get $3 off any food order over $10 when you show your membership card.

And starting this month, we'll be seeing Boulevard's Maibock, Boss Tom, on shelves and tap handles. I really enjoyed this one last year, and look forward to it again. I was going to say that this is my favorite Boulevard seasonal in the non-smokestack lineup, but then I remembered Nutcracker. So, 2nd favorite. It's close. You can already get this on tap at Flying Saucer, and I'm sure other venues have it available as well - or will, very soon.

Some quick stats on Maibock - it's a lager in the bock family, and pale malt flavor dominates the flavor profile. You won't find the high presence of toasty malt here like you will in a traditional bock, or the rich caramelly flavors of a doppelbock. While hop flavor won't be too high, maibock definitely has more hop bitterness & spiciness than the other bocks.

OG is in the 1.060s - 1.070s with IBUs hanging out in the high 20s and low 30s. ABV should be in the mid 6% range. Clean, crisp, malty, but more bitter than the other members of the bock family, it's a great transition from the malt-dominant beers we love in winter to the hoppy, crisp, refreshing beers of summer.

Prost!

Boulevard Beer Pairings

As you probably know, Boulevard has been partnering up with several local chefs & restaurants over the past year or so to provide some pretty fabulous beer pairings. In case you haven't been to one yet, I highly recommend you go. I went to my first one last summer at Extra Virgin and it was incredible. My favorite pairing was the fig tart and Sixth Glass ice cream with Sixth Glass (dessert - of course!).

It took me a while to make it to another one, but we did take the opportunity to go to their Brewmaster's Luncheon featuring J Gilbert's. I wrote about it over on PresentMagazine.com a while back and am rehashing it here for a few reasons:

1. I keep meaning to re-print (re-post?) it here
2. I haven't posted in ages
3. Another dinner is coming up, this time with Blue Grotto, and it promises to be another delicious event. 

Without much further ado, here's my experience from February's beer luncheon. The next one is on April 23rd.

~~

Boulevard Brewery  has started up their Brewmaster Luncheons again, kicking off 2010’s series last week with a meal prepared by J Gilbert’s. My husband, John, and I had the opportunity and pleasure to attend this one – our first since they started the events.

Attendees gathered in the tasting room around 11:30, where we signed in and were greeted by a few Boulevard employees. A tour of the brewery commenced shortly after 11:30, leaving any latecomers to find our group tucked between transfer pipes and stacked bags of ingredients. While the group watched an introductory video on beer ingredients and production, I wandered around our little area to capture some pictures of typical brewhouse surroundings. Like many breweries, Boulevard adds hop aroma and bitterness with both whole hop flowers and pellets (crushed flowers compressed into little bits looking much like rabbit food). I also noticed several sacks of brown sugar, which are presumably used for a Belgian-style Smokestack beer.

From there, we settled into the barrel room where some smokestack beer laid aging in whiskey barrels. Brewmaster Steven Pauwels joined us there, offering us glasses of Collaboration #1 while discussing the genesis of the Imperial Pilsner. The beer had been poured from draft, which is a treat only available at the brewery.

After marinating in the earthy, wooden goodness of the barrel room, we then moved on to gather under the fermentation tanks to watch a video on yeast and the process of turning sugary wort into beer. Again, my attention to the video waned and I wandered about, taking note of all the dials, controls, clamps, and other hardware in our surroundings. I’ve been on nearly two dozen brewery tours now, and the ones I enjoy the most are those that describe the marvels and factoids of the brewery’s gadgetry. While standing under the fermentation tanks, we learned that they hold about 600 barrels of beer, which is 1200 kegs or nearly 150,000 pints of beer. We also learned that Boulevard has a centrifuge that removes particles from most of their beer – then walked right past it without further mention. 1 for 2 isn’t bad.

It was then on to the packaging line, where we watched Single Wide IPA go from being poured into unlabeled bottles all the way to ending up in the box. While the video about bottling played, I became completely mesmerized by the rotating bottle filler, the winding paths of the bottling line, and the organized alignment of the bottle boxes. My stomach was complaining, though, and I couldn’t wait to get to the food!

Right after watching the bottling video, we were seated in the banquet hall in the new building; first to the table was a fantastic scallop and fennel dish paired with Boulevard Pilsner. The pilsner was a perfect match with the seared scallops, as its high carbonation and light, hoppy flavor cleaned the palate after every bite. It’s worth mentioning that the scallops were properly cooked – lightly seasoned and not overdone in the slightest.

The main entrée was a sage potato gratin with blackened beef filet and mushrooms sautéed in Boulevard Wheat, paired with the Irish Red. I thought the flavor of the beef was overwhelmed by the seasonings, but I find that somewhat common with “blackened” foods. The toasted malt and moderate hop bitterness of the Irish Red took on the seasoning well, however, and I thought the pairing was well-matched despite my opinion of the steak.

Finally, we were presented with dessert:  an amazing bread pudding with Rye-on-Rye blueberry chutney, paired with Boulevard’s Dubbel. The Dubbel is a recipe they are still modifying and testing, but I found it to be quite drinkable. It had a fantastic fruited-malt flavor, with just a hint of spice. Pauwels stopped by around the time we were finishing off our bread pudding and explained that his affinity for star anise led to its inclusion in the Dubbel. It was a nice touch, adding a bit of an earthy balance to the molasses flavor in the beer.  As for the dessert, I never would have thought to pair Rye-on-Rye with blueberries, but it was a perfect blend of flavor. In hindsight, it makes sense since blueberries and spice go so well together. Surely, a rye-on-blueberry cobbler is in my future. (Or perhaps a barrel-aged rye-blueberry braggot? Oh my.)

Overall, I found the luncheon to be well worth the trek to Southwest Boulevard in the middle of the day. Though I’d rather have the Boulevard tour guides – not videos – provide us with all of the brewery information and history, that’s not really much of a complaint as it is a preference. The staff were all friendly, the food was fantastic, and the beer was delicious as always. I certainly enjoyed the experience and would definitely recommend it to anyone considering signing up.

Baking in the Dark

Like KC Beer Blog and Show-Me Beer, this blog received a complimentary bottle of Boulevard's Dark Truth and a little box of Christopher Elbow chocolates. While I can promise you the chocolates are good and well-paired with the stout, do you really need a third blog telling you such? I didn't think so.

I was unable to pick up my bottle until today because of work and personal obligations the past several days, so I decided not to rehash what's already been said and bore you to tears. So what did I do with Dark Truth?

I baked it.

I've been looking forward to this beer ever since I heard about it. Behind Saison-Brett, the Imperial Stout is my 2nd-favorite Smokestack beer. I was curious what this one would taste like - so many grains, Belgian yeast, no barrel-aging... So I tasted it. And I was surprised at the amount of roasty bitterness there was in the beer, but in a good way. This stout screams to be paired with chocolate. Or caramel. Or chocolate-covered cherries. But again, I wanted to do something different.

On my drive home today, I wondered how banana bread and vanilla ice cream might go with the stout. Dark Truth calls for a special banana bread, one with chocolate & toasted pecans to complement the roasty, molasses flavor of the stout. I chose milk chocolate chips simply because I love them and thought they would contrast well with the roasted malt presence in the stout. And they absolutely did!

(I'd put some pictures of the batter & the bottle here, but I accidentally overwrote them when I copied the new pictures to my computer. Oops.) This was a special treat tonight that I'm very happy to share with you. Here's the recipe for the banana bread (based on Michael Ruhlman's recipe in Ratio):

Ingredients
8oz flour
4oz sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
6 oz Dark Truth
2 eggs
1 stick butter
1 cup mashed bananas
1/4 cup toasted pecan pieces
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions
Heat the oven to 350F.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl. In a large bowl, mix the butter, eggs, and bananas until pretty well combined. Pour in the Dark Truth and mix slowly. Add the pecans and chocolate chips, and stir until just mixed.

Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and stir until just combined. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for an hour (until knife inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean). Remove from oven & set on a cooling rack. Let cool in pan for at least 1/2 hour. Remove from pan and cool to room temperature.

Slice, serve with a glass of Dark Truth, some Shatto ice cream, and enjoy.

More Beer, Please

I've been anxiously awaiting packaged Free State beer for at least a year now and it sounds like this spring it'll finally happen. Around the same time, they're going to start distributing to Missouri. The new brewing facility is finally in operation, freeing up the smaller brew house for small-batch beers - which explains why we're seeing so many wonderful, different beers on tap these days. I'm excited to see them doing so well and can't wait to see Free State in more places, both in bottle and draft form.

Boulevard is growing as well; they just added three more fermentation tanks as part of a production expansion plan from 150,000 to 190,000 barrels annually. Compare that to Sierra Nevada's 680,000 or New Belgium's 437,000. Or, perhaps to Schlafly's 30,000 barrels of beer produced each year. Yes, Boulevard is adding more annual production capacity than the Schlafly brewery makes in a year. Crazy.

Speaking of the ol' Schlafly gang, I was excited to see Schlafly's Reserve series while in Oregon the past few days. Boulevard made its appearance there last summer with some Smokestack beers (both in bottles and kegs), so it's fun to see yet another Missouri beer make it over to the west coast. It'll be interesting to see how well they fare there given the competition, but I know at least Boulevard has a great reputation there.

And speaking of Oregon and Boulevard... It's no secret that Saison-Brett has long been my favorite Boulevard beer. I've never been a huge fan of Saisons (DuPont being my #1 exception), but adding Brettanomyces completely changes the style in a direction I highly enjoy. I was out in Portland this past week and picked up a bottle of The Bruery's Saison Rue. It's a Saison made with rye and Brettanomyces. Loved it; it's a bit drier than Boulevard's and has a tinge of spice from the rye. If you are in one of their distribution areas and you enjoy Saison-Brett, Saison Rue is another fantastic beer to try. I'd also like to just toss out a distribution request.

You know, because we can always do with more beer.

I Got Schooled

I recently went to my first Barley's Beer School, which Paul A Ner of KC Beer Blog and KC Hop Head also attended. Though they beat me to the punch on their posts, here's my take on the evening.

The night's event featured brewers Steven Pauwels and Jean-Marie Rock from Boulevard Brewing and Orval Brewing, respectively. The two brewers have been the buzz of the craft beer world lately as news of their upcoming collaboration beer spread. Just a couple of weeks ago, the brewers got together at Boulevard’s facility and recreated one of Rock’s first brews, an Imperial Pilsner made with Pilsner malt and Czech Saaz hops. This recipe has not been commercially brewed in over 30 years, as Rock developed it while at a different brewery. He later joined Orval in 1985 as brewmaster and has focused his efforts on maintaining the quality of Orval’s beer production.

Though the monastery’s history reaches back to the 17^th century, the brewery we know as Orval today came into existence in the late 1920s. While it started out just making cheese, the monastery expanded to beer production and became one of the world’s seven Trappist breweries. During the past several decades, Orval has only made two beers:  Orval and Petite Orval (made specifically for the monks and only available at the monastery).

Our first lesson at Beer School was about the production of Orval, as it is unique among the Trappist ales. The process includes dry-hopping and the addition of Brettanomyces (“Brett”) just prior to packaging.  While the hoppiness of the beer subsides over time as the hop acids degrade, the funky character of the Brett yeast takes over and changes the beer over time. Rock suggested cellaring several bottles of Orval and sampling them over a period of five years to note the substantial differences in the character of the beer as it ages.

We were provided with 2-3 ounces of Orval to taste and experience. The beer is a pale orange color with a fragrant citrusy and light hop aroma. Its flavor is lightly bitter (from the hops) and acidic (from the Brett), with a dry finish. It has a moderate-to-high level of carbonation, which lends a refreshing quality to the beer.  You can find Orval at most liquor stores with a decent Belgian beer selection (even McGonigles) or at beer bars such as Barley’s, Flying Saucer, and The Foundry.

Our second lesson of the evening was about the upcoming Imperial Pilsner. Rock spoke of his interest in doing this collaborative brew to go “back to basics,” and Pauwels added that “the goal is to use really old techniques because they make really good beer.”  Since the beer needs to be lagered, it will not be available until late January or early February. I’m really looking forward to this beer, as there are not many Imperial Pilsners on the market and the ones I have had were fantastic. The most accessible ones to us are made by Boston Brewing Co (Samuel Adams) and Rogue. They’ll be more floral and less spicy than a Pilsener made with Czech Saaz hops like the collaboration brew, but they should give you a reasonable impression of an Imperial Pilsner.

The final lesson of the evening introduced one of Boulevard’s upcoming releases, Harvest Dance. It’s a wheat wine with some creative flair. Wheat wines are closely related to barleywine, but have both wheat and barley in the grain bill. The wheat gives it just a hint of a soft mouthfeel, similar to a Hefeweizen. Harvest Dance is also hopped solely with Citra hops, a new American variety that possesses fruity characteristics. Finally, it is fermented with Boulevard’s Belgian yeast strain and a bit of Muscat grape juice is added to the beer just before packaging for bottle conditioning. All of these ingredients put together create a beer that is a bright, dark-golden color with a tropical fruit aroma and flavor. The aroma smacks you with banana, while the flavor of the beer presents mango and a lot of pineapple; the finishing flavor is all Muscat. If you can't tell already, it is a somewhat sweet beer and as a result would be great for dessert. I’d pair it with a plain cheesecake or pound cake; the tropical fruit qualities of the beer would match either perfectly.

Barleys’ next beer school will be held on Nov 16^th and will focus on the raw materials used to make beer.  Brewers from Boulevard and 75^th Street Brewery will be speaking on the topic and fielding questions. Something tells me there will also be samples...

Good Things Come in Threes

It's always a bit fun to check out beernews.org and see a local favorite on the front page. Boulevard's been creating quite the reputation for Kansas City and itself through the Smokestack line, and there's no sign of slowing. While Saison-Brett has a special place in my heart because I just can't get tired of it, I always look forward to what's next in their new releases. They're really cranking them out lately.

As you probably read on Drunk Monkey's blog recently, Harvest Dance is set to come out on Nov 1. The label's great, and I'm excited to see wheat wine gaining in popularity. It has a mouthfeel that can't be described other than soft and velvety. Wheat wine's not a session beer, though - at 9.1% ABV, it'll sneak up on you.

Also to be released on Nov 1: Tank 7 in bottles. If you haven't tried this one yet, you're missing out on a solid saison. The base for Saison-Brett, Tank 7 is a citrusy, spicy, slightly hoppy saison that is a bit less sweet than their current Saison (which is being replaced by Tank 7). I'll be interested to see how the bottled version compares to what we've had on tap.

Finally, the much-beloved BBQ (Bourbon Barrel Quadrupel) is ready to go. It'll join Harvest Dance and Tank 7 out of the gates on Nov 1. If this release is anything like last year's, the bottles will be pretty difficult to find. Once you see it, grab a bottle; it might be the only time you find it on the shelves.

Congratulations, Boulevard!

The results are in, and Zōn just won a gold medal for Belgian-Style Witbier at the Great American Beer Festival!  Well done, Kansas City.

A search tool is available on the GABF website, or you can download the entire winner's list in PDF format.


Santé!

Yet Another Successful Brew Day

I don't know that this past Saturday could have gone a whole lot better. Dozens of different beers to taste, both homebrew and commercial. Meeting new homebrewers & beer enthusiasts & new fellow beer bloggers. Making something I've never made and having it not blow up. Delicious BBQ, fun people, and perfect weather. Do Saturdays get much better than that?

KC Hop Head invited Boulevard's Director of Marketing (Jeremy), who stopped by for a while to chat. I was focusing on getting the wort for my braggot going, so I didn't get to chat with him as much as I'd liked, but we did have a chance to talk for a bit. I am pretty excited about the direction the Smokestack series is taking; Boulevard's developing a quality beer reputation for Kansas City through that line, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.

In the short term, it's going the route of the malty Bavarian lager known as Doppelbock. Jeremy brought over a bottle of the Seeyoulator for everyone to taste. And oh my was it delicious. It had the malty flavor and warm alcohol feel of a doppelbock, but with a twist - it was aged on cedar, lending a subtle hint of that bright, citrusy moth-repelling wood in both taste and aroma. We joked about expectations of closet linings and dresser drawers, but there was nothing in the Seeyoulator smacking you with a cedar board. Instead, you get a little citrus from both the hops and cedar, along with just a hint of cedar-y spice. Fabulous. It's a little lighter in color than your typical doppelbock, but in no way is it detrimental to the beer itself. Once these hit the stores, pick up some to drink now and some to age.

Anyway, back to brew day. For the braggot, I made 4 gallons of wort (with 5 ounces of hops!) and added 9 pounds of honey (about 2/3 of a gallon). That's a lot of sugar. (my recipe was a combination of Ken Schramm's recipe in The Compleat Meadmaker and some directional guidance from his session on Brewing Network). It also has 3 ounces of Cascade and 2 ounces of Centennial hops. It smelled delicious during the boil. This stuff should be high in alcohol and pretty hefty, hoppy, and sweet - akin to a strong barleywine or a very hoppy dessert wine. I'm curious to try it, but I'll have to wait quite a while. Braggot takes about 3 weeks to complete fermentation and is ready to drink in about 6 months, but changes and smooths with age.

The mead was so easy, I'm inclined to make a bunch more. You really do just mix honey and spring water with some yeast nutrient & energizer, then add your yeast. That's it. There's a lot of stirring involved, but that takes about 5 minutes. How is homemade mead not more popular?


In less than 5 hours, I had 10 gallons of fermentable honey-based goodness. We shared some more beer, chatted a bit more, then headed home. In all the excitement and commotion of the day, I forgot to take the Original Gravity on BOTH items, so I have no idea where they started out. I'd even bought a fancy-pants pH meter to make sure they were at a suitable acidity for fermentation and forgot about that too. That's the thing with brew day - it's easy to forget steps, ingredients, or other aspects of brewing. I didn't drink much during brewing (just little samples) to keep my head on straight, but in trying to remember all the details in the process I forgot a big one. Ah well.

Mead can commonly get stuck in fermentation for a variety of reasons - poor yeast, low acidity, not enough nitrogen, or a variety of others. You can do a lot to avoid a stuck fermentation by doing a Stepped Nutrient Addition the first three days of fermentation - basically removing a bunch of CO2 through stirring and adding Diammonium Phosphate and a yeast energizer (basically yeast food). Today was my first addition after fermentation. I think "yeast energizer" is an understatement. As soon as I put it in (1/2 tsp DAP and 1/4 tsp Fermaid-K), I got this:


Looks like we're off to a good start...

Quick Bits

Just a couple of notes tonight.

1. Waldo Pizza has Lagunitas IPA in bottles. I've been waiting since last October to see Lagunitas beers out here, as they make one fine brew. We were out at the Lagunitas brewery back then and they said it'd be out here last December... then they said March... then summer... and finally, it's here! I'm sure this is just the beginning of other beers on their way.
   
2. Boulevard's doing a beer dinner at Extra Virgin on Tuesday 8/25. I'm not sure there's still room, but if you're going to be there, I will be too and I'd love to meet you.
   

That's it, folks!

Herbin' Renewal

Ah, Portland. It was nice to be back. I don't think we had a day over 75 degrees and I spent most of my time in jeans & a hoodie with a pint in my hand. It was good to be home.

We hit up a handful of new places that have opened since we left 2 years ago: Deschutes Brewery's Portland Location, Green Dragon (which offered both Single Wide & Tank 7), and Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB). HUB is pretty new to the Portland beer scene and focuses on organic, sustainable brewing practices as well as top-notch beer.

I tried to only drink stuff I'd never had or can't get in KC, so I had my eye out for new and unusual things. When we lived in PDX, we used to go to Concordia Ale House for all the latest stuff. However, when we showed up on Wednesday, half of their 35 or so taps were dedicated to Imperial IPAs from a recent competition. I had one, and it was good, but we all agreed - IIPAs are overdone and getting kind of tired. Where's the new stuff? What's the latest trend? We've done Imperials, we've done barrel-aged... sour beers were on the rise in '08 (and continue to be, thankfully!)... what's the new kid on the block this year?

Cue unhopped beer. This stuff was all over Portland and I was able to try examples from Deschutes, Roots, and Upright. There are two main styles of unhopped beers, both very old and invented before hops were recognized as "the" bittering agent and preservative: Sahti and Gruit. You may have read about Dogfish Head's recent take on Sahti, Sah'tea, or seen Craigmill's heathered Fraoch at the store. I only had Gruit, so I don't have much to say about Sahti other than I wish I'd have bought a bottle of DFH's Sah'tea to check it out.

Gruit beers are typically made with a variety of herbs, roots, twigs, and flowers that have preservative qualities (just like hops!): bog myrtle, yarrow, heather, juniper (berries and twigs), ginger, and a multitude of others. It reminded me of a wit, with the citrus and coriander flavors, but without any hoppiness and more flower. Lots more.

My first experience was with Deschutes' La Fleur which uses myrtle, yarrow, orange blossom, and spices (they don't specify, but I'm sure it had ginger in it). It was actually very good and my favorite of the three I tried. The floral taste wasn't overpowering and it was very light and summery. It was almost like drinking boozy iced jasmine tea. I also tried Upright's Reggae Junkie, which I thought was good but not something I'd want to drink all the time, and Roots' Gruit Kolsch which was way too heavy on the chamomile. They all kind of have the same floral-spice herbal tea flavor, which isn't offensive but appears easy to do poorly.

Overall, I'd say it's worth a shot. I've seen the Craigmill beers around town (Lukas and Gomers, I believe). Give the style a try - if you like wits, pumpkin beers, or other spiced and/or floral beers, you might find that gruit's a style you really like.


Random Stuff:

• Check out Gruitale.com for more information on the history and making of gruit
  
• I really liked HUB. A lot. The beer (all organic, lots of different styles, fresh, and high quality), the food (some different things on the menu and well executed), the atmosphere (open, airy, pinball machines upstairs, bike parts used for light fixtures), the staff (prompt, courteous, knowledgeable)... If you're ever in Portland, they're worth a visit. Note - they're crowded. We got there at 4:30 on a Tuesday and got one of the last spaces in the parking lot.
  
• Boulevard has recently made its entrance into the Portland market with Single Wide and the Smokestack series. I didn't see any of the seasonal Smokestacks available in bottles (Saison-Brett or Two Jokers), but I think they'd do fantastically well there. Portland's a good market for "different" beers, so I'm glad to see them making an entry. Tank 7 appears to be well-received, and I suspect the Saison-Brett, Imperial Stout, and BBQ will receive similar (if not more favorable) fanfare.
  
• I have a lot of confidence in Upright. The brewer did his internship for culinary school at Ommegang and was one of the first brewers at BJ's (a brewery/pizza chain I really wish we had here) to experiment with Belgian styles. I tried a couple of his beers, #4 (a wheat made from a sour mash and with a Belgian yeast) and the Gruit, and liked the #4 a lot. I would love to see his beer bottled & distributed some day. I'll be keeping my eye on this one.
  
• Roots' Gruit Kolsch was pretty bad. I don't usually leave half a beer behind, but no one at our table was willing to finish it. Every time we go to Roots, we seem to have the same conversation: "You know, I really want to like this place but...". I feel the same way about McCoys/Foundry. I want to love them. I really do. I used to think that the Foundry would take off as KC's place to go for new and good beer, but it seems that the Flying Saucer has really come through in this role.
  

An Afternoon with Women Enjoying Beer

It's been a while since I last posted, hasn't it? Life's been good. And busy.

Since my last post, Beer Sort of Girl opened up her home for Brew Day 2.0 and two more batches of brew were brought into existence. I went to Minneapolis for a week and loaded up my suitcase with beer from Surly. I've had both Cynic and Bitter Brewer by them and have been impressed by both. I also picked up cans of Furious and Coffee Bender and can't wait to try them. Surly's one of those breweries that has a huge local, almost cult-like, following. But, unlike so many craft breweries that receive so much loyalty, Surly actually deserves it. Their beer, so far, has been pretty damn good. And they put it in cans to boot. I'm doing what I can to bring it to Kansas City, sixteen cans at a time. (A few months ago, Bull E Vard was in Minneapolis drinking Surly and appeared to have similar sentiments.)

And now here we are, another week under my belt. As I sit at Flying Saucer drinking my goblet of Boulevard's Tank 7, I'll post about today's goings-on: I had the great fortune to participate in a focus group geared toward - what else - beer. Specifically, women and beer. There were six of us in the group, plus our two hosts Deidre and Ginger. Al, the General Manager at Gordon Biersch in the P&L, was gracious enough to host the event and provide us with tasters and snacks. (The current seasonal is a delicious Kölsch, by the way. And I was pretty proud of myself for identifying it as such without a single hint.)

I was surrounded by a great variety of women, including beer enthusiasts, the corporate trainer for KC Hopps, a writer for the Examiner, the Executive Director of the Kansas Women's Business Center. And, in my typical form, I had left my notepad at home and my business cards in the car. As we sat together drinking our samples, we talked about how beer is perceived by the genders, how the genders are perceived by those in the industry, how beer plays a part in our lives, and other relevant topics. Our afternoon was finished off by a fantastic tour led by James, the brewer at KC's only Gordon Biersch. He went into quite a bit of detail about the ingredients and brewing process, which was quite impressive. He even brought up the REAL history of the Reinheitsgebot, which was actually a law enacted to control the availability of various grain to brewers, versus that made available to bakers (the bakers won).

I have to admit, I've been skeptical of this whole "women and beer" thing. I don't want to be treated differently about my beer preferences just because of my gender. I don't want companies to condescend to me or talk to me like I don't know anything about beer because I'm female. Fact is, the market *does* treat me differently, whether I want it to or not. Ginger and Deidre have a pretty good grasp on this fact and are seeking to better understand it - then share their findings with companies in the industry.

I wish them both the best of luck in their adventure and may be just a teensy bit jealous as well. After all, who *wouldn't* want to travel around the country talking to women while drinking beer?

Local Updates

More updates!

Looks like Schlafly just released their quadrupel which should be in stores soon. "Schlafly Quadrupel is, as its name implies, a serious beer. But don’t be intimidated. This fourth beer in our bottle-conditioned Belgian-style beer series has a rich, malty backbone that is generously balanced by select, fresh hops to create a luscious, smooth character. Sharing it with friends enhances the enjoyment, whether in front of a roaring fire or at the finest dinner party." I've found their other Belgian styles to be quite good, and expect the same from the quad.

Great Divide, which competes with Avery for my "favorite Colorado brewery" designation, is releasing two new brews this month:

Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti: We toned down the hops a bit to allow cocoa nibs to contribute some pleasing bitterness, while vanilla notes from the oak combine with the cocoa to create an aroma and flavor akin to a gourmet chocolate bar. A dash of cayenne keeps things lively, adding just a bit of heat to the finish. A Yeti for summer? Hell yes.

Double Wit: Our more muscular take on the beloved white ales of Belgium. Unmalted wheat and Belgian malted barley give the beer a light body and straw hue, while coriander and curaçao provide the traditional notes of spice and light acidity. This cloudy, deceptively drinkable creation should be enjoyed without the addition of fruit.

Looks like they'll be bottling & distributing them, though I can't find any further info on that - anyone know?

Most of you already know Boulevard is coming out with an American Pilsner this summer. It will be "available initially only in Kansas City in 6-packs. We’re paying homage to the legacy of past Kansas City breweries with a classic American lager; all malt, real hop character, unpasteurized. Basically an American beer 'revival' for local consumers made by a traditional Midwestern craft brewery.'"

Founders is indeed set to arrive in Missouri in early June. A kick-off promo at Flying Saucer in the P&L is on June 3 at 7:00 PM. And for those of you keeping score, Wednesdays are also the Saucer's "keep the glass" night - buy a beer, keep the glass. Yes, celebrate the arrival of a top-notch brewery's products with a free glass to boot. Here's hoping it's something more exciting than a standard pint glass.


And that's all I've got for today. Prost!

Like a Kid in a Candy Store

It's been a long week. I left work early to get a head start on the weekend, and thought I'd stop at Royal on my way home to pick up a little treat. I was thinking maybe a little bottle of something Belgian.

That'll teach me.

Yeah, yeah, you're thinking, "WTF is that Bud Ice doing in there??" Well, as it turns out, ice beers are not just about higher alcohol content (and in fact, some "ice" beers have water added back after the ice is removed). When ice crystals form, they also trap impurities in the beer. The idea is that when the ice is removed, any impurities in the beer are removed along with it. My guess is that this makes for a "smoother" beer, although I'm not sure how much smoother Budweiser is supposed to be. For a couple bucks, I figured it was worth finding out.

I picked up a good mix of 12oz bottles as well; a little something for every mood: Southern Tier phin & matt's extraordinary ale, Schlafly Helles, Sam Adams LongShot Weizenbock, New Holland Full Circle Kölsch, Schlitz Gusto, and Tommyknocker Maple Nut Brown. I'll try to remember to come back and post about my thoughts on each. They're all new for me, except for the Tommyknocker which I already know is delicious.


The story about the Schlitz Gusto comeback is somewhat interesting. You can read a pretty long story about it here, or check out the website or Bull E Vard's blog post about it... I'm drinking it right now and it's not bad. It definitely has a nice bitter aftertaste without being too adjunct-sour. I only recently tried PBR (despite living in Portland during the PBR revival, where you can't go anywhere without seeing a bunch of hipsters clinging to their PBR tallboys) and thought it was pretty damn good - great summer or session beer. Schlitz has more flavor, more bitterness, and is a bit more complex. Aside from the hop bitterness, there's some light malt flavor and roasted corn. Pretty good - try it!

And finally - Boulevard Saison-Brett. Yes, this is the 2009 batch. $12.99 at Royal Liquor on State Line - they have quite a bit of this in stock at the moment.

Really, with a ton of beer already at home, the last thing we needed was more beer. Everything just looked so good....

More details on Boulevard's upcoming releases

Owen over at the Pitch recently discussed what's in the works at Boulevard (and his thoughts on two upcoming releases). Providing more concrete details, a news release at beernews.org laid out the plans.

Boulevard is releasing four new Smokestack beers this year, two with limited availability and two of wide but seasonal availability. Boulevard's also aligning its seasonal beer releases with Smokestack releases this year. Apparently, the Imperial Stout and Irish Red were the first to be paired. Next up - Zōn and Two Jokers, a new double wit. Additionally, the base Saison for Saison-Brett (without the Brettanomyces fermentation) will be available on draft in April at various locations. I'd put money on its appearance at Barley's & Waldo Pizza but I'm sure it'll be available at several places locally.

More info about the releases, as well as a reference to Owen's brewmaster's night blog post, is available in the beernews article.

Happiness is an Imperial Stout

John and I had dinner at the Foundry tonight, starting the evening off with a couple of glasses from Kansas City's only keg of Left Hand's Smokejumper. It's fantastic - I highly recommend getting a glass before it's gone. This is a smoked imperial porter done right - Smokey, smooth, creamy, bitter, and chocolatey, it's wonderful. 

We went to Gomer's in midtown after our visit, in search of Sierra Nevada's brand new Torpedo, with no success. They also did not have Boulevard's latest special release, the Imperial Stout. They do, however, have several bottles of the Saison-Brett. According to a coworker of mine, they recently found 5 cases of it in the back they did not realize they had. Nice find.

We hopped back into the car and trekked on down to Royal Liquors off State Line, looking for Torpedo and the Imperial Stout. 50% success isn't bad - we picked up Royal's last two 750ml bottles of Boulevard's Imperial Stout as well as a mixed 6-pack. We got home a few minutes later and popped open the stout.

Appearance - black, nice brown head, heavy on the lacing

Aroma - sweet, strong alcohol smell, oakey

Mouthfeel - soft, creamy, almost custard-like. 

Taste - initially bitter, up-front aggressive dark chocolate, followed by a raisin sweetness, and ending with lingering hops.

Boulevard used malted barley, wheat, oats, rye, and spelt in this brew. Supposedly, spelt lends a pillowy mouthfeel to beer. If that's truly the case, its presence is possibly noted. (Who's to say, though, if that's the oats or wheat instead.)

This is without a doubt my favorite Boulevard beer to date. I enjoyed the BBQ quite a bit, but it seemed like it needed a bit more time to age. Same with the Saison-Brett (and to a greater extent). The stout is perfect right now, right out of the bottle. And right in my glass.