Title is pretty self explanatory, but I'm going on a road trip and am staying a night in Kansas City. Where are some must visit beer spots and breweries in the area for someone who's passing through?
In my opinion, BKS and Alma Mader are at the top of KC’s brewery scene at the moment. Oak & Steel doesn’t have a huge tap selection, but is the best-curated beer bar in the metro by a significant margin. We also had two* GABF-winning breweries (BKS and City Barrel) this year. (*River Bluff - which started in St. Joseph, MO - also won a medal at GABF and has a KC brewery/taproom.) Depending on your taste preference, location you’re staying at, etc. some other breweries and bars in the metro worth visiting are: - Torn Label - King G - Strange Days - Bier Station - KC Bier Co. - Pathlight
I visited 5 breweries in KCMO 4 years ago and gave my two highest ratings to Boulevard and Brewery Emperial if that info might help you.
Where is your hotel gonna be? I used to stay at downtown hotels, but now I only stay in the Crossroads District. Crossroads is just south of the main downtown area. The downtown area is very walkable from the Crossroads District, in case you wanted to visit the Power and Light District entertainment area (there is a Yardhouse there if that interests you). Crossroads has more than a few breweries, including Torn Label and Emperial. But if I was you, I'd skip both of those two, although Emperial has a nice beer garden area that is enjoyable. Please avoid Border Brewery in the Crossroads as well. Drain-pour worthy beers. If you have a car or are going to rideshare, head south to the KC Bier Co and the nearby BKS. KC Bier has decent German style beers and a nice outdoor beer garden. BKS makes the best beer in Kansas City. Walkable from the Crossroads area is Boulevard Brewing with their incredible second floor taproom / beer hall. Tons of different beer on tap. Nice outdoor balcony with views of downtown. And Alma Mader is a short walk from Boulevard. In the same area is Rochester Brewing and Roasting Co. I've enjoyed beers at Casual Animal, City Barrel, and sometimes Double Shift. There are a couple of beer bars in the Crossroads area as well. The International Tap house is one, and it's connected to a Mission Taco Joint. Taps on Main is another beer bar. It's one of those pour-your-own beer places. Forty taps to choose from. I found some decent offerings there. And last time we were there, we were hunting around for some steak. Came upon Anton's Restaurant and Taproom on Main St. They had just closed their kitchen for the night, but I saw they had a sh*tload of taps. Not sure of the quality of their taps. I'll check them out next time I'm in KC. My hotel of choice in the Crossroads is Hotel Indigo Crossroads (not Hotel Indigo Downtown). Really nice rooms and usually fairly priced. A bit cheaper but not as nice is the Home2 Suites, a block west of Hotel Indigo. Oh, and I dig Joe's Kansas City (Kansas) Bar-B-Que. Ten minute drive from Crossroads. We love their sides of dirty rice and smoked chicken gumbo.
Go here and try No Touchy. One of the 2 best barleywines to come out of KC. They also have a great taplist otherwise, and some bottles of tete 20 on site. https://www.oakandsteelkc.com/ Check out Alma Mader and Boulevard. May as well ask at Alma Mader if they held back any of the madera club beers to drink on site, they’re worth it. BKS has solid pilsners, lagers and hazy IPAs. Much further south on the Kansas side in Olathe, is Apogee. They currently have mornin delight on tap. https://www.apogeekc.com/menu If you’re only here one night these are the only places I’d go for beer. Get Q39 or Joe’s KC for dinner Rye (restaurant in leawood) currently has CYPB at 10 an ounce and WFP at 12 an ounce if you like brown water
I’ll be driving through Kansas City Thursday on the south part of town. Where can I pick up some Alma Mader cans (friends with Nick from when he worked at Crooked Stave here) and bbq. Coming up from Arkansas and driving back home to Denver same day so can’t do draft.
Alma Mader’s cans are only available for purchase at the brewery; while the time difference in driving through via downtown vs. swinging around on 435 is negligible at most points throughout the day, going from Arkansas to Denver in one day implies you’ll be coming through mid- to late-morning, and they’re not open until 3 on Thursdays. It can’t hurt to message them and see if anyone will be around at the brewery when you’re passing through and would be willing to let you come in for a pickup. In that scenario, there’s a Jack Stack location close by to Alma Mader and Chef J (a newer place and very good) is about a mile to the north.
Correct on late morning thursday, brutal drive but want to end up at home that night. I'll shoot em a message. Appreciate the suggestions.
On the likely chance they tell me to kick rocks, would anyone like to meet up for a trade? I have Weldwerks Medianoches. The OWA and the Double Barrel Peach. I think they were $30 each so 3-4packs....I will be passing through late morning noonish on thursday the 20th.
