National Homebrew Day/Missouri Beer Festival

May 7th is National Homebrew Day, and as it turned out, there were a lot of beer-related events going on, all on the same day. I stopped by Phil's, where he was doing a brewing demo with a saison. Phil has a great set up in his garage, plus a nice bar with homebrews always on tap, so it's always a nice place to hang out. He had a rye beer and a pale ale with calypso hops--very refreshing. Alas, I had a beer festival to attend, so I couldn't keep it up.

The first Annual Missouri Beer Festival was sponsored by Missouri Life Magazine.  

Broadway Brewery booth

This was the first year of the Missouri Beer Festival at the Stoney Creek Inn. Unfortunately, it was too gorgeous of a day to be indoors, but with Missouri weather it was a safe choice.  I met Kate there and made our way around the room. Prison Brews was right in the middle, so we started there. They only had two choices: Gone A-Rye Pale Ale and Prison Town Brown. I have eaten lunch there, since I work in Jefferson City, but not had a beer there. I should go there and get the sampler since I wanted to try more. The rye was pretty good, but Phil's tasted like an actual piece of rye bread, so that's hard to beat.

Next was Public House from Rolla. They had a stout and a mild. I admit, mild is not my favorite style, so I'm not the best judge. I like my stouts* a little more robust, too. I really did their tree logo and was tempted to buy a tulip glass from them. But, more power to them for organizing AHA events. I see from their website they are hosting a screening of Beer Wars, which is a cool idea. They aren't a brewpub at this point, just a brewery.

I think my favorite beer of the day was Schlafly's AIPA. Man, this was a delicious beer. Others I sampled were Tallgrass Halcyon Wheat, Tin Mill Amber, Crown Valley Amber, Broadway Brewery's APA, 1839 Taphouse's own Taphouse Ale (and pizza with beer in the crust). Boulevard didn't offer anything different but I still had a Two Jokers and advocated for producing the new hoppy wheat.

There were some stranger elements in the mix, like the Harley Davidson tent with motorcycles and a country whiskey bar that had "Vegas Bombs." As I told everyone, I am way too old to do anything with "bomb" in the title in the middle of the day. Or anytime, actually.

All in all, I'd say it was successful for this first-time event. Hopefully the CBE can work with them next time on having a booth or something.  They could use some help with marketing to the beer geeks. Some suggestions I would make include providing a tasting glass and list of the vendors for note-taking.

 Now off to the final event of the night, a blowout with Hellbender Brewing!

*Update: The Public House guys brought their stout and mild in kegs to Hellbender's party. Getting to take my time and sample the stout again, I really enjoyed it. Hellbender had their Concession Black IPA, pepper beer, cask ale, and Gary from Schlafly brought a sixer of AIPA, and also the Hop Toddy. That was a treat. I think the bottles are limited in the area, but Sycamore has promised a keg waiting in the wings. The honey and lemon really come through. I wanted to let it get warm but I couldn't put it down long enough.

Public House from Rolla

KC Roadtrip/Parkville Microfest

On Saturday, two cars full of members of the Columbia Beer Enthusiasts headed down I-70 towards downtown Kansas City. We had a reservation at 11 for a tour of the Boulevard Brewery. The tour is definitely worthwhile and the newer building is really impressive. We saw the barrel room where many of the Smokestack beers are aged, the fermentation tanks, the filtration system, the packaging room (not running that day), and then the gift shop and tasting room. They have a nice space to rent for meetings and parties with an outdoor patio that overlooks downtown KC. The options at the tasting room were the Singlewide, the stout, porter, Tank 7, pilsner, wheat, pale ale, the amber, and a new hoppy wheat that was delicious. We got a secret sample of a dubbel aged in cedar they are working on, too.

From there, we headed down to Westport and had lunch at the Beer Kitchen. Their beer menu had a lot of big beers and Belgians and I finally just settled on a McCoy's Hog Pound Brown. Most everyone else had New Belgium's Le Terroir. I had the Kobe hamburger with truffle fries, and everything tasted great. I don't think anyone had any complaints. By the time we got out of there and headed to Parkville, I think it was after 2:00.

We heard grumblings from people leaving Microfest that it was already sold out. We got up to the tent and found out it was. I don't think any of us expected that! One member hadn't bought a ticket online, but we got that sorted out and got him in as a guest. We more or less started going down the line of the breweries we hadn't had or weren't familiar with. The lines were long, but the timing worked out so that you drank your sample in line for the next one and were ready to fill up by the time you got up to the next one.

Here is my rundown:
Upstream Brewing (Omaha): I really wanted the Children of the Peppercorn Saison, but it was out and I had the stout instead. I tried someone else's rye, which was very gingery. According to the description, it is based on the cocktail called Horse Feathers, with ginger beer and rye.
Empyrean Brewery (Lincoln): Bourbon Barrel Oatmeal Stout, a "sessionable" bourbon barrel
Spilker Ales (Cortland, NE): Hopluia was all that they had, but it was good.
Modern Monks (Lincoln): Espresso Porter was too much for most people, but right on for me.
Lucky Bucket (Elkhorn, NE): Had the Lucky Bucket IPA, which was very floral if I remember correctly.
Nebraska Brewing Company (Papillion, NE): Infinite Wit was very citrusy and refreshing.
Stone: Can't get enough, so we stood in the longest line to say hi to Nate. I had the Cali-Belgique.
Broadway Brewery: We're there all the time, so we left it up to others to consume. It seemed to be popular and I've already read positive comments. They are also pouring at next weekend's Missouri Beer Festival in Columbia.

 Blind Tiger's Backpack Beer

Out of Beer! These signs started to crop up as the day went on.

For dinner we hit All Star Pizza in Parkville. This place had a good selection of taps with lots of Stone left. I had Firestone Walker Double Jack. The Thai Pie pizza was good, too. Got some laughs at seeing other folks obviously coming from the Microfest, having trouble using car door handles and walking straight. Luckily none of them were driving. We headed back, with nobody getting drunk, sick, injured, dehydrated, or dropping their tasting glass. Winners!

If I left anything out to recommend, please leave it in the comments. I ran out of time to try everything.

CBE Update: Spring & Summer

Right before the Stone festivities kicked off Saturday night, the CBE officers met up to plan the next few months of events. Below is what we have so far. Suggestions are always welcome.

• The Kansas City/Parkville field trip roster is set, but you are more than welcome to join us this Saturday, April 29. We plan to leave Saturday morning at 8:30 from the Schnuck's parking lot. You'll have to come up with your own transportation at this point, but you can carpool with us to Boulevard where we have a tour scheduled. There's more information concerning the Parkville Microfest here.
• National Homebrew Day is Saturday, May 7. Several folks are planning to host demos and/or brewing sessions on this day. An official event will be has been posted on Facebook, but if anyone is interested in participating or hosting a brew event on the 7th, leave a comment here or on the Facebook group.
• After the brewing is done, Hellbender is planning to host its latest party. Stay tuned to their blog and/or Facebook page for details and start times. Typically, the boys at Hellbender limit their party to friends and CBE members, but if you're new, befriend them now and sneak in.
• On a Monday in May, we will hold a Rye/Black IPA tasting at Sycamore. So, round up your favorite rye beers and/or Cascadian Dark Ales/Black IPA's for this official CBE tasting. All regular fees apply. $30 will get you a year's membership. $5 will get you in if you bring beer, $10 without beer.
• In June, we're looking at cheese and beer pairing at a location to be determined. Unlike the last time, at this tasting we will be asking for folks to bring cheese. The CBE will purchase 4-5 styles of beer for the pairing. There will be no membership fees due at this event. More details to come.
• The official CBE event for June will be a "Wild Night" hosted by the Elwess household. We will allow folks to decide just what "wild" means. Does it have to do with fermentation? Strange ingredients? High ABV? You decide.
• July (which is a long way off) will feature two events. There will be the annual picnic which is an open event for anyone interested in meeting other beer nerds and homebrewers. We only ask that folks bring some beer to share and a covered dish. A date and location will be announced as soon as we have more information to share.
• The other July event will be a West Coast tasting. So, any beer brewed in California, Oregon, Washington, or Alaska is welcomed. This will be an official CBE tasting where all applicable fees apply.
• Last, but certainly not least, we are planning to bring back the Members Only Tasting. This was a popular event last year and we don't want to not have one again this year. The Members Only tasting will happen in August. Before we can plan any further, there will be a survey put out that will help us identify the beers you'd like to try. Again, this tasting will have the applicable fees attached.

So, that's one official CBE tasting a month for the next four that you should attend. Also, feel free to join us for any of the other events or invite non-members so that we may infect them with our "illness." Watch the Facebook page, the website, and this blog for details on all the events described above.

Blind Belgian Tasting

 The Columbia Beer Enthusiasts had a blind Belgian tasting today at Phil's house. The finally tally is:

The winner: Urthel Samaranth Quad (the only genuine Belgian in the bunch)
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1339/15274

2nd Place: Choc Dubbel (Oklahoma)
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/4707/45566

3rd Place: Trippel (John Cannon's homebrew)

4th: Bruery Saison Rue (California)
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16866/42434

5th: Dubbel (David Bowen's homebrew)

6th: Old Ale (Phil Fuemmeler's homebrew)

7th: Bruery Orchard White Witbier (California) 
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16866/42433
8th: Trippel (brewed with British yeast) (John Cannon homebrew)

Thanks to Phil who hosted and created the scorecards to help us navigate our way through the Belgians. We scored each one on bouquet/aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel, and overall impression. Just for fun, we also guessed whether each was really made in Belgium or not. The only was that was from Belgium ranked number one, the quad.

CBE mid-April Update

Sorry about the lag in posts, but there are some things to keep you up-to-date on...

Next week is Stone Week here in the Show-Me state. There are set to be events all over to welcome Stone to Missouri. The statewide details are here. Sycamore and Uprise Bar are set to host two events on Saturday, April 23rd. You can find the full list at Stone's site. Details for Columbia's events are below.

Sycamore 5pm-7pm

• Stone Pale Ale
• Arrogant Bastard Ale
• OAKED Arrogant Bastard Ale
• Stone Ruination IPA
• Stone Sublimley Self-Righteous Ale
• 2010 Stone Imperial Russian Stout

Uprise Bar 7:30pm-9:30pm

• Stone Smoked Porter
• Stone Cali-Belgique IPA
• 2010 Double Bastard Ale

The sign up for the April 30th field trip to Kansas City and the Parkville Microfest is still up. Transportation is still being figured out, depending on the final number of people who sign up. As of now, cost includes $25 for transportation, $20 to get in to the festival, and whatever you spend on lunch.

Finally, there is a Belgian vs. Non-Belgian tasting this Saturday. Folks are asked to bring a Belgian or Belgian-style beer wrapped in a paper bag. It is a blind tasting where participants will see if they can guess which is which. Details are on Facebook.

Wearin' O' the Beer

The smell of corned beef and cabbage...the sight of puked up neon green beer in the streets...What do these things have in common? Neither is Irish, actually.

I experienced one St. Patrick's Day while I was in Ireland for a semester, and the holiday is very simple: good Guinness, good music, good craic. That's it. Nothing is dyed green. There was supposed to be a big parade, but I was there during the big foot and mouth disease epidemic of 2001 and everything was canceled so the rural farmers wouldn't bring it into Galway. Wipe your feet, stay in the bars. And so we did. It was grand.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be one big gathering place for traditional music and people who don't want to drink green beer from Das Boot. Here are the events I have found going on in the area. Since St. Pat's Day is during the week, the events span both the weekend before and the weekend after. Some of the concerts are from The Central Missouri Celtic Arts website, so you can find links to the artists there.

Saturday March 12:
Jefferson City Irish Parade, 2:00
The headquarters is Paddy Malone's pub, a cozy pub just across the bridge.
The pub opens at noon. Irish Stew, Bacon & Cabbage served for lunch along with our regular menu items. All are welcome to join the parade or watch along the way. Live music with drinking songs and ballads after the parade.

Leprechaun-archy 6:30 til ?

If you participated in Santacon you know what this is all about...
One part flash mob, one part pub crawl, & eight parts debauchery you will likely forget before this train-wreck comes completely off the tracks! The order and location of the pubs will be posted on the Facebook page, so you can join in at your leisure. Oh, and it's FREE. Pace yourself.

Wednesday March 16th, 7:30PM
Concert: The Mairtin de Cogain Project
Songs and stories from County Cork, with award winning singer/songwriter/storyteller, Mairtin de Cogain of Carrigaline, County Cork! at Scene One Theatre, 121 East High Street. Advance tickets available at Paddy Malone's Pub. 700 W. Main St. Jefferson City

March 17, St. Pat's Day
44 Stone Pub: Traditional Irish music session, 6 to 9
No description required...just come on in to 44 Stone for house corned beef, colcannon and other traditional fare with contemporary American insight. We might also serve a few beers and whiskeys....We'll have live music all night as well to play some classic tunes. 44 Stone will have the classiest (but not necessarily the calmest) St Patty's Day in town. See you then.

Hooten Hallers St. Paddy's Day at Blue Fugue, 10:00

Hooten Hallers, Lunar Mansion, Vulvette! Irish Hairpulling Contest! Free Leprechaun Toenails! Double Rainbow Buckets of Gold. Lineup: Vulvette opens, then get ripped by Mansion, tear down the house with Hooten Hallers!

Mojos
Join us and The Three Tree Crew for a St. Patrick's day you wish you could remember!! 4 bands, no cover, and more beers on tap than you can shake a Blarney Stone at! So don your finest green, stretch out your cheers-ing arm, and ramble on down for a night packed with great FREE live music! St. Patty's Day Brew Ha Ha feat. Holyfield (playing a full set of Irish Drinking Songs!!), Sunifyde, A Perfect Fifth, Baboonz - FREE!! / 8:30 pm

Broadway Brewery
Enjoy Traditional Irish Specials paired with craft brews all week long.

Sycamore Restaurant: Schlafly beer dinner is almost sold out, so you may be out of luck. However, after the dinner, there may still be kegs of barrel-aged Imperial Stout, and Irish Extra Stout; and bottles of several vintages of Reserve Bourbon Barrel-Aged Barley Wine.

St. Patrick's Day at Paddy Malone's Pub
Raffle drawings, party favors, etc. etc. Corned Beef and Cabbage beginning at 11am and served until it is gone! Live music beginning at 4pm with the reunion of THE BOW & THE BARDS (Rick Stokes, Allen Tatman, and Tom Schultz). Come raise a toast to Dear auld Ireland!

March 25, 2011, 8 p.m.
Concert with Bruce Molsky
Fiddle, banjo, guitar and voice. Old-Time American and Celtic music.
Location: Unity Center, 1600 W. Broadway

Don't forget in the middle of all this that Firestone Walker beer is making its debut in Columbia at Sycamore! If I missed any events, let me know!

Snowpocalypse Edition

Here is a list of upcoming events that have somehow survived the snow...

• Super Bowl Party - The location has been updated. There are limited seats on the couch, so RSVP ASAP. Also, plan to bring food and beer (of course). This event is open to non-members.
• Homebrew Only Tasting - This was promised and Josh Rein delivered. On February 13th at 4:00 PM, Josh will host a tasting limited to homebrews only. More details to come. Relax. Don't Worry. Have a homebrew. This event is open to non-members, but is limited to 10 guests.
  
• Porters/Stout Tasting - Bring a stout, porter, or one of those cellared beers you saved for the cancelled tasting this past week to Flat Branch on February 27th at 4:00. This is for members and all regular charges apply (membership OR $10 if you don't bring beer and $5 if you do bring beer).
• The last of the Hopslam is set to be unleashed on the public at Uprise Bar this Wednesday. If this doesn't happen on Wednesday, I won't bother posting anything more on Hopslam.
• There will be a field trip to Kansas City in April. Contact a CBE officer for details. If you don't know a CBE officer, leave a comment here and we'll get back to you.

That should do for now. Carry on.