3 day brisket

For those that wanted to know... 3 day brisket suis vide is absolute awesome sauce...

Free State Brewing - Ad Astra

OK so I like this beer, alot... but this will be in the quick and dirty review section. No pictures, no flavor wheel, just info.
Think black and tan
Reminds me alot like new Belgium's 1554
Kinda coffee
Kinda malty
Kinda amber ale
Good head
Good level of carbonation
Great drinkability
Great taste
And bam, bobs your mother.

Boulevard - Tank 7

Some people will claim that this is the best beer to come out of KC, or even Missouri... I'm not so sure about that, but this is one damn good beer.
OK so before I start I want to clarify that I do know that I poured this into a non boulevard approved glass. For those that don't know, boulevard's smokestack series has a picture of what glass you should use on the back of their bombers, but not on the back of the Little Smokey line. I know that it is supposed to be a tulip glass, but all of mine were dirty... so what ya gonna do?
This beer pours with the typical huge foamy head that has come to typical of all the smokestack series, and reeks of oranges and other tasty spices. It also leaves a good lacing on the glass as you slowly succumb to this delightful brew.
It tastes not hugely unlike it smells, lots of fruit and a hint of hops in the background. This is another good showing of that it is all about balance in your recipe, and that you can't go overboard with one specific flavor or you will loose the entire "roundness" of the entire brew.
It doesn't overwhelm you with all spring time fruits which is nice, you can still taste some raisins and some plumb. But all the while it has an earthy quality about it that is not far off from a wheat beer. That is really where this beer stands out, it keeps a good mouthful while keeping all the flavors coalesced in a perfect manor.
OK so I may not think this is the defacto KC best beer, but it sure is in the top 3 for standard production, and easily in the top 10 even when taking limited runs in consideration. The only thing that you do HAVE to do, is DO NOT drink this beer straight out of the bottle. I see people do this all the time, sadly... It will not do this beer any justice. It needs to be in a glass to really be able to taste the full spectrum of the beer. Out of the bottle it is overly fruity and far to carbonated, but once poured it takes on a whole new life.
Flavor wheel after the jump

Schlafly - Bavarian Style Weissbier

OK so any one who actually reads this knows I love a good unfiltered wheat. This is definitely no exception. Here is the skinny
Pours hazy (duh, its unfiltered)
Limited head
You can really taste the earthy wheaty-ness in it
There is kind of an orange/lemon overtone to it that is very nice
It smells kinda earthy floralish if that makes sense
Perfect crisp finish for a spring day with a semi light body
OK, here is my beef... they killed off the #15 wheat beer, and then they release this as a seasonal... really? This beer needs to be around all year long. I can honestly say if it was there would be one in my fridge at all times. This is now in my top 5 wheats now, and will be very sad once I see it go. I would just go buy a case of this fantastic brew... bit who am I kidding? I will just drink it all in a couple weeks time if I do. Schlafly, good job. But you should really reconsider the limited nature of this brew...
Hit the Jump for the Flavor wheel

Odell - 5 Barrell Pale Ale

Odell... you continuously impress me. I figured this beer would be good, but I think I have officially fallen in love with you. Too bad I am already married (sorry ladies) and the fact that I am pretty sure that you can't marry a company... but there has got to be a state somewhere that will allow it.
This beer pours a nice hazy amber, kind of in their typical unfiltered look. It has little head, but who cares... its there to drink, not to just sit there and at. It has a nice sweet aroma that lends to brown sugar with a slight piney hops smell.
This beer is smooth and solid. A good balance of hops, citrus and just good ole fashioned beer. I could go on, but I won't. Just trust me, its good. If you don't trust me, go out and buy some and try it your self. This is a smooth drinking beer that you can definitely drink all night. Or drink after a nice day of working in the lawn.
Long story short, run don't walk to your favorite booze emporium and buy some. Then drink it and enjoy it... NOW!
click through the jump to see my tasting charts on this bad boy!

Firestone Walker - double IPA

This my first experience with this brand as they just started distributing to the KC area. So far so good. I figure any beer that ranks a 100 on beer advocate is worth a try, if others like it that much, there is a very good chance that I will too. Granted I am a big person on "just because others like it, doesn't mean their tastes are the same as mine...". But this beer does not disappoint.
It pours a good golden amber that all good IPAs do, and I could tell from first smell that this was going to be a piney beer. It has a subtle smell of pines, but its a sharp pine if that makes any sense. You have a solid 2 finger head that leaves good lacing as you drink it.
On first taste I thought, yup that's an IPA... but then as I continued I realized there is much more to this beer than just being a simple IPA. It has a slightly heavier body than your average IPA, which gives the beer a good balanced flavor backbone. Since the body is a more rotund than other IPAs it can still be crisp and piney, but it lets the flavor of the beer really develop in your mouth as you take your drink. Sure it starts with hops and a resinous pine, but underneath it has a spicy undertone that I can't quite put my finger on... maybe a little ginger... whatever it is it has a sweet spice to it that is not to over bearing, but sits just right in the mix. For being a fairly high Abv drink when its cold you can't taste much booze. Its not till it comes to a decent room temp that you can really tell that by the time you finish the bomber, that you will know that you drank it all.
Granted this does taste similar to alot of other double IPAs, but it is a little more robust and sophisticated than alot of other examples in this genre. Its like sitting down with a glass of scotch and smoking a Cuban Cohiba cigar with it, rather than smoking a black and mild. Neither one is bad by any means, but when push comes to shove, one is going to more pleasing of an experience than the other... and one you are going to want to have again, and the other you will want simply when you need a "fix"...

Lagunitas - Wilco Tango Foxtrot

Holy Jesus... I didn't think I was going to like this very much on first drink... but boy was I wrong!
I am glad that I chose to pour this into a tulip since this beer is more stout or porter than brown ale. Lagunitas considers this an imperial brown ale, or an American strong brown ale... but hell whatever it is, its dark and creamy. It pours with a huge head that is nice and airy but doesn't stick around for a long time. It has a typical aroma that you would expect, but with a little more of am alcohol over tone. As the level of booze quickly goes down in your glass it leaves a heavy lacing that sticks around for a looooooooong time.
OK so now on the taste front, this beer is f'ing creamy. It is kind of a blend of alot of different beer styles. It has a dark, creamy and malty flavor of a stout, the brown sugar undertones of a brown ale, and the slight nuttiness of an irish red. It has some slight hints of toffee, coffee, and a little hoppy bitterness. Its kind of an odd combination, but I like it. It is kind of like one of their brewers got bored and decided to dump all of their favorite brews into one bottle and just to see what happens.
Whatever the case may be, lagunitas 2 thumbs up to you, one for the fantastic beer, the other for being so awesome with the pricing of your bombers. This Guy totally gets a 4 out of 5 in my book (even though the flavor wheel says 3... i wrote that out before i knew i liked it alot).

Chimay - Grand Reserve

Oh my god I am I loathe... I say that because I loathe the fact that I can not drink this beer all the time since it is fairly pricey. OK, its not too bad, but its enough to make me squirm just a bit...

Odell Brewing - levity amber ale

I have always been a big fan of a good amber ale. A good body, good color... all around a solid any time of the year beer. This is no exception.
Not having drank anything from Odell in a state of caring or remembering it, this was my first conscious time of drinking their beer. I am impressed from first drink. Need I say more? Probably not, but guess what? I am... what you gonna do about it? Keep reading? I hope so.

Stone - Pale Ale

I had to sit back and think about this one long and hard. Normally I write a review while drinking a beer, but I felt this one needed a bit more contemplation than some others. Maybe of was the fact that I was enjoying my last night before my wife left town again... but I think it was the fact that I liked this beer so much that I felt like it deserved a good night of enjoying it before I really sat down to write.