KC Trip

I'll be staying downtown if that affects answers, but I'm willing to uber for good beer.

 

Without knowing where you are staying, Bier Station is great spot with locals on tap. It's also a bottle shop. They have a live tap list on their site so you can see what's there before heading over.

http://bierstation.com/

Though I haven't been, Hop Cat KC appears to have locals on tap.

https://hopcat.com/beer/kansas-city

I'm actually heading to KC on Friday and plan to swing by BKS and a couple other new-to-me breweries that have popped up (thinking Border and Strange Days). I'll try and remember to update this thread with any useful information after I return.

 

Flying Saucer is probably your best bet for finding a variety of locals on tap in downtown. International Tap House is close with locals on tap. Hop Cat in Westport wouldn't be a bad uber, plus a bunch of other bar/food options within walking distance of it. Bier Station is a little further out from downtown but still doable if you're really after something they have on tap. Cellar Rat is a good bottle shop in downtown if your interested in bottles/cans.

 

@albionmoonlight

@KCUnited hit the nail on the head. Bier Station, International Taphouse, Hop Cat, Yardhouse and Flying Saucer are the big places to get a draft pour. The last three spots aren't local, with Bier Station being a KC exclusive (and also a place for to-go beer). Hop Cat has at least 30 taps dedicated to local beers. Flying Saucer has a handful of "mystery KC beers" with lots of local options. Yardhouse and Flying Saucer are both in downtown proper.

As far as checking out breweries, Crossroads is loaded up with breweries and just south of downtown (just across I-670 to the south). Border Brewery, Double Shift, and Torn Label all adorn 18th street, with Brewery Emperial and Casual Animal a short walk away. International Taphouse is right across from Border and Double Shift as well. Grinder's has a dozen or so taps and some damn good food too.

If you're staying in downtown proper, you won't be far from North KC either, which has lots of breweries. I'm not too familiar with this area, but I know they have Cinder Block, Big Rip, and Colony.

Both Crossroads and North KC would be ~5-10 minutes in an Uber or to drive, or depending on where you're at, even a 15 minute walk.

 

As for North Kansas City, I've been there a couple times and enjoyed Cinder Block and Colony. They are about a block apart. There's also a pickleball bar (remember gym class) right across the street that I've wanted to try, but haven't yet. Tried going into Big Rip but didn't end up staying. Kind of had a weird vibe to it on that particular day at least.

 

Up North beer is a little rough, but the smokehouse bbq in zona rosa has a sneaky good tap list (I'd pass on the food though). Small but some quality stuff on it. At the time of posting they have Bomb! and parabola. They usually get the perennial stouts too. Bottle shops arent the best either but we have bubbles at least. Colony is my favorite North brewery but they do some weird stuff from time to time but I always enjoy my visit there

 

Hopefully some will find a process post like this as useful as I find them.

RE: BKS. Obviously only open on Sat and Sun. It appears that if they're doing a to-go release they let people know a week or so ahead of time, but don't announce what the beer(s) will be until the Friday afternoon before, via social media. I arrived on Sat for their BA saison, fruited sour, and DIPA (cans) release. There were ~35 people in line at open, which is when Brian takes a count and determines what the limits will be. I'm not sure about other releases, but it was completely unnecessary to show up before open on Sat for this one. They had the line knocked out in 30-40 minutes and posted that the BA saison and fruited sour bottles were still available to-go on Sunday. For this release, they had one point of sale outside on their patio for the to-go options, with the ability to go inside and get pours of whatever they had on tap (separate purchase). So, super smooth on their end. They have a small, but really cool space and the beers I had on tap (Counterculture and Holstein w/Maple) were great.

This is really good insight. I was blown away by how much the Crossroads has developed since I was last there. That 18th street corridor and surrounding area has become a completely walkable junction for craft beers and live music. I stopped into Border and Casual Animal (have previously been to Torn Label and was a regular at Grinders in a past life) during my stay, and while I wasn't necessarily blown away by any of their beers, I enjoyed everything I had and wouldn't hesitate to re-visit them whenever I'm back. If I was visiting KC, especially staying downtown, I'd just find my way into the Crossroads and enjoy all there is to offer.

 

I'd hesitate to call most of the Crossroads breweries some of the best in the city, but there is such a dense collection of them that it's easy to try out what you like - both in terms of beer and brewery vibe. Brewery Emperial and Double Shift are two of my favorites though. Emperial's patio is ludicrous, although if it's too cold for the patio, inside is really small and tight (not my thing).

I failed to mention it, but the Crossroad's district also has two distilleries, a couple video game bars (Tapcade and UpDown), a hip coffee shop that also serves alcohol (beer, cocktails, and wine), and a pour-your-own beer bar (The Ruins) that generally has a good tap list. Not all those are super close to each other. Parking just off 18th street and Oak puts you right in thick of a heavy drinking district. You could even ride the streetcar just about from The Ruins front door to the front door of The Flying Saucer or Yard House in downtown (<5 minute ride or a ~15 minute walk) if you wanted to visit a place with a hundred plus taps.

If it sounds like I'm gushing over the Crossroad's district, it's because I am. It's the first place I take guests out for food and alcohol when they visit town.

 

Thanks for all the advice.

I flew in early the first day and Ubered to Joe's to get there when it opened. I got the pork ribs and brisket plate. It was the best BBQ of the trip. Amazing. And the spicy slaw was great (and NC is known for slaw, so that's a real complement).

Then I walked to HopCat to try local beers, which were very good. My two favorites were the Yakimanic IPA and the Stockyards Brunch Stout.

Then I walked back downtown to the hotel to walk off the beer and BBQ. Hot day. Y'all could stand to plant more shade trees :-)

There was also a catered function at Boulevard, so I got to hit a lot of stuff there on tap. Really good beers and a great event space.

Finally, got the burnt ends at Bryant's. Amazing.

Couple random KC observations:

I love that y'all have very few chain places in town. Most cities, you have CVS or a Kinkos on every block. Y'all have managed to keep that stuff out. Not sure if that's intentional or organic, but it's refreshing.

Very few pedestrians. Even at night when it wasn't as hot, there just weren't a lot of people walking on the roads.

Overall, a good trip. Thanks for the advice.

 

Having very few chains is one of the things I enjoy most about this city, although I think it's partially due to the lack of foot traffic (as you pointed out), but KC is just not very dense. Our downtown is growing big time, so I wouldn't be surprised to see some CVS or small convenience stores start working their way into downtown, crossroads, river market, etc.

Then again, our city also seems to be 'anti' chain. Our Westport neighborhood gave Starbuck's the cold shoulder, forcing them to leave within 3 years of opening (same location as Hop Cat, if my memory serves correctly). This from an area that seems to be swimming in coffee.

Glad you enjoyed it! Sounds like you hit a lot of the major spots between Joe's KC, Arthur Bryant's, Hop Cat, and Boulevard. Plenty more to see should you come back too!

And yes - it gets wicked hot here.

 

Do any of the BBQ joints serve beer ?

 

@Harrison8 may know of some others, so hopefully he'll chime in. You can usually find macros and Boulevard's more popular year rounds at bbq spots around KC. Char Bar in Westport probably has the best beer list that I've seen among bbq places in KC. Unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of their Q (in relation to other KC bbq spots), but I know a lot of people that are.

https://charbarkc.com/menus/

 

Thanks will be in the north as we are going to "QUILT WORLD USA" (don't judge me). Any recommendations ?

 

It would be my pleasure to discuss KC BBQ and beer!

First off, what kind of vibe are you going for with your BBQ and beer? Sit down and/or fancy? Just a lot of choices? Hole in the wall with damn good food? I'll try to break them down in a few categories to help you decide what works best.

Sit down w/ server:
- Q39 - decent beer selection, but IMHO, best sit-down BBQ in town. Tap list is about 8 local/regional beers with nothing very limited on tap. Be sure to call ahead and book a reservation here most nights.

- Smokehouse BBQ in Zona Rosa - never had the BBQ here, but their tap list always impresses. If you're in the north portion of KC and seeking beer options and BBQ, this is a must, and quite frankly, is the only BBQ place in town that tends to have some more limited and heavy hitting beers.

- Jack Stack - KC institution with three locations. Probably the ritziest of the bunch (any BBQ stop with white table clothes that are not made of paper are ritzy in my book) and most pricey, but the BBQ is consistently good. Beer list spans about 8-12 taps of local/regional/macro.

Quick service:
- Joe's KC (formerly Oklahoma Joe's) - Original location has a different vibe from the other two locations. Original location is in a gas station and can require a wait of 1 hr or more to order your food. Other two locations seem to deal with their line quicker. Food is absolutely fantastic (a top 3 choice for me in KC. Period). Beer list is okay-ish. They usually have a half dozen different bottles/cans of local/regional (leans towards regionals) for consumption. The only taps in the original location are in the gas station portion, which means you could order a beer while you wait in line.

Misc.:
- Brewery Emperial - Not strictly BBQ, but they cook some delicious things over an open fire. They also make their own beer and it's pretty good, with each one being pretty darn straight forward, no frills. Space is tight inside with a large patio that fills up quickly on weekends. Bonus: there are two other breweries and one of the largest tap-list pubs within a quarter of a mile.

Some of those are more focused on food than beer. In general, you can get good to great BBQ anywhere, but the beer selections tend to be limited. I suppose it's better for the pit masters to spend all day sipping light macros vs. a heavy DIPA. Otherwise, you may have a little better luck hitting a BBQ joint and then wandering over to a local brewery.

If you want more food recommendations, I'd be happy to oblige.

@Rback

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond. This is what it looks like. Thursday night we will be at the Jazz museum until 6 & my plan is to get food from Bryants & walk it into Torn label. Friday we will be in Hamilton all day & for dinner we will go to Smokehouse & then drive a bit to BKS. Saturday again we are in Hamilton & will only have time for Levi Garrison unless you know a better joint between Hamilton & the residence inn KC airport. I appreciate your help & if you ever get to Buffalo NY hit me up.

 

Just a heads up that BKS is only open on Saturday/Sunday right now unless it's changed in the last few weeks. If so, someone please correct me.

 

I've never been to Levi Garrison's, so I can't speak directly to their facility. I know it's a small town and there really isn't much in the way of craft beer between there and North Kansas City/Kansas City North (it's actually two different cities!) I have had a beer or two from them and - if I'm honest - wasn't super impressed. If you want my suggestion, I'd recommend swinging into Cinderblock on that last day. Then again, it sounds like that's slightly out of the way. Should you pay Levi Garrison a visit, I'm eager to hear your thoughts.

I'd just suggest revisiting BKS's operation hours, or even emailing them on when they'll be open. It's a couple that works a full time office job, but also runs the brewery as a side gig. It seems like some weekends they're open longer hours and more days than other weekends.

Looks like @swenny916 addressed my BKS concern.

P.S. I will be in New York later this year, but unfortunately, not anywhere close to Buffalo.

 

Just to update, Brian at BKS left his corporate job several months ago to do BKS full time, but yeah, they’re still very small. I think he has one full time employee working with them. Still just Saturday and Sunday hours for now.

 

Thanks again

 

Woah. That's some really cool news. Excited to see where he takes BKS.

P.S. Tell him thanks for releasing teku glasses. I much prefer it to a 16oz snifter.