Hello all, I'm heading to Kansas City, MO for the first time. I'm a big IPA and pale ale fan. Any breweries, or must have beers I should try? I was considering going to Toppling Goliath for a day, but it says it's 6 hours away. Any insight you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Go to Boulevard, their new tap room opened just before the Fourth. Pretty good and wide selection on tap and you can make your own flight.
Of the limited amount of breweries I've gotten to check out while there, I'd have to say Torn Label is probably my favorite. Small but fun little taproom and they have some solid overall beers along with the some really interesting ones like the Quadjilla. Not sure if that one's available right now but House Brew is a must try if you go there. Can't go wrong with Boulevard but I remember them not having the most accessible tasting room hours; basically, you have to go there earlier in the day. Maybe it's changed, though. KC is mainly know for its power and light district but if you're looking for a good beer trip than I would avoid there and stick to West Port and Cross roads district. Depending on what's available in your neck of the woods, I would try beers from Firestone Walker, Perennial, Four Hands, and Odell just to name a few
We've recently opened a new visitor center and beer hall. The tour experience/gift shop portion is open from 10-7 and the beer hall is open from 11-7. Feel free to PM me with questions.
It's changed, the new "beer hall" opened farily quietly on June 30th, I still can't find anything about it on Boulevard's own website. (any insight @TheJermis?) Hours are 11:00 am - 7:00 pm every day, 10,000 sq. ft. of space. They're still closing too early in my opinion though, I've got to imagine staying open a couple more hours would pull in a lot of post work folks out for the night. Also could probably use a bigger food menu selection but those were my only complaints of the new digs. Plenty of space, easier access to do day-of tours, and a pretty good view of the skyline. Then again, maybe I got suckered in by having rye-on-rye-on-rye on tap last week. Here's a couple of articles with pictures of the new place: http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/cityscape/article88185192.html http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2016/07/07/boulevard-brewing-visitor-center-photos.html Honestly I'm surprised this isn't getting a bigger push from the locals yet. It's a great setup and a much better layout than the old space.
We're still in the process of finalizing everything before we put together copy for the website. I've copied and pasted a couple of your points for response. *They're still closing too early in my opinion though, I've got to imagine staying open a couple more hours would pull in a lot of post work folks out for the night. We don't want to be a restaurant/bar with restaurant/bar hours that potentially put us in a position to compete with spots in the area that serve our beer. *Also could probably use a bigger food menu selection... Same reason. We wanted to create a place to enjoy a couple beers after a tour or a spot to stop by for some beers and a snack. We don't have a full kitchen or the kitchen equipment to offer much more than what the menu currently is. I'm definitely not saying you're wrong for having those desires, but I wanted to frame it within our goals for the space.
I chortled at the idea of conveniently tying a TG visit into a KC visit. I don't think people from the East Coast have any clue how big states are when you cross the Mississippi. Hit up McCoy's Public House in Westport. I was very impressed by their offerings the last time I visited KC. Had a similar vibe to Town Hall in the Twin Cities and had really good food along with an awesome Mosaic based pale (IIRC) and a killer Berliner Weisse. Boulevard is your obvious stop. One of the pillars of Midwest craft beer.
Torn Label brewing, Crane Brewing, Boulevard Brewing, Martin City Brewing, Cinder Block Brewing are great breweries and all offer something different than the others. For stuff on draft, Flying Saucer, Bier Station, Yard House, McCoys, Foundry. Go to craftbeerkc.com for more in-depth reviews etc..
Makes perfect sense in that context. I was wondering if it was maybe a zoning issue at first but then again I could see you pulling people away from P&L & Westport pretty easily staying open later. Between you guys and Danny Edwards though, it seems like no one wants to stay open in the evenings down in that valley! I was just struck at how great it all looked when I first stepped in, reminded me of Surly's new digs but much better visual material about the brewery. One suggestion though, maybe have a phone line from the taps to the main floor where the kegs are at? I watched four or five kegs blow all about the same time and it seemed half of the servers all disappeared to go swap lines out while the few that were left were randomly pulling taps to see if they were back on? Then again, maybe that's the health initiative for employees?
Hope you don't mind the piggyback, but I'll be back in KC next weekend for some Royals games. Any shops where I can find 2nd Shift bottles? They just started getting some distro in KC when I moved.
Everywhere in MO will have 2nd shift. I would look at the major or bigger MO places like Lukas, Gomers, Royal, & most Hy-Vees. Might wanna look into 4 Hands. They have some great stuff as well right now.
Oh wow, good for them (2nd Shift). I'm staying Westport/Plaza so Gomers is on my list of stops. Funny you mention Hy-Vee as my wife told me she wants to find one just to park in their sprawling parking lot and browse their wide aisles. Funny the things you miss when you move, maybe we can kill 2 birds with one stone. We get some 4Hands distro here in Chicago but I'll keep my eye out for anything I haven't seen around here. Thanks.
Ahh... Didn't realize you were coming from Chicago. You get the same stuff up there as we do (4 Hands). Hy-Vees are classing things up. Big aisles, Starbucks while you shop, breakfast buffet, a little something for everyone. A brewery you will want to snag is Crane Brewing. Some great beers from them lately.
