It’s funny now, but some worried that KC Bier Company’s Winterbock wouldn’t sell. Before the Waldo brewery’s inaugural release of the beer in bottle in 2018, founder Steve Holle and brewer Karlton Graham heard from wholesalers hesitant to plug a boozy seasonal with winter in its name. Those fears proved unfounded. Winterbock hit shelves on… Continue reading KC Bier Co.’s Winterbock warmed up our winter nights
If there’s a way to get noticed in Kansas City’s exploding beer scene, making a rainbow sherbet-flavored sour is it. Courtney Servaes, owner and brewer of Servaes Brewing, credits her wife with the idea of a raspberry-lemon-lime-orange-flavored sour witbier. Although wary of trying to blend so many flavors — especially when adding vanilla in true… Continue reading Courtney Servaes is pushing beer boundaries in Shawnee
When Brian Rooney’s father made a pilgrimage to his ancestral homeland of Sligo, Ireland, he was hoping to spot a few colorful sites bearing the family name. Rooney’s Olde Tyme Pub, maybe, or Rooney’s Butcher Shoppe. That’s not what the patriarch found. “He got back and he said, ‘The only damned thing that we could… Continue reading This amazing hazy blonde ale is our 2019 Beer of the Year
As the long winter begrudgingly started fading, there was a beer to get us through it: Batch 25 of Torn Label’s Hang ’Em High IPA. The late-winter version of the always-evolving IPA from the adventurous Crossroads brewery delivered some semblance of future warmth with guava-grapefruit notes from Citra hops. Amarillo hops kept the pine boughs… Continue reading Hang ‘Em High IPA is always different — that’s why we love it
Casual Animal brewer-owner Kyle Gray’s India pale lagers were inspired by a visit to Riga, Latvia. Drinking lager at a wedding in the small Eastern European country captivated him. “During summer, there’s roughly 18 hours of daylight, which inspires you to stay outside longer and enjoy life at a slower pace,” Gray says. “Something about… Continue reading Casual Animal brings a taste of Latvia to Kansas City
There are no shortage of aggressively fruity IPAs out there right now — most of them take the form of hazy New England-style IPAs. Double Shift decided to go the opposite direction with Monster Tribe, building this cocktail of strawberry, banana and tamarind using an ultra-dry and clear brut IPA base (see page 61). It’s… Continue reading This brut IPA has a culinary side to it
To make a beer that offers an explosion of flavor, Alma Mader owner-brewer Nick Mader knew he needed to take his foot off the gas. For the base of his Mexican Mocha Coffee Porter, part of the new Kansas City brewery’s Tamper series, Mader combined a blend of two-row, chocolate and caramel malts with a… Continue reading Forget pastry stouts — you need this pastry porter
Rodney Beagle started his brewing career from behind the bar. Beagle was a career bartender who hit the triple crown of pouring drinks in Westport, the Plaza and Power & Light District. When North Kansas City’s Big Rip grew large enough to hire its first bartender, Beagle was their guy. “I got started working there,… Continue reading There is a secret ingredient in this North Kansas City coffee beer
When Jackson County was purchased from the Osage and Kansas Native American tribes in 1825, one parcel was not included in the sale. Township 49 was known as the “lost township” for more than 15 years before eventually becoming Raytown. Crane Brewing pays tribute to that history with an annual beer festival and with this… Continue reading Crane Brewing’s Township 49 is totally wild
