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Tasting Room

KC MO Breweries Part 2 – Torn Label, Boulevard, and KC Bier Works

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Torn Label

Torn Label is one of the smaller breweries I visited. They had an interesting lineup of beers and solid impressive hoppy offerings. The Alpha Pale was delicious with tons of hop aroma and notes of tropical fruit and citrus that balanced nicely with a light acidic finish and low bitterness. This is an excellent pale. The house brew coffee brown was thin with bitter coffee notes and mild molasses. I would have gone for more coffee character. The Monk and Honey had notes of spice, citrus, and lemon peel with a mild honey sweetness.

The Hang Em High IPA was biter and resinous with notes of grapefruit on a sticky body with hints of lychee and an herbal hop bite at the finish. The 3 Heroes Wheat IPA was soft with notes of tangerine, tropical fruits, and candy orange. The beer showcased tons of hop aroma with minimal bitterness. The Shake Hands with Danger Imperial Brown was sweet with notes of caramel and light coconut. The beer hides its alcohol very well and despite being fairly thin packed tons of flavor.

 

Torn Label had some impressive IPAs and a tasty imperial brown that suggest to me that they will continue to brew lots of great beer.

Top 2:
Alpha Pale Ale
Shake Hands with Danger Imperial Brown

Boulevard

Boulevard is owned by Duvel. They have a massive beer hall area where they have 20-24 beers on tap on the second floor and a massive shop on the first floor. They have a limited food menu as well and depending on how busy it is they may limit you to certain pre-selected flights. I tried a ton of different beers at Boulevard but I will highlight some of my favorites rather than going through all of them.

One flight came with a mystery beer that turned out to be a cranberry sour. It had notes of cherry from the malts that blended nicely with cranberry notes and a light tart finish. The latest collaboration release available was an oak aged lager and it had a light sweetness with an oaky finish. I enjoyed this quite a bit. The IPAs I tried were all fairly herbal and didn’t really stand out to me. I wouldn’t recommend you visit just for the hoppy beers.

The berliner weisse had notes of ginger with light lemon notes and a crisp tart finish. The brett saison had a nice white cake saison base with mild citrus, funky brett, and a dry finish. I left with a bottle of this to try at home. The 2015 imperial stout from bottles was delicious with notes of caramel and molasses with a nice thick sticky body and light fudge on the finish.

It is worth taking the trek to the brewery to try various tap room exclusives and to try the various barrel-aged or collaboration offerings. I wouldn’t recommend that you visit for IPAs but they had delicious berliner weisse, Belgian styles, and various stouts.

KC Bier Company

KC Bier Company focuses almost exclusively on German styles. They have a large outdoor beer hall atmosphere and serve beers in full 1 liter steins if you feel so inclined. I only tried four beers there because I had already visited two previous breweries.

The Helles was crisp and light with mild herbal hops and a clean finish. Compared to the helles the pilsner had a bit more citrus notes and slightly more hop character and bitterness with a dry finish. I ended up ordering a liter of the pilsner to enjoy after my flight. In a full pour it had a nice fruit character I enjoyed.

The gose had a nice citrus forward taste with light tart on the finish. The dopple alt had a nice mix of caramel and toast with a soft dry finish. I enjoyed this style that is not often brewed. Typically an alt bier is 4% or so and this one was a double so it was over 7%.

KC Bier Company is worth a trip to enjoy their varied offerings at the source or if you are simply into a pilsner or hefeweizen they are easily available around Kansas City in six packs.

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Tasting Room

Circle 9 Brewing – Clairemont San Diego

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I visited Circle 9 for their grand opening. Despite the satanic reference on their logo the tasting room is bright and open. Unlike other satanic-themed breweries they don’t play heavy metal or have a dark tasting room. I tried all the beers they had available for their grand opening and they impressed with a few of them. Some others may need a bit of tweaking to fall in line with local tastes.

Their lager is made with rice and it is obvious from the sweetness. Though it has a nice clean finish it lacks any noticeable hop character and is nothing memorable. The session IPA was crisp and dry with notes of citrus and marijuana with a soft body and low bitterness. I don’t find it much of a session beer with almost 6% alcohol but it is a very impressive beer. I ended up ordering a full pour of this.

The IPA and double IPA were both fairly malt-forward. The IPA was on the sweeter side and hops were fairly mild with a hint of pine and minimal bitterness. The double IPA, in contrast, was strongly bitter with intense herbal character though it was not overly sweet like the IPA.

The imperial stout on nitro had an intense roast and notes of burnt caramel with a bitter finish. I preferred the flavors of the base imperial stout over the barrel aged version. The barrel-aged imperial stout was strongly bourbon forward though also fairly thin with some mild fudge notes. I don’t know if they blended this down or if they didn’t spent much time in the barrels but it didn’t have the same intensity of flavor people expect from local barrel-aged beers.

Session IPA full pour.

For a new brewery, Circle 9 is off to a great start. I am surprised that a brewery that made a point of being inspired by the lagers in Czech Republic their choice of styles for grand opening is a bit unusual with a rice lager and a bunch of ales. Still, they made a delicious session IPA and imperial stout and have a great space that they can expand into and hopefully brew a classic Czech pilsner in the future.

Top 2:
Session IPA
Imperial Stout

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Tasting Room

Trillium Brewing – Canton Massachusetts

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Trillium is located a 30 minute drive or an hour by public transit in the area of Canton south of Boston. They also have a shop downtown Boston where you can pick up cans to go but can’t taste anything. They also have a seasonal beer-garden in downtown Boston where you can order some of their beers in an outdoor setting though they have a more limited tap list than the brewery and everything is served as one size of pour in plastic cups. I’m glad I made the trip to the brewery this time because I got to try a larger number of their beers and determine my favorite to decide which cans to buy. The tap room gets quite crowded and thus quite loud from the noise of people and the music.

View of the large tap room.

I started with the Summer Street and Congress Street hazy IPAs. All the various Street beers are brewed similar but with different hop profiles. Summer Street was tasty with strong tropical fruit character including pineapple, medium hop acidity, and a sticky bitter finish The Congress Street was more mellow with less harsh acidity, a bit softer, sporting notes of papaya and mango with some pine bitterness. The Motueka Free Rise, hoppy saison, was earthy and not very hoppy with a dry finish. It was a pretty average saison and not up to the level of Tired Hands. Melchior Street was my favorite of the streets I tried. It had a fantastic mix of pineapple and pine with mild bitterness and acidity. It was the most balanced of the bunch.

Secret Stairs is their 8% alchol stout. It was smoky and roasty with notes of burnt caramel and a medium bitter finish. The Night and Day imperial stout with coffee was quite impressive with notes of mild smoke and caramel that blend nicely with strong acidic coffee. I got little noticeable hint of alcohol in the taste. Mettle is the one beer from the bunch I had before. The double IPA had tons of fruit and citrus notes from the hops with a mild acidic finish. It was soft and delicious. I compared this side by side with Uppercase, which was also quite soft with lots of tropical fruit and citrus with a mild acidic finish. Both double IPAs were quite impressive.

The Raspberry Soak was a pretty basic fruity light alcohol sour with lots of lactic acid and mild raspberry flavor but little complexity. It is pretty standard for the fruited berliner weisse that most breweries serve these days, tart but boring. The Permutation 11, barrel aged sour with peaches, was a delightful mix of soft body, sweet peaches, and mild pepper notes. It was a nice middle ground between the highly acidic style that is quite common and the pure fruit juice style I’ve had from others. I probably would have bought some bottles if they were available for a reasonable price.

Beer Garden.
Hazy beer in plastic! Only had one.

Though the price of each 5oz pour was high, ranging from $4-5, it is worth going down at least once so that you can try all the beers they have available. Plus they have air conditioning and keep the area at least cooler than outside. Once you discover your favorites, you can easily pick up cans from the shop in Downtown Boston.

Top 3:
Melchior Street Hazy IPA
Uppercase Hazy Double IPA
Pemutation 11 Peach Sour

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Brewery/Restaurant

Tired Hands Brewing Company – Ardmore Pennsylvania

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Tired Hands is located in Ardmore, a 30 minute drive or 1 hour public transit stop from Philadelphia. I opted to stay in the area to make it easier and I’m glad I did because I had to leave during one of my visits to take care of some work for a client for a few hours before going back. Being a short drive away made things easy. They have two locations very close to each other, the brewery and the Fermentaria (their version of a brewpub but with more fancy food). I stopped by the brewery the first night and had a couple of beers though I had the most variety at the Fermentaria as well as eating lunch. Both locations are quite loud both with the noise of people talking and the music played in the background.

 

I started in the evening at the brewery with their cask ESB, done old school with a smooth light body and notes of caramel malts. It was even smoother thanks to being served on cask. I also tried their wacky Birthday Cake Double Milkshake, a hazy double IPA with huge amounts of adjuncts, including chocolate, vanilla, and the addition of an actual cake. They take advantage of the super soft creamy mouthfeel of their double IPAs and it works fairly well in the same way as other breweries serve white stouts with lactose and coffee. It is a super popular style but I didn’t personally care for it and I am a bit surprised I ordered a full 10 ounce pour after tasting it.

I started trying other beers at the Fermentaria the following day. Their Hop Hands, the flagship hazy pale ale, was fairly thin with notes of citrus, grass, and pine, though a bit too bitter for the style. Their other flagship, Saison Hands, was delicious, a classic saison with notes of citrus and spice with a dry finish. It paired quite nicely with the Veggie Banh Mi and the hot peppers. I was so impressed by this that I later ordered a few other farmhouse ales they had. My husband ordered the Coffee Only Voyd, imperial stout with coffee, which was thick and smooth with tons of roasty coffee as you would expect from the style.

The Oat Tao, oat saison aged in barrels, had a funky barnyard nose and a soft and chewy mouthfeel. It was delightfully complex with earthy notes, mild citrus, and some green-apple lambic character. It reminded me of something similar from Hill Farmstead. I enjoyed it so much that I ordered a pint when I finished, though many others who visited around the same time thought it was their least-favorite.

The So It Goes red sour ale was quite funky with notes of caramel, cherry malt character, and a mild tart bite. I quite enjoyed this one I think in part to the hgher alcohol which gave it an increased sweetness that kept it from being one-note. The Tongue Extinguisher hazy DIPA was soft and pillowy with tons of pineapple and grapefruit hop flavor. It had minimal bitterness, hop acidity, or alcohol bite. It was like drinking Monkish fresh from the source, and immediately I understood where all the hype for them comes from.

If you go out to Tired Hands, I recommend planning to stay in Ardmore if you can. I loved he quiet area without the insane traffic of Philadelphia and one could easily spend days trying everything they have to offer. Since they price things to encourage ordering larger pours, I suggest trying a splash of a couple of beers to ensure you enjoy what you order. Not only was the beer a highlight of my trip but I can see myself returning to the area again to enjoy the slow, quiet feel of the surrounding town. I highly recommend the Fermentaria not just for beer but for their high quality food with plenty of vegetarian options to go with it. Just bring your ear plugs if you prefer a quiet brewery experience.

Top 3:
Tongue Extinguisher DIPA
Saison Hands
Oat Tao Saison

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Tasting Room

Novo Brazil Brewing Company – Chula Vista San Diego

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I only made it down to Novo Brazil because I came back from a flight into Tijuana airport and was on my way north. To get there you have to take quite the drive as they are not just far south but also far east. Still, they are a great addition to the southern San Diego beer scene. I tried 8 beers when I visited and most of them were quite good.

The Chula Pils was fruity and crisp with a nice clean finish. A tasty hoppy pilsner. The berliner was a pilot batch so I wasn’t expecting much. It needs some work, lacks in complexity and has a mild tart finish. The Otay IPA was good and balanced in the classic West Coast style, resinous and fruity with some mild citrus kick. The beer was neither too malty or too bitter.

The Samba Haze was delightful, soft and fruity while not particularly bitter. Most lighter alcohol hazy beers don’t do much for me but I could have enjoyed many pints of this one. The Ipanema double IPA was solid. It hid the alcohol well though it had a bit of a sweet finish it lacked the strong alcohol bite or bitterness that often comes with this style.

The wine aged brett beer was solid for the style even if it could have dialed down the sweet aftertaste. It largely hit the notes I expect for the style. The Corvo Negro is a fantastic imperial stout with tons of coffee, no noticeable alcohol, and a smooth mouthfeel. The bourbon barrel aged version though, not so much. It seemed overly sweet with tons of molasses and didn’t taste like bourbon at all.

Overall Novo Brazil was an impressive spot with only a couple misses from what I tried. The two best were quite good and stand up to other local versions of the same style.

Top 2:
Samba Haze hazy pale ale
Corvo Negro Imperial Stout

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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