Beer report: Amerisports Brew Pub, Kansas City

Posted at 1:35 pm by Patrick under Beer Travel

I’m in Kansas City today for a little play, beer and barbecue. How lucky for me that there is a place that has them all under one roof — Ameristar Casino in North KC.

The barbecue (Arthur Bryant’s, an outpost of the well-known local joint) was interesting enough, if the “original recipe” sauce was a bit strange. It had what I would call a weird mix of spices that I didn’t like. Their “sweet heat” sauce, on the other hand, was a nice mix of hickory and buffalo sauce flavors. Yummy.

Back to the beer. The “Amerisports Brew Pub” is the outlet here for five varieties of house-brewed accompaniments to your slot pulling or card playing activities. In the sampler pictured here, I tried three of their offerings — the Knock Out blond, Face Off pale ale and the Hard Ball dark. The blond, billed as a bohemian pilsner, had too much of a floral, fruity finish in my opinion to carry that pedigree. That said, it was enjoyable. The pale was somewhat hoppy and well-made as far as English pales go. The real treat was the dark lager. This tasty Müncher style dunkel had really nice mocha notes and would’ve merited a full pint, had my need to drive not interfered.

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Lunch (and a beer) at Twain’s

Posted at 12:42 pm by Patrick under Beer Travel

Darcy and I are out and about for some shopping near Decatur, and have stopped into Twain’s for a quick lunch and brew.

After sampling the smoked rye pale ale (too heavy-handed on the smoke), we settled on the Irreverent Liberty IPA. With the hop shortage firmly upon us, we are taking care to drink hoppy beers while we can. And this one fits the bill.

Dry-hopped with 4 lbs of Challenger hops per batch, it’s an earthy hop lover’s delight, and a welcome sight after our visit to the land that beer forgot. While I prefer more citrusy IPAs, this one is a worthy tipple. Get it while you can!

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A Legendary reward for some parental geekery

Posted at 4:56 pm by Patrick under Beer Travel

My mother had been complaining about her slow MSNTV dialup service for some time now, and finally did something about it. Problem is that her broadband ISP (Verizon) wouldn’t do the modem installation for her.

Enter the geek squad — rather geek son.

15 minutes, and a few line filters later, she finally has a respectable on-ramp to the Superwebs. All that DHCP madness can make a guy thirsty. Thankfully the Legend Brown Ale I planted in the fridge during my last visit was still chillin’ behind 16 cartons of cherry tomatoes (don’t ask me, I don’t live here).

I’m pleasantly surprised by how well it’s held up. It starts smoothly, with hints of roast and toffee. The finish is dry (probably due to length of stay in the cold box), and a little acrid. In all, it’s a perfectly suitable treat to finish an afternoon of 1s and 0s.

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Puerto Rico: the land that forgot beer

Posted at 2:04 pm by Patrick under Beer Travel

It’s a sprinkly day here in San Juan, and we’re seeking refuge from the rain. Back home, we’d grab a cold beer and be quite contented. Looks like our beer-loving friends in PR don’t really have that option.

After scouring the nearby mini-mart for a malty one, I left disappointed. The aforementioned Medalla Light is an Amstel Light clone, and apparently the only beer brewed here. Hoping to find something different, I found a couple of Barenas in their fridge. With Puerto Rico on the bottlecap, it’s a step in some direction anyway.

Light lager. Slightly corny. What can you say…it’s the beach. Oh, and this is the view from out balcony. Not bad, eh?

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Darcy, a beer and her iPhone

Posted at 4:40 pm by Patrick under Beer Travel

It’s spring break, and we’re in San Juan, Puerto Rico to catch some fun in the sun.

We’re hunkered down at the Caribe Hilton, a somewhat swanky resort dead on the northeastern coast of the island. With my lowly silver VIP status and priceline booking, I wasn’t expecting much more than a basic room. After talking to the front desk at checkin, we now have executive lounge access (free brekkie and afternoon snackies). Apparently, a little social engineering goes a long way.

Here Darcy is using her iPhone to check email over the lounge’s wifi connection. That “Medalla Light” in the foreground? Looks suspiciously like Amstel Light, doesn’t it?

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