Boulevard Two Jokers - Double Wit

Boulevard has been enhancing their regular beers with a more powerful, tasty limited brew in some of the Smokestack Series. They have gone from a numbering system to a seasonal Smokestack and Two Jokers is their latest. It is a delicious double-wit based on the Zon summer beer. At 8% abv yet very light and bubbly, it is a great summer brew coming out at a good time. If you are able to get some a hot July day is a good time to hammer a 750 ml down with a friend. Not sure how much will be out this summer, but Gomers in the Northland has already sold out and I found Bubbles on N. Oak had just got their shipment in and was able to pick up a few before they got it on the shelves. Back to the taste: you definitely taste the carbonation bubbles dancing with a dominant Belgian yeast. Orange and coriander stand out (just like the Zon). Very easy to drink especially when sweating (sorry no electrolytes). Expect to belch with the carbonation level. Lovely. Overall I like the beer but it won't make my top 5 for this month. Maybe it will for a hot June month? If you get some let me know how you like it.

Grow Your Own

...hops that is. I bought 3 types of hop rhizomes this spring and thought it'd be fun to grow some different kinds for bittering and aroma. I bought left overs from orders so I didn't have a lot to choose from. I planted Northern Brewer, Centennial and Cascade. This spring has been the perfect time if you want to grow anything. Rain, sun, rain, sun. The Cascade took off like a rocket and it's about 10 inches long so far. The Northern Brewer plant is slow going and the brids keep eating on it. The Centennial never made it out of the ground and I might just replant it. I thought that when I move out of this house I'll just move the plant to and then found out that the roots can get up to 13 feet deep. I listened to a radio show on the brewing network that talked about growing hops. The bine (not vine) will grow to the top of my deck the first year and then the second or third year should start giving me something to work with. I wonder how an high alpha acid hop would grow here. Maybe one day I'll have a little hop garden with several kinds but for now I'm starting small. If you ever want to try it I suggest watching youtube videos on growing them. Youtube always gives me more confidence than a book because you can see normal people with finished results (brewing, car repair, growing hops).

Boulevard Pilsner

Boulevard Pilsner is coming out later this summer. Is a pilsner really an American lager? I guess it's turned into one but what makes a German pilsner different? Regardless, I look forward to tasting the hoppy, light beer.

I wrote a comment on beernews and figured I'd post my thoughts on my blog as well. I'd be interested in what others have to say about this idea. Craft brewers basically put out the good stuff. They put out the beers using pure, quality ingredients. Why don't I see craft brewers battling the "light" beer market? I always support local brewers when I can but there are lots of events where I can't drink too many craft brews. If I was at a game and there was a choice between $6 Bud Light, a $6.50 Boulevard Light and a $7.00 Boulevard Wheat I'm going to pick the $6.50. Sure it's a little more but hey I'm not have a dinner beer because I'd like a few more after this one. On a side note, sorry if those were your kids sitting next to me at the game. I don't know, what do you think?

Beer Fridge and Sunday Beer Trip

Well my fridge is happy again and filled up. Let's see what we've got here. Left Hand Milk Stout, Lieny's Amber Ale, New Belgium's Trippel, Schlafly APA, Raspberry Heff, Pale Ale and Tripel, Boulevard's Double Wide, few BBQ's and few Saison-Brett's, a random Sam Adams Lager, O'Fallon's mix 8 pack and a De Proef Reserve Signature. I've also got an Odell's Woodcut No. 1 that I had just traded a BBQ for. I am waiting until No. 2 comes out this month and then I'll compare them side by side. The Woodcut is individually numbered and signed in pen. Odell's has been one of my top breweries. It's something about the water maybe that gives all of their beers a good crisp finish.

I took another motorcycle trip this weekend and skipped out on the KC Biermiester's cookout. We had three bikes and went on a 160 mile circle and stopped off a few times for some beer. We went to Leavenworth, KS at High Noon Saloon and Brewery for a beer and pleasantly found out that they are going to start canning their Amber Ale. Really cool looking cans. We also stopped off at Free State Brewery in Lawrence, KS and I had a delicious Barleywine. Then we finally got back to Missouri after a couple more stops. Great times. I'm hoping to do a tour of Nebraska and Iowa with my bike this year and find a bunch of small breweries.

Royals Winning? Another '85?

Royals are top of the AL and we're well into May now. A lot of us are wondering how long this will last. I think it was back in '03 when KC got off to a really good start and then slowly wound up back where they have been for the last 20 years or so, at the bottom. However, this season seems different. We've got some decent hitters and some great defense. There are a couple other teams looking good in the AL but I'm just going to point out that this could potentially be another Cards/Royals matchup in the Series. Just throwing it out there.

I think KC has become accustomed to a loosing season and for the most part okay with it. It's fun to get the family or friends out to a ball game and sit back to watch the fountains. But this year we've got a new Kauffman stadium with some good pitching. It's a little different going to a game these days. It kind of feels like the pressure is on the fans a little bit. Kind of fun.

The new stadium comes with the new prices. The "K" is very cheap for the MLB still, but I just got so used to it that as prices creep up it just creeps me out. We paid $16 for some upper level and then worked our way around the stadium between beers. Parking was around $8. So not too bad, but the beer, wheeew! Different prices for different spots around the stadium. When we snuck up on the Party Deck it was $7.50 for a Miller Lite. Boulevard was $7 a pour. I had a couple pre-game drinks and still emptied my wallet at the stadium. Oh well, I suppose the winning and the new stadium makes up for my cheap ways.

If you post it, they will come...

Greg Koch, Greg Koch, Greg Koch. Hey Greg, if I post your name will you find my blog too? Are you just as big of a beer geek as all of us bloggers?

Recently I found theweeklybrew blog and this blogger wrote a smash post on Greg Koch, CEO of Stone Brewing. I found myself most intrigued with this particular post and felt like joining in. I don't know why, but it just seemed out of the ordinary to say something against a craft brewer mixed with the whole BMC buzz. That's like saying a song writer is a jerk yet I will still listen to their music, but it is compelling because Stone beer is good! Then Greg wrote a comment on the post, then comes the apology, well you read it...

I also found Amy at theworthog wrote about Greg's keynote speech and Greg made a comment on it for the honorable mention.

You know what, maybe Greg is a nice guy, maybe he's not. I'll just shut up and keep drinking.
Oh and I found this ironic, if you check out my IPA brew post there is an ingredients picture with a bottle of Bud Light sitting next to a Stone Arogant Bastard Ale.

Crown Valley Brewery

Let the competition begin. For those Kansas City beer drinkers that don't get over to STLHops very often, I read an interesting post that I think you should take a look at. What really got my attention was the fact that their goal is to become the largest craft brewer in Missouri. They've got a long haul after Boulevard and Schlafly, especially that they're not located in a big city. I was very impressed with the pictures included in the post and with their good looking, expensive equipment. Bling bling. Unfortunately they were not able to get to Parkville this year and I assume that is because St. Louis had their beer fest. While I am interested in trying their brews and collecting their bottles I am skeptical of how well they will do. I wish them the best of luck.

http://stlhops.com/photos-crown-valley-brewery/

Parkville Microfest and the Nebraska Hangover Cure

Turned out to be a good day for the festival and I was worried it was going to be rainy. Unfortunately, the ground was too wet to have the festival on but it worked out pretty good having it on the asphalt. There were around 26 or 27 breweries. There were 2000 people drinking this year. Although I am a hop head, I'll have to say that the Concentrated Evil from Lucky Bucket (NE) was the best. I was pretty disappointed with some of the booths because they didn't know anything about the beer. Whoever was pouring O'Fallon didn't even know it was sold in Kansas City. It was unfortunate that STL brew fest was going on the same day. I didn't get to try all of the beers because I was busy yapping to people. But I did get plenty of time to get good and drunk. My buddy Jason drove me to the Saucer afterwards where it was jammed packed because of the anniversary and I got to drink some more! This morning was like someone hit me on the head with a 2x4 and you gotta wonder what stupid things you did the previous day. Well, can't wait for next year's.

Speaking of Nebraska, I took the bike up to NE this morning. Good way to cure the hangover is to get that adrenaline pumping. I am a KC MO resident and took me 1 hour from my house to get to the corner of Nebraska. On my way back I stopped off in St. Joe because I heard about this "Belt Brewing Co", but come to find out it went out of business. I looked around St. Joe for an hour or so and talked to a few people in search for a St. Joe beer, but none were found. Oh well, fun ride.