Spring has sprung and we are in the final stretch of our expansion process. Our new canning line has arrived but the new fermenters and other equipment are still making their way here. Unfortunately there’s been some supply chain delays, so it is taking the new tanks a little longer than expected to get to their new home. At the end of the day, this means we won’t be producing/selling more beer until mid-May. It’s a bummer since we thought we’d be putting these into production this month. Oh well. Onward!!!
We know everyone is itching to have a pint at the bar, but we are not quite there yet. So, when are we going to consider reopening? Because we totally revamped our business model last year (aka packaging all the beer we produce), we are using our tasting room as a storage space for packaging materials. We are not stopping the flow of cans, so we need to find a place to store all the materials plus we need additional cold storage space.
Good news is we were able to obtain more space in the building, but it will not be available until July. This space will solve our cold storage and material storage issues. So all of this being said, we don’t know an exact time frame for fully reopening our tasting room. As we get into late spring/early summer, we are hoping to have some weather dependent pop-up openings on our patio. But this depends upon City restrictions being lifted or loosened.
Hang in there with us. We are doing everything we can to bring you more beer, but there are a lot of factors out of our control.
On to the beer news. We are pretty stoked about our beer line-up this weekend, which includes our annual beer that benefits the Pink Boots Society and TWO barrel-aged versions of our Barleywine. These beers will be available for preorder via our online store starting Thursday (3/18) at 7pm, with pick up Fri & Sat. To-go only. Limit TWO of each.
- Betty’s Boots IPA
6.8% ABV – 4packs of 16oz cans
This is the third year we have brewed a beer that benefits the Pink Boots Society, a non-profit organization that supports women working in the brewing profession. This year we brought together the ladies of BKS in late February to brew this lovely IPA with a blend of pale malts and hefty doses of oats and wheat. The beer was then double dry-hopped with The Betty Blend from Freestyle Hop Farm, as well as Citra and Mosaic. A portion of proceeds will be donated to the National and Local KC Chapters of the Pink Boots Society.
- Recollection Barleywine aged in Willett Rye Whiskey barrels
14% ABV – 375ml bottles
Freshly-dumped Willett Rye barrels might be one of our favorite aging vessels. We utilized a blend of barleywines that have a darker/more robust profile and, when aged in Willett Rye barrels, bring to mind notes of fig, caramelized toffee, sweet tobacco, vanilla and subtle chocolate.
- Recollection Barleywine aged in Apple Brandy barrels
14% ABV – 375ml bottles
We were fortunate to obtain some of the elusive apply brandy barrels. For this version, we utilized a blend of barleywine bases that are more traditional. Notes of caramel, brown sugar and raisin contributed from the barleywine base, commingled with the sweet apple and vanilla tannins of the barrel, conjure up memories of biting into those candied caramel apples on a stick.
This is our first adventure into barrel-aged barleywines and we appreciate the simplicity of carefully selected malts and barrels along with a lot of time and patience to produce a unique drinking experience. Unfortunately, we had to suspend our barrel program with our expansion but plan to start filling barrels again in the next few months.
FYI – we will not have a release the weekend of March 25-27.
