Rick Duree is co-founder of Beer Sauce.  Most of you have seen them around, had lunch in one of their locations, and certainly admired the craft beer lineup.  When we started to put together Brewview MO, we reached out to Rick and his partner Andrew.  The guys have gone out of their way to show us the ropes.  One of the things Rick likes to do is travel to different areas and tour the breweries and BBQ in the area.  With his permission we wanted to share his experiences.  Cheers Rick!  And thanks!  www.beersauceshop.com 

 

Beer Sauce Road Trip - KANSAS CITY

Jack Stack BBQ: The atmosphere was classy with an exposed wood beam ceiling and massive fireplace. It was packed early showing how much people love this place. It's right off the highway so tourists can easily stop in to try traditional KC BBQ. All the food was good and I would be happy to come back with a group for couples date night or other gathering. I would have liked a little more creativity.  But over all good!

Casual Animal Brewing:  Our first stop of 5 breweries in the Crossroads Arts District of KC. We liked the fun everyone was having playing shuffleboard as we entered. The atmosphere was lighthearted and bright.

We sat at the bar and were greated immediately by a relaxed bar tender who, we could tell, loved introducing his sessionable brews to people new to craft beer. Nothing in the house was over 6.5%. They love their lagers from Vienna Lager to IPL, but don't worry, they had pretty much all styles represented on draught including peanut butter stout and  cider.

You're not going to find much in the way of crazy overpowering syrupy beers here. They focus on quality mellow flavors coming from yeasts, and even limit dry hopping. They're not even barrel-aging...yet. 

Casual Animal is definitely a beer drinker's brewery. And if you're new to craft beer this should be your first stop. 

 

 

I've looked all across the midwest and online to find a Brewery that also makes BBQ, and I've finally found it...Brewery Emperial! This ray of sunshine surprised us as we walked in, from the good-sized wood fire in the kitchen to the crisp true-to-style traditional brews on the draught menu. They actually had a Baltic Porter made with lager yeast just like the old world used to do it! And the Emperial IPA blew our socks off. 

The head brewer with 25 years experience came out to meet us and wouldn't stop giving us more beers to try...LOL! We chatted about the history of beer and the need to source ingredients from all over the world to make beer the way it should be made. It was what a Beer School should be and it happened spontaneously. That's a great sign of a true craft beer professional.

 Would I recommend Brewery Emperial? Yes, yes I would. And come hungry, you'll find great burgers and BBQ to sink your teeth into while you're learning the history of beer from a true aficionado.

 

Border Brewing was the first micro-brewery in the Crossroads Arts District of KC having opened 5 years ago. They started a renaissance in brewing in KC and attracted several others to pursue their dreams and launch breweries. The District now hosts 5 amazing breweries, each with their own feel and approach to craft beer.

Border stood out to us with extremely helpful staff as well as customers who guided us through tasting the 10 craft beers on draught. The standouts to us were the Coffee Break Nitro Cream Ale that had so much coffee flavor we couldn't believe it wasn't a rich black color, the Lights Out Stout made in collaboration with Double Shift Brewing next door that featured Star Anise (my fav) and Fennel Seed, and their staple Strawberry Blonde.

Now, let's be honest, when we walked into Border Brewing we weren't expecting to get excited about a 4% fruited blonde ale, but that's why it's such a great beer, because it renewed our interest in what is usually a straight forward brew. You have to try these craft beers if you like flavor!

Try one, try them all.  We'd love to hear from you.

More to come!  

Rick Duree is co-founder of BeerSauce with locations in St. Louis Metro, and KC.

www.beersauceshop.com