The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
We love craft beer! Each week we will taste a number of beers from around the country and give you our thoughts, not only will we talk about the flavor, but also the artwork and anything else that comes to mind.
We will also go on location and visit breweries and try a number of their offerings and give you our thoughts as well.
Come sit around the campfire and join in on the fun!
The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
Ep 101 - On Location From Kansas City with Love: A Boulevard Brewing Experience
Welcome to our mouthwatering adventure at Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, where we've curated an exceptional tasting experience featuring some of their finest barrel-aged brews! Each selection boasts impressive alcohol content, rich flavors, and innovative brewing techniques that set Boulevard apart in today's craft beer arena. Join us as we explore unique styles ranging from porters to stouts, culminating in a thrilling ice-distilled brown ale that packs a punch at 18.2% ABV. In this episode, we highlight the smoothness and complexity that characterize Boulevard's brews, providing detailed tasting notes and insights on each beer's unique flavor profile. From the chocolatey Wood Baron to the smooth whiskey notes of the Whiskey Barrel Stout, each sip unveils a tapestry of flavors that will delight any beer enthusiast. Experience the distinctively crafted Rested Reserve, a weeded stout with its own character, and the exciting experimental brews that pushed our taste buds into overdrive. Whether you’re a seasoned craft beer lover or just dipping your toes into barrel-aged brews, this episode promises valuable insights and recommendations. Tune in, and let’s embark on this flavorful journey together—because it's not just about the beer; it's about enjoying unforgettable moments with friends. After the last sip, we encourage you to visit Boulevard and experience their offerings for yourself. Don't forget to share your thoughts and favorite beers!
Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northbeerguy@gmail.com.
You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, X (Twitter), Instagram and Tik Tok.
If you are on Untappd, look up NorthwoodsBeerGuy and send a friend request.
Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can click on our RSS feed as well.
Grab a beer and pull up a chair. Welcome to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast.
Speaker 2:Hey, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome back to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. This is Mike, the Northwoods Beer Guy, and, as always, I am joined by Jim. Hey, buddy, how are you doing? Doing good man? How about yourself? It's a long way to get down here, buddy. Yes, it was, I'm feeling the jet lag. We are on location and, as you can hear, we do have some noise in the background, but we are super excited Today. We've had a number of beers from this place before. We've never been here, and now we're here. So we are currently in Kansas City and we are at Boulevard. Yes, you heard that right, boulevard Boulevard Brewing Company. Yes, and we have seven beers. We're going to try, hopefully, hopefully, and we just realized that our lowest ABV is 8.2.
Speaker 1:And they go up a long ways they go up to 18 point something or another.
Speaker 2:So this is going to be an interesting tasting. I think yes. Because, all the beers we've ever had from Boulevard have always tasted good.
Speaker 2:They've always tasted really good, so we're excited about this. The buildings itself it's a big place. They've got a number of different buildings right in this area. Yeah, I mean it's like they took over a whole old warehouse district. Yeah, yeah, because across the street, you know where we're sitting, we can look over here and there's another boulevard building here, and across the street to our, you know, to the right instead of straight across from us to the right, there's another boulevard building.
Speaker 2:So I mean it's they've got a lot of area here and then even when I came to the airport, there was one in the airport as well, see. So I mean they must be very popular. I mean there's a big crowd here too. There's a big crowd here, and this is Friday afternoon. Why aren't?
Speaker 1:they at work.
Speaker 2:Yes, why isn't anybody at work?
Speaker 2:See, see, we're working we're working, we're trying to help all the listeners exactly, so they know we're a good place to go, exactly. Well, hey, we might as well get into a little bit of information here, because I know boulevard was founded in 1989, all right, well, they've been around a while. They've been around a while, but I guess I I was under the impression with the size of the complex. I thought they're going to be around longer, right, but but still that's a pretty good time frame. And that short span of years to expand to as big as they are, that's because a lot of breweries I mean I think we've seen it where they expand too quick, yep, and then they can't support it and then they go out of business, exactly.
Speaker 2:But it just seems like here they keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger. They're getting bigger and bigger, and now the one thing that they really one of the things they're known for is their barrel aging program. They do a lot of barrel aging stuff, and it just so happens that that's what we have. Oh, nice, we have seven of their barrel aged beers here that are on tap.
Speaker 2:And now, most of these we've never I've never seen them in person, no, you know. So we're going to give it a whirl here, so might as well start with the first one. All right, and this is their wood baron. Wood baron, and, if I remember right, this is an actually a porter, but it's like a barrel aged porter, if I remember correctly, and this one is the, the one that's a low, low, 8.2 percent the bottom of the barrel. Yes, for wood baron.
Speaker 2:Okay, I got a little bit on it okay so it says lap dog meets lap of luxury, freshly brewed meets barrel aged. The wood baron is ready to be your new best friend. A hand blended treat serving a bourbon character with notes of chocolate and vanilla, this very good boy will make small moments feel dignified. Huh, 8.2. Boy, you can taste the. I can taste the chocolate in that. Ooh, you can smell it. It's got a good aroma. It's got a very good aroma. No, burn, no, very smooth, very smooth, I mean, and you definitely get that, that chocolatey kind of a flavor.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Especially considering it's a porter Chocolaty kind of a flavor, yeah, especially considering it's a porter. It's a porter. Yeah, I guess I was maybe expecting a little bit more of the chocolate or vanilla, maybe just a little touch. Yeah, I would agree with you, it's one of those that for a porter it's surprising. Yes, that's smooth, very smooth. I'm trying to get what other flavors there are in that aftertaste, but it's pretty good.
Speaker 2:And it's not dark, I mean like the stouts. I mean I can see my fingers on the glass, right, so it's not overly dark. Like you know, you shouldn't be scared of this one, right, you shouldn't be, but you never know, because certain times you can be afraid of pretty much anything.
Speaker 1:That is very true.
Speaker 2:This one is still. I like this for a porter. Like I said, 8.2 percent. It's up there for a porter, really very smooth, though I I think they did a good job on this barrel age too, so I mean that's another bonus. You know, it's hit the two good wickets, so you're first. What are you thinking? Oh boy, I like it. I'm gonna go like, uh, I'm gonna do like a 3.4. All right, you know, I think it's definitely better than average. I do like kind of that chocolatey flavor that it does have. It's not over-the-top chocolate, but it's noticeable. Right, it's not a sweet chocolate, is?
Speaker 1:it Right.
Speaker 2:Right, I don't think so. It's kind of more of it's not a baker's chocolate either. It's not that bitter either. It's not that bitter either. It's somewhere in between there. I mean, they got the right one in there. I think I was going to go right there with the same score. I was going to go 3.4 as well. I mean I like it because I mean I think we've only had maybe one or two other barrel-aged orders, right, that doesn't happen. So I mean this is one of it, and I don't think we've seen it in our home area yet. No, you know, so it's. It's really a neat thing. One thing that's kind of cool the building we're in is actually like their quote-unquote event center oh and center yeah. When you first walk in, they've got kind of a history of brewing kind of stuff, right, but then they have have like their gift shop and such is down there and it's pretty big.
Speaker 1:I walked through it.
Speaker 2:Which we're going to have to stop and visit, because they have a build your own six pack, oh, where you can pretty much buy any beer they have. So we're going to have to check that out. Well, hopefully these are good these other ones are. We can get some of those? Yeah, no doubt, because I do have three other ones at home that are not even here, right? See, that's weird that you can buy them in a bottle but you can't get them here, right? So I don't know, that's different. Well, that's better for us, though Exactly, we'll let everybody know. We are also upstairs, and here is where they have their bars. They've got two areas where they have their bars. They've got two areas. One is their normal tap area and then to the right, well, they've got like an old it looks like an old camper where you can actually do like photo ops and such, but then they have it's their wild and experimental bar area and they have six beers on tap. So the last three that we have that we're going to try are from there.
Speaker 1:From the experimental, from the experimental.
Speaker 2:So we're giving the guinea pigs for all the listeners. Yes, and those now I know they have where you can buy a four pack downstairs of the the one, uh, for sure, or you can buy individual bottles. I don't know about the other ones. We'll have to look. Hopefully they will and hopefully these are good right. So hopefully the listeners, we they don't hear us clunking out, exactly.
Speaker 1:We like them All right. So what is number?
Speaker 2:two. Well, hey, the next one that we have is their Whiskey Barrel Stout. All right, so what I found is over the top, but surprisingly approachable. This twist on the classic style starts with several types of malted barley rye, oats and wheat. Robust flavors of vanilla, espresso, whiskey, chocolate and roasted grain are balanced by hints of date and plum, with just enough hops to round it all out. Roughly one-third of the final blend is freshly brewed beer. The rest is aged for up to a year or more, or more. Exclamation point Really, in both first and second used whiskey casks. 11.8% ABV, interesting, all right. So did you give it a whirl? I just all I did is I smelled it. I'll let you start with this one.
Speaker 1:Well, look at the top.
Speaker 2:Doesn't it look like nitro?
Speaker 1:It does the bubbles look really tiny, very tiny bubbles.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the aroma. I think I smell the whiskey casks. Oh yeah, ooh, wow, you can smell. There's alcohol. Yeah, there's alcohol. Ooh, that one, it doesn't burn. But you can taste it but flavor-wise, it has definitely a sharper flavor than the first one did.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:As soon as I took the drink, I didn't even get out of my mouth. It was like whoa, you can, uh, you can. You can tell there's some booze in there, that whiskey I mean. But what's weird, though, is it's not like overpowering and it doesn't burn, I mean it's, it's kind of just like let you know, hey, I'm here, yep, I'm here, I'm not getting, I'm not here. Just in case you were wondering, you know that kind of thing. Yes, because that. So then, bourbon is in barrels but whiskey is in casks. Is that correct? Could be, I don't know, because that's what they use, that terminology, right. So I wonder, because wine is in casks, but I don't know, was it 30 people walking? Oh, we're just monitoring the line of people that are walking in here. Kind of crazy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is.
Speaker 2:You can definitely taste the. Oh. What's weird now my second drink, not as much whiskey flavor, huh. Well, your taste buds aren't quite as shocked as they were. Wow that is Boy you can, you can smell it, you can smell it, but again, there's not a burn to it.
Speaker 2:No, it's again, there's not a burn to it. No, it's like you know what I mean it's very smooth for 11.2. Is that what you said? Yes, yeah, 11.8, 11.8, sorry, the whiskey barrel stout, wow, that's, that is really good boy. Oh, so far they're two for two. They have not disappointed.
Speaker 2:Well, you know what I'm rolling up the flag here. This might be I'm going to go into four range and this might be one of my beer of the year. Which one? That one we just had, the one we just had. I'm going to put it, throw it in the hoop. Yes, for sure, for sure, that's a good one. I'm going to say 4.0. Oh, wow, I'm going to put a star by it. Wow, I like that one. Okay, dang, you jumped up on that one. I was going to go like a 3.7. Okay, that's what I'm going to do, but we can still definitely add it to the list because it drank extremely smooth. Wow, I was impressed, yes, the way they blended everything together and it looks like it's three different ways. They got the regular beer, then they did two different whiskey casts, you know, and it still doesn't burn. No, no, that's the thing that shocks me is how there's no burn, right, you know because, being 11, 8, you would think because you smell it and it smells pretty strong.
Speaker 1:It's not you know, but it's got a good aroma right, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:It's not a but it lets you know, hey, I'm here. Yeah, don't be prepared. Yeah, don't be prepared, I'm not a big. But it lets you know, hey, I'm here. Yeah, don't be prepared. Don't be prepared, I'm not a big box bear. I hope you have your big book pants on. I'm not a box bear. I'm going to have some punishment with this one Exactly.
Speaker 1:All right, so what?
Speaker 2:do we got? Well, the next one we have is their Rested Reserve. Rested Reserve Is that what it was? Rested Reserve, rested Reserve Is that what it was? All right, we do apologize. They had the information up at the bar, but then we were trying to get everything situated and we didn't jot everything down. So this one, all right, are you ready? Yes, sir, this weeded Imperial Stout, it's a weeded, weeded Weeded. I don't know, is that different than wheat? No, I think it means it has wheat in it as well.
Speaker 1:Like plural then.
Speaker 2:Right, okay. Imperial Stout has been waiting patiently in bourbon and rye whiskey all year for the holidays, a season for sharing, and sharing is caring. Employing an impressive malt bill with an abundance of malted and unmalted wheat for a smooth, full-bodied sweet wheat flavor, resting on mellow bourbon barrels Wow. Finishing on 12-year rye whiskey barrels adds a balancing complexity and a touch of spice. This result is truly one of a kind, perfect for savoring on a special occasion or sharing with friends. 12%, 12%. So we haven't backed down. Wow. Savoring on a special occasion or sharing with friends 12%, 12%. So we haven't backed down. Wow, it definitely has a different aroma than the last one, and I've never I don't think I've ever seen this one before I don't see those same.
Speaker 2:I mean it looks like they're small, tiny, but you know, almost like the nitro bubbles yeah, almost, but boy, that's. Oh, that's got some flavor to it, dude, wow, I was going to say that's like wow, I don't know how to describe that. That is this one I would say. If you're new to barrel aging, you may not want to start with this one, just because it's for you and I. I think it's very good, that's very good.
Speaker 2:I'm looking back here to see. It just talks about different malts, right, or different wheat Malted and unmalted wheat but it doesn't really have a specific flavor. So I don't. And it's 12%. You said 12% Finished on 12-year rye whiskey barrels Interesting, so rye has a little bit of spice, right? Mm-hmm, because I think that's kind of. I taste that little bit of spice in there. Yeah, I think you're right, I think that's what we're tasting is the rye and then, of course, the weeded. It's got wheat in it, so there's that little bit of that flavor going as well gluten, uh, whatever gluten intolerant, you may not probably want this one, yeah, this.
Speaker 1:This is probably not a beginner beer.
Speaker 2:no, no, I would say I don't think a number of our friends would enjoy this one quite as much as we do. That's a good one, though. That's pretty good. That's really good, I mean because we don't get that flavor very often.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:I can safely say I don't think we've had very many weeded beers and again, like all the ones so far, this doesn't burn. No, there's no burn, not at all. That's the thing. That's crazy. That's good. These are high alcohol, but there's no burn. It reminds me of some of the last ones that we had, you know, where it was very mellow, like the distal ones, yes, where they were very mellow, you know, and they didn't burn at all, but there was alcohol to them. But this one is really good. This is yeah. What are you thinking? Don't paint yourself on a corner. No, I know, I'm going to say this one here. I'm going to go like a 3.9. Oh, I do like this. This would be one of those. I don't know if I could drink an entire can or bottle of it myself Just because it's, you'd have to have me there to help you. Correct, correct, you have to share it with friends anyway so.
Speaker 2:So I'll be there to help you out if you get one of these, because I was going to go 3.9 as well. I'd like it, but I don't like it as much as I do. The second one okay, the whiskey barrel. I think this has got a really a really good flavor to it and it's almost a sweet. It's very. The mouthfeel is almost syrupy it's kind of a thicker.
Speaker 2:Right, you know what I mean, wouldn't't you agree? But I think flavor-wise it's really interesting. I mean just the way they melded those wheats together. It does almost have kind of a I don't know if it said anything about it almost like a dark, like a raisiny kind of a. It did not say any flavors, which is unfortunate. It's kind of that consistency. I mean that's present a little bit Right, but boy that's.
Speaker 2:Boy, we started off with a bang, didn't we? Yeah, this is crazy. These are really good, very good this is. I'm glad we stopped here first. Yeah, good place to start out. Yeah, we're hoping to hit at least another one today, hopefully Right, and then we do. I think we're going to try some in a different city on Saturday it should be a good trip.
Speaker 2:It should be a good trip yeah, I know a lot of the listeners out there like us to go on location a little more than just trying to get a home show. Yeah, well, especially like this trip, this is one of them I was really excited for because of Boulevard Right. You know what I mean To say. We've been here and this is my Do we get a star. Do we get to put a star?
Speaker 1:on our shirt.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I added it to my list of breweries I've been to and this is my 160th brewery. So not to change the subject, but you know, on our shirts we should put on our sleeve the breweries that we've been on location at. You know, on our between, the bluffs.
Speaker 1:We may have to order some more.
Speaker 2:Except I've been to 160 of them. Well, no, like the best ones.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Like put Bourbon Barrel, there you go. Best Bourbon Barrel breweries, there you go. We could do something like that for sure. So then we can, like we can, walk around with our toes, exactly All right. So what do you see next? Well, hey, so this is our final one in the flight. That came from the normal quote unquote the big bar up here when the weaker people go check their stuff out. Yeah, yeah, there you go. Yeah, not the good stuff, no, because the next three are extremely interesting. So this one here is their bourbon barrel quad. Bourbon barrel quad. Yep, all right, let me see if I think I have something on that. Yes, I do, all right, are you ready? This is the only one that we have that isn't dark, correct?
Speaker 2:this is basically like a is a wine color kind of whitish red, almost a reddish amber color, I guess it's got those tiny bubbles too. Yeah, all right. So this one is based loosely on the smokestack series, the sixth glass, so I'm not sure if that's a series that they have here. I'm not now. I do know we've had a bottle before that was called the sixth glass uh okay, I'm sure that's just part of that. Okay, good to go.
Speaker 2:Yes, this abbey style quadruple, you know, is separated into a number of oak barrel, oak bourbon barrels, where it ages for varying lengths of time, some for up to three years, that's nice cherries are added to make up for the angel's share of beer lost See During the barrel aging.
Speaker 2:Selected barrels are then blended for optimum flavor. The resulting beer retains only very subtle cherry characteristics, with toffee and vanilla notes coming to the fore. 12.2%, a measly 12.2%. I mean I can't believe that they even want us to drink something like that. 12. That's pretty good. It's different than the other ones. Well, I can smell the cherry. Oh yeah, it's different than the other ones because those are more stouts where this is a Belgian quad. That's not. That's very smooth. Wow, I think that's very smooth. Wow, I think that's very smooth.
Speaker 2:That's On tap because, honestly, jim, I think we've had this in the bottle before you think so. But oh my gosh, on tap is crazy smooth. That is, I mean, just about every flavor comes through, exactly, you definitely you get that cherry. You get, you know the. And the Belgian yeast isn't over the top. No, you, definitely you get that cherry, you get, you know. And the Belgian yeast isn't over the top. No, you know what I mean. That's the part that's really surprising to me. You know what is scary is that all of these for us, these first four have tasted so good. Have you had a full 12-ounce glass. Oh yes, actually, I think they sell them in like eight ounces, I think, is the biggest, the big ones, I think but we only had the.
Speaker 2:We had a five ounce, five ounce taster glass which has given us a good sampling, yes, but it's, it's still gonna give you a little buzz though. Oh, yeah, yeah, wow. These are all been really good. I mean just that that aroma, that cherry aroma, that's yeah, wow. And just the flavor itself is like I said, on tap is like holy cow. That is really a good flavor to it. Wow, that is. And for a Belgian, I mean we really have not had good luck with the Belgian triple or even the quadruple, the quads or the triples or any of that stuff. The Belgian yeast overpowered the flavor and this is totally not that. No, this cherry comes through. I don't want to use the word overpowers the Belgian yeast, but I'd rather taste cherry than the Belgian yeast when I'm drinking a beer.
Speaker 1:Oh, exactly, just my opinion, exactly.
Speaker 2:That is unbelievably smooth. The flavor of that cherry is enough to where it. I guess you could say it overpowers the Belgian yeast, or should I say it complements it. Right, because it's not. I'm not getting that normal weedy Belgian flavor Right. But boy, that is crazy good.
Speaker 1:They did very, very good, very good, and it's like quadruple.
Speaker 2:Yep, I mean, and again, I don't know how many Belgian quads we've had.
Speaker 1:Yeah, We've had some.
Speaker 2:We've had some Tripels Yep, they've been so-so right. I mean nothing to write home about, nothing to hold on top, but this one is like that is crazy good. So I wonder if that's what that red hue is the cherries in the beer. It could be, you never know, because, like I said, the one thing that is kind of crazy is this is the only one that's not dark. Yes, you know what I mean, and it should have nothing to be afraid of, because that one is still just as good as the other ones?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was like crazy good.
Speaker 2:What do you think on the score for that one? Well, I think on the score for that one. Well, I think I may have painted myself in a corner, so I still like the whiskey barrel, yes, so I think I'm gonna move my rested down to three eight. Okay, I'm gonna put the, the cherry, the quad, at three nine. Okay, just like I know they're very close in score for me. I mean, I like, I like them all, but the way that that cherry comes through, and it's not like you know, the bitter cherry or the sweet cherry, it's just the right flavor of cherry, right, and the right amount to complement the way the quad is put together. Yep, I agree, I'm going to go with 3.8. I do like that. That rested just a tick better. Okay, just a tick. But this one for a quad is probably one of the best quads I've had. Yes, yeah, a long time. Oh, yeah, I think anybody that tries it would be super happy with it. There's no doubt. You tell me which one you want and I'll slide it over, all right? Well, let's start on the far end there, because that's the.
Speaker 2:So now we're done with the four from their normal bar. Yep, now we're. Now we're going into their experimental slash wild and we're gonna be the guinea pigs and these, yes, and we hadn't. This first one I've I've seen online where they just came out with it ah, the other two I've never even heard of before. Okay, so this one is their Mexican. How do you pronounce that? All right, do we have a Spanish major in the house? I don't know. Should I spell it? Yeah, x-o-c-o-l-a-t-l. Okay, so it's Zacalata, zacalata, something like that. I don't know I could be saying it totally wrong, right? So if there's somebody one of the listeners knows how to say that, let us know, do the pronunciation and send it back to us.
Speaker 2:I did have a couple sentences, because I know it's spelled extremely close to stone brewing. Has that one? Yes, it's spelled that way and I still don't know how to pronounce it. So this says with its dark mocha foam, rich chocolate aroma and layers of cinnamon, vanilla and spice, mexican Zoccalata Ale is a decadent sipper that reflects the best of both worlds Boulevard Brewing Expertise and Cafe Oyama authentic flavors. Okay, now this one 10, 10. So, boy, when you smell the aroma on this one, it is smells really good. Wow, they had a the way they're right up.
Speaker 2:That's that is good. I can smell we're gonna have to buy some of that. I like that. That's almost. It almost has like a. Is that the cinnamon? That's well, I hate to say it it almost has a molasses flavor to it almost doesn't the way they mix the, I mean that aroma, like there's some kind of spice, right, and then that carries right through to the taste. Yeah, but I think that's really good. That's, you know, I mean because we've had some I mean some really good mexican lagers over the past few months.
Speaker 1:This might be up, there's one of the better ones, because we've had some really good Mexican lagers over the past few months.
Speaker 2:This might be up there as one of the better ones that we've had. Oh, yeah. I'm like this is good, I'm trying to like. I said it almost has like a ginger snap or even a molasses cookie type flavor. A little bit of a flavor to it. I want the cinnamon mixed with it. Oh, I'm sure it is. I'm sure that's part of-type flavor. A little bit of a flavor to it. I wonder if the cinnamon mixed with it.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'm sure it is. I'm sure that's part of it.
Speaker 2:I get a little bit of cinnamon. It's not as prominent as what the other spice is. Yep Boy, that is smooth and wow, yeah, and I mean that's barrel-aged Mm-hmm, but there's no burn.
Speaker 1:Man, that is good.
Speaker 2:Why don't you go first? Since you got a good talk on it, I'm going a 4.0 on that one. I like that.
Speaker 1:I think that is an extremely good flavor.
Speaker 2:It's like I said, I don't know if it's a ginger flavor or and I'm sure that cinnamon is what we're tasting too but it's got that, or a molasses and cinnamon flavor Super smooth, no bite whatsoever. And to me it's like, like it's almost like how do you say it? Like, like, when you taste it, it's almost a a. You're sitting at home by the fire right in the winter. Just like a. It warms you right up. Yeah, you know what I mean. I don't know how to describe that, but it's like.
Speaker 1:It's stupid good but I mean some of the other mexican lagers you've had.
Speaker 2:It's kind of been like the peppers with it yeah, this doesn't have, this doesn't have pepper to it. But it's really good it's warming you up, yeah that's you're going to four, I'm going to 4.0 and I think this could be in a discussion.
Speaker 1:Start by it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for me, I'd put a star by this one. So for for me, I still like the whiskey barrel. I do like and echo everything you said, all the work. I mean definitely for a novice or a beginner. I think they would like this, because this is for a Mexican lager. That's real good. I'm going to have to go. I'm going to drop my rested. Okay, the 3.7.
Speaker 1:Poor rested.
Speaker 2:It's the third time or second time.
Speaker 1:now you dropped it and I'm going to put this at 38.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I'm going to put this above the Rested. Yep. Just because I like it, I'm giving it the kudos. This is impressive, it's very impressive. I think it's like dang. That is really good. All right, so which one? Well, we've got the. Let's do that triple. Is it a triple double? Yep, that one right there. All right, is that what it was called? Was the triple double or something like that? Yep, one triple double coconut milk stout. Oh, all right, are you ready for this one? Yes, sir. It says the limited release was created to showcase the relationship between the wood and the incredibly rich beer base. At first sip, you'll mostly experience bourbon on the nose, followed by a balanced nuance of the rich and smooth base of melted milk chocolate. On the surface, this beer appears to be bold and glowing and glowing, glowing, glowing.
Speaker 2:I don't know what glowing is. Well, we're going to find out. C-l-o-y-i-n-g Huh, okay, but perfectly tucked into the beer is the addition of toasted coconut, which turns everything up a notch and adds a smooth, yummy character. Whatever that is, that helps provide balance to this incredibly complex and very difficult to sound out words. Wow, and this one, we upped the ABV on it 14.8. 14.8. And this is not our highest one, no.
Speaker 2:So this is the triple coconut, triple, the triple double, triple, double, triple, double coconut. And boy, when they said that you can smell bourbon on the aroma, you can smell bourbon on the aroma, you smell it. Wow, that's always a good thing for me. Oh, I can smell it. You can taste it very thick. Whoa, that one's. That's a thicker mouthfeel. It kind of reminds me of surly kind of boy I'm trying do you, can you pick up the coconut in it? No, I don't. The bourbon Overpowers.
Speaker 1:It's letting you know it's here.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, it is definitely. There's definitely some bourbon, it's very smooth. No burn, no burn. 14.8%, no burn whatsoever. But boy, I don't get coconut at all. No, I wish there was. I mean, we had a couple of good coconut beers. Oh yeah, that the coconut was just perfectly in there. But this one is this one. I would definitely say if you're not used to drinking barrel-aged beers, you probably are not going to want this one, because this definitely has a stronger flavor to it.
Speaker 1:This is not a starter beer.
Speaker 2:No, no, and I think for the experimental it's probably a good thing. It's on the side. I agree 100% with you. I think if this was at the main big bar, they probably wouldn't sell a whole lot of it, Right, and I think well. So at their experimental bar there were six beers Three were IPAs and three are barrel age. So we of course, gravitated towards the three barrel age, right, but this one for you and I, it's not bad. No, it's not bad drink super smooth. So if you get a bottle of this, I might have to help you drink this one, correct?
Speaker 2:yeah I don't know if I'd drink it all myself, depending on how big a bottle it is yeah and and, like I said, that mouthfeel is very thick.
Speaker 2:It's a thicker, syrupy kind of a feel to it. I kind of wish that. The other flavors I really wish the coconut would stand out, but, like the malted milk chocolate, I don't get that at all either. I don't get that Really. What I get is I get bourbon A. What I get is I get bourbon, a smooth bourbon, a smooth bourbon, very thick. Um, do you get the smooth unami character? I don't know what that means. So yes, I do. How about bold and cloying? Oh, that's what it was. It's cloying, cloying, is it? It's like a cat I could be, or is that, I don't know. Or is that clawing I? I don't know. It's really good. I mean 14.8. I wouldn't have guessed it was 14.8. On the flavor, right, but it is. It's more of a professional flavor, I think, than an amateur, so to speak. Yeah, because you're not getting as much of the beer flavor. You're getting a lot of the bourbon flavor, very much so You're not getting as much of the beer flavor You're getting a lot of the bourbon flavor, very much so.
Speaker 1:Do you want to go?
Speaker 2:first, are you confident? How do I rate that? Yeah, I like it. I wish the coconut, especially when that is one of the things I called out.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:I'm going to go like a three point. I'll go a three, six, okay, just because, like I said, I love the fact that it's drink smooth, it's, you know, kind of that thick, syrupy mouth feel I don't mind that, but I don't. I don't get the coconut and I don't get the um, what else was it that we were talking about? The malted milk, milk, the milk balls or whatever milk chocolate.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't get that flavor either. Maybe it melted through, correct, yeah, yeah. So I mean overall, if they wouldn't have said that, I'd have rated it higher. But when you're looking, especially the coconut, when that's kind of the big call out and you just don't get that flavor, I think it's kind of missing a point. So that's what I'm going with. So, jim, what do you think I was going to say the same thing, but I think that. So, mike, we're up to our last one, we're up to our last beer. And this one I had to do a double take when I saw it. Yes, this is on their experimental and the name of this one. It's a barrel-aged ice-distilled brown ale, 18.2. .2% ABV. So I wonder if ice distilled is like the old ice beers I know, and I'm trying to find something on untapped on it and there's nothing. Well, when I click on it, it tells me about what a brown ale is, but you can't find anywhere on Untapped about this beer particularly. It only puts that. Oh, so they don't have a description.
Speaker 1:Let me look at that here. Can you open it up?
Speaker 2:I'm just going to see oh, right here.
Speaker 1:Oh, does it say more.
Speaker 2:Okay, you just got to scroll down farther. So then this only talks about the brown ale part. Oh See, so that's why I was wondering if that's it doesn't talk about this individual beer.
Speaker 1:Okay. Well, no, this one does. Oh, does it Okay.
Speaker 2:It says taking advantage of our relationship with Holiday Distillery in Weston, missouri. In the cold winter weather last year, our brewers created this barrel-aged ice-distilled Imperial Brown Ale. After aging for 15 months in bourbon barrels, our barrel aging team allowed this beer to freeze outdoors during the winter. Wow, okay, this process is a nod to the historical icebox style, where freezing allows the alcohol and flavor to rise. Once the ice is removed, the remaining beer is a bold, flavorful and high alcohol treat. Wow, because you know your wife. Her great uncle used to deal in ice along the railroad. Oh, really, back in the early 1900s he like sold ice. He had the biggest trout pond in the state of Wisconsin, really.
Speaker 2:At the turn of the century. I did not know that your wife was pretty important, pretty important, yeah. And the rail line came right through the town and he would sell the ice to the ice and he had a sawmill and then put the ice in the packet with sawdust so it didn't melt and then ship it all over.
Speaker 2:With the food, like eggs and all the meat and stuff. So yeah, try that bad boy Jim. Wow, it's got a good aroma, it's got a very good aroma and the flavor for 18.2%. Wow, that's pretty smooth. It's got there's a little bit of alcohol flavor A little bit, but Not bad, not as bad as I was expecting I was expecting it to be. Whoo, for us that's good, that is, that is good. Your normal person may not like that, right, but that is that's good. So how many 18 percenters? You think we not many. I mean that's that is up there on the upper end of the scale. Oh yeah, I mean honestly, because I I would say let's, let's take utopia out of the mix, because that's a different animal yeah yeah, I'll bet you.
Speaker 2:Probably less than 10 of it, right? Oh, I was going to say I'll bet you this high ABV, I'll bet you we've done. Yeah, I'd say 10 at the most. I was going to say, and most of them have been really super either sweet, yep, or either Avery sweet or so bourbon you can't even drink it, right, yep, or either avery sweet or so bourbon you can't even drink it right but this one is is pretty, pretty crazy.
Speaker 2:Just that that and doing it where? Because what they do when they freeze it, it freezes the water out and it leaves the alcohol all. So that's what's, and that's what they do remember, not that many years ago, remember ice beer was a big thing, but that's what they did. They would freeze it, take the water out and then it was up the ABV, but they were upping it to 6%, not 18% Triple that beer to this. So that is crazy, that's good.
Speaker 2:And I don't have any bad burn. No, that is unbelievable. That's crazy. And I don't have any bad burn. I don't have any. No, that is unbelievable For an 18%. That is super smooth, crazy. Good, I'm impressed with that. Well, what do you think I'm going to? 4.1. 4.1? Honestly and I'll starve that I want to talk about it, at least for our beer of the year, and it's a brown ale. It's a brown ale. That's the craziest thing that's a. We've never had a brown ale that's even remotely been close to the list have we had a brown ale in the threes.
Speaker 2:Uh, probably not, not, not probably high threes, but I mean, right, probably probably blows the doors off most brown ales and of course it's hard to compare this to your normal brown ale. But this is crazy good, it's very good. Yeah, this is, I'm going to stick right with it, I'm going to say a 4.1. I like it too, and there's, I mean for style of beer, 4.1 for a brown ale. I think we're almost out of our mind, but it's that good, it is very good. So, man, I tell you what dude. So, being here at Boulevard seeing what they have to offer, trying these things, especially those experimental ones, yes, it is crazy, and I'm glad we decided to stop here. Right, this has been a really good trip. I mean, this is the best place. I mean, if you're in Kansas City, you've got to come here.
Speaker 2:You've got to come here. Here we're gonna try and hit another one or two right, kind of working our way back out of kansas city, but I'll guarantee this is going to be the best, the top right, you know, oh for sure. And boy, as far as the beers we tried, I mean we didn't have a clunker. No, I'll see you. Look at, the lowest ones we had was like a 3.4 right, that's, that's pretty good, that's crazy. All are way above. The lowest ones we had was like a 3.4. Right, that's pretty good, that's crazy. All are way above average. And we had two or two of them for sure, three of them that we're going to consider for beer of the year and we're going to have to check downstairs in their gift shop to see what we can take with us.
Speaker 2:Because I know we can get a crawler here. But those experimental ones were a little expensive on the crawlers and we still got a few more days here yeah so you know you don't want to leave it out. Yeah, you don't want to blow your wallet at one their first stop. So but yeah, I'm 100 agree. I mean we, even with that wood reserve down a little bit lower, it was still not that bad.
Speaker 2:No, I mean, I think we for a brewery that we like now, if we would have been able to have full glasses of these, that would have been oh yeah, we just did the small, we did it five ounce pour, just so we could taste right a group of them and let you guys know what we think of them. But yeah, if we would have had more time and could have had a bigger glass. Yeah, these are crazy.
Speaker 1:We may not go to the next bar.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we may be sleeping here, but yeah, I very much enjoyed coming here. This is very much worth the visit here to find it.
Speaker 1:Oh, exactly, it's not easy to find.
Speaker 2:No, it's kind of right downtown Kansas City. It looks like it's an old warehouse district, yep, but it's worth it. But, boy, once you find it, do yourself a favor and stop, because it's and there is a Ferris wheel just down the road a little bit here. And it's still going around. And it's still going around.
Speaker 2:So I don't know, but I'm not going to hit that, not after drinking a cup, no, no. But yeah, I'm glad we got to come down here. I'm glad everybody's having a good time, yep, and we will be stopping at some other places and do some more on-location stuff for you folks. But yeah, jim, thanks for agreeing to come down.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for inviting me, buddy, and checking it out and we're going to have to go back and check some more beers out here. Yeah, there you go, awesome. Well, hey, ladies and gentlemen, thanks for listening and, like we always say, we hope your campfire is always warm and your beers are always cold. See you, bye.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Northwoods Beer Guy podcast. If you have a question, a comment or a beer you'd like us to review, please feel free to send us a message at northwoodsbeerguy at gmailcom. You can also find us on Facebook, twitter and Instagram. If you're on untapped, look up Northwoods Beer Guy and send a friend request. Until next week, I hope all your campfires are warm and all your beer is cold.
