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KC Bier Co.

Putting the i back in bier.

Tickets Now on Sale for KC Oktoberfest, Oct. 4-5, 2019 at Crown Center

Written by · Categorized: Press, Heritage, Bier

Tickets now are on sale for our KC Oktoberfest, Friday and Saturday, October 5 and 6 at Crown Center near downtown Kansas City. The annual two-day celebration will feature Bavarian-style bier, food, and music, including shopping, games and activities for children and adults.

Modeled after the traditional Munich Oktoberfest, KC Oktoberfest will feature our award-winning bier made from 100% German malt and hops, German and American cuisine, “Festmusik” performed by local and national bands, dancers, shopping, crafts, games and competitions for children and adults. In addition to the expansive festival grounds offering food and activities, two expansive tents will provide traditional Bierhalle bench-and-table seating for thousands of revelers come rain or shine.

Ticket Information

Three types of tickets can be purchased at kcoktoberfest.com for general admission, VIP, and reserved seating. Westin Crown Center Hotel, located adjacent to the festival grounds, is offering a special rate through the advance ticket website of $159/night that includes two general admission tickets.  Advance ticket purchases not only offer discounted pricing but will expedite entry on the day of the festival. Entry for children 12 and under is free. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.kcoktoberfest.com.

Announcing 2019 KC Oktoberfest

Written by · Categorized: Press, Heritage, Bier, Bier News

We’re excited to announce that our two-day KC Oktoberfest will return to Crown Center in 2019 and transform one of Kansas City’s most iconic venues into a “Munich of the Midwest” on Oct. 4-5!

One of Kansas City’s fastest-growing traditions, KC Oktoberfest started in our Biergarten in 2014, where it became a local favorite with its exciting atmosphere showcasing our fresh German-style bier, exceptional local food and lively entertainment. To accommodate the growing crowds and excitement surrounding KC Oktoberfest, we relocated the event to Crown Center in 2018, where we enjoyed the company of nearly 10,000 people for the two-day event!

KC Oktoberfest is solidifying itself as a signature Kansas City event and as a major regional festival that is comparable in size and authenticity to other Midwestern cities. Our city, and the Midwest on a larger scale, were widely settled by German immigrants, and we’re excited to celebrate that heritage by providing a true Oktoberfest experience in an iconic Kansas City location.

Festival Amenities and Entertainment

Modeled after the traditional Munich Oktoberfest in Germany, KC Oktoberfest will again feature our German-style bier, local food vendors, a free Kids & Family Activity Zone, games and competitions, a marketplace/vendor square and entertainment by local and national performers.

We’ve confirmed headline performances by national acts Die Schlauberger (New York) and Das ist Lustig (Texas), in addition to returning Kansas City performers Polka on Steroids and The Happy Wanderers. Other entertainment will be announced at a later date.

We’ll have seating for thousands of guests under two large tents with benches and tables, including the main Crown Center terrace tent and a second German Bierhalle-style tent. Grünauer, a popular local restaurant serving Austrian and central European cuisine, will return as a main food vendor along with Scimeca’s Sausages and other vendors to be announced.

Bier and Wein

As is tradition, we’ll provide a range of authentic German-style bier for the event, including the awarding winning Festbier, a Vienna-style lager, the official bier of KC Oktoberfest. In 2018, The Beer Connoisseur magazine rated Festbier “World Class” based on its 96 rating, which also earned it the position of #10 on the magazine’s list of the top 250 beers of 2018.

Festbier joins the brewery’s list of acclaimed year-round offerings at Oktoberfest that include Helles Lager (94 rating) and Hefeweizen (93), both rated by The Beer Connoisseur magazine as well as Pils (92) and Dunkel (92), both rated by Craft Beer & Brewing magazine.

Read more about the bier reviews here.

In addition to German-style bier, the festival will offer wine, cider, water and soft drinks at several beverage stations throughout the festival grounds. For ongoing KC Oktoberfest updates and announcements, including information on tickets and hotel packages, vendor applications, sponsorship opportunities, FAQs and other details, stay tuned to www.kcoktoberfest.com.

A [New] German Tradition: Starkbierzeit at KC Bier Co.

Written by · Categorized: Bier News, Heritage, Bier

We’re starting a new tradition in the Bierhalle, paying homage to a centuries-old tradition in Germany: the commemoration of Starkbierzeit, which translates to “Strong Bier Season.”

In Munich, Starkbierzeit is an Oktoberfest-style celebration lasting three weeks in the middle of Lent, which Germans refer to as “the fifth season.” Starkbierzeit is traditionally only celebrated by locals without millions of tourists and weekend revelers common to Oktoberfest.

And, instead of the traditional Munich Festbier (the only bier served at Oktoberfest), only one style of bier is served during Starkbierzeit: doppelbock, the rich, malty and full-bodied bier created by 17th Century Paulaner monks in Munich to sustain them during their Lenten fasts. This is how the style became known as flussig brot, or “liquid bread,” in Germany.

Starting Saturday, March 16 at 11:00 AM, we’re putting a bunch of doppelbock-style biers on tap, where they’ll remain for several weeks or until our guests finish the kegs! These biers are available in very limited quantities, so there’s no guarantee they’ll all last the duration of Starkbierzeit. This is an excellent opportunity to sample multiple doppelbock biers together as well as taste a few of the non-Reinheitsgebot-compliant biers we create, namely, the barrel-aged doppelbocks.

  • Mai-O-Maibock: An amber doppelbock lager based on the same recipe as our traditional Maibock. The wort is concentrated to create a much higher alcohol content, yet it remains the same drinkable balance as the base bier. Crisp, clean and refreshing with rich malt flavors of honey and toasted biscuits, and a hint of boozy character. (10% ABV)
  • Bourbon Barrel Dunkelbock: A double-strength version of our most popular year-round bier. A dark doppelbock lager with rich malt flavors of chocolate and coffee with notes of anise and raisin, and a hint of boozy sweetness from aging in bourbon barrels. (10% ABV)
  • Blessed Doppelbock: Rich, smooth and full-bodied amber doppelbock lager with malt flavors of caramel, molasses and toasted bread. The original “liquid bread.” (7% ABV)
  • Whiskey Barrel-Aged Doppelbock: Our traditional amber doppelbock lager aged in whiskey barrels, which adds notes of booze, oak and vanilla to the malt flavors of caramel, molasses and toasted bread. (7% ABV)
  • Bourbon Barrel Über-Fest: A high-octane spin on our traditional Festbier recipe. A smooth and clean amber doppelbock lager with rich biscuit malt flavors and boozy sweetness from barrel-aging. (10% ABV)

You’ll need a hearty meal to hold up to the bier, so we invented a new “German-style” special menu item to accompany the bier: the German Chili Brat = any of our bratwurst topped with pork gulasch.

Mai-O-Maibock released in limited edition 6-packs last week. They’ll be available for sale during Starkbierzeit. In case you missed that announcement, click here for details.

Hope to see many of you here!

According to 4 out of 5 Billy Goats, Maibock is Mighty Good

Written by · Categorized: Behind the Scenes, Heritage, Bier, Bier News, Bier Nerd

Hallo!

Steve Holle here, founder and owner of KC Bier Co., with another installment of our bier nerd blog series. This edition focuses on Maibock — our next seasonal release — with some interesting history on the origins and development of bock bier as a style.

Bock is the German word for billy goat, but it’s also the name for a moderately strong German lager. While Bock is most commonly identified as a Bavarian style, the origins may be linked to a strong ale from the northern city of Einbeck around the 16th Century. Historians believe that Bavarian Royalty was so fond of the style that they had it brewed at their court brewery, Hofbräuhaus, but as a lager, rather than an ale. Beer folklore suggests that because Einbecker Bier in the Bavarian dialect was pronounced Ainpöckisch, the name was shortened to Pöckisch Bier, and finally Bock Bier. So, the name historically has nothing to do with a billy goat, although many brewers still depict a goat on the label.

In Germany, lagers with an original extract of 16° Plato or higher (i.e. 16% sugar by weight) but less than 18° Plato, are classified as Bock, which usually means 6% to 7% ABV. Lagers which are 18° Plato and higher are classified as Doppelbock (Double Bock), which usually results in ABV greater than 7%. Traditionally, Bock and Doppelbock are copper to dark brown, malt-forward styles produced with a high percentage of Munich malt and small amounts of dark caramel or roasted malts. Doppelbock is a traditional winter seasonal, especially in late winter during the Lenten season when Monks were permitted to consume nutritious Doppelbock during their fast.

Maibock (May Bock) is lighter in color than traditional Bock and associated with spring as the term Mai (May) suggests. Some versions are extremely pale and golden and are referred to as Heller Bock (pale bock).  The lighter-colored Maibock provides a springtime transition from the dark and chewy Doppelbocks of winter to the refreshing golden Helles Lager of summer.

KC Bier Co.’s Maibock has an original gravity of 16.25°Plato, 18 IBUs and 6.25% ABV. The bier presents a reddish amber color, smooth maltiness accented by flavors of honey and toasted biscuits derived from a majority portion of Vienna-style malt, and subdued bitterness from a single addition of Perle hops from the Bavarian Hallertau Valley. The bier offers a rich maltiness accentuated by double decoction mashing, yet it remains crisp and refreshing. Our version leans toward the amber end of the style’s color scale in comparison to the Blind Tiger in Topeka, Kan., that brews an excellent version of the style that is lighter in color.

Following our Maibock tapping party in the Bierhalle on Jan. 29, we will release Maibock in bottles and on draught in stores and taverns on February 1st. A month later, we follow up with a 10% ABV Doppelbock version of Maibock that we call Mai-O-Maibock, which will be available on draught and in our white label bottles exclusively sold in the Bierhalle. Mai-O-Maibock has the same recipe as Maibock, but it is brewed to a higher ABV. Comparing Maibock and Mai-O-Maibock allows the consumer to experience the boozier flavor effects of higher ABV and associated fermentation by-products in combination with more concentrated malt flavors.

Remember, no matter what version of Bock bier you prefer, KC Bier Co. has your Bock!

We will be Bock with more nerdy bier information soon.

Festbier Officially Releases in Bottles on Aug. 20!

Written by · Categorized: Heritage, Bier, Bier News

We’re pleased to announce the inaugural bottle release of our fall seasonal, FESTBIER, on Monday, Aug. 20. A three-time medalist at the Great International Beer Competition — including silver medals in 2017 and 2016 — Festbier is a crisp, clean, malty Vienna-style lager brewed during a six-week period using 100% imported German malt and hops, and our Bavarian monastery brewery yeast.

Festbier’s biscuit, caramel and honey malt flavors come from imported Vienna and Pilsner malts, while Perle and Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops provide moderate bitterness to balance the malt. Festbier finishes at 5.5% ABV and 25 IBU. We’re also proud to produce Festbier using traditional brewing techniques including decoction mashing (boiling a portion of the mash), two-vessel fermentation, natural carbonation and a long, cold lagering period.

Keeping with KC Bier Co. tradition, the bottle label and outer packaging feature an iconic Kansas City cityscape that is part of the city’s historical and cultural heritage. For Festbier, we chose Crown Center, the commercial complex that has been a staple of downtown Kansas City for more than 45 years and also is the site of our KC Oktoberfest, Kansas City’s largest traditional Munich-style Oktoberfest. Festbier is the official bier of KC Oktoberfest, which takes place Oct. 5-6.

We’re celebrating Festbier’s release in the Bierhalle and Biergarten on Tuesday, Aug. 21, where customers can grab a Festbier/pretzel combo for $5, or a Festbier/brat combo for $7, as well as sign up for an opportunity to win tickets to KC Oktoberfest. Festbier will be available in 6-packs of 12 oz. bottles and on draught from August through November throughout our distribution territory.