Collaboration Celebration with Jean-Marie and Steven

Last night Boulevard Brewing officially launched the new Collaboration No. 1 Imperial Pilsner at The Oread, Lawrence's sawnky new hotel.  Mrs. Monkey and I braved the dense Kansas fog, and iffy Google Map instructions, and made it out to the party. 

The Oread is located on top of one of the KU campus hills.  They haven't officially opened yet, but it still looked impressive.  The outside looks like a stone castle, and the inside even more so.  The hotel houses multiple bars, including the All Season's Den where the VIP reception was held, and the Bird Dog Bar where the main party took place.  The overall vibe of the place is very chill and would make a great weekend get-away destination.

Once there we ran into Paul A. Ner representing KC Beer Blog.  He came while everyone else was at the Flying Saucer.  We both agreed that while HopSlam is nice, this was an opportunity we did not want to pass up.  I'm sure we looked like a couple of giddy school girls geeking out over a chance to talk to Jean-Marie Rock.  We got our glass of the Collaboration, served in a wine glass.  It was cute to see the server struggle with the idea that "foam" was ok.  I guess she was used to serving light beers where head is not wanted.  She got the hang of it quickly, and was a trooper getting the beer out.

I finally got the chance to meet with Steven Pauwels and Jean-Marie Rock.  Julie Weeks, Boulevard's new PR guru, introduced us to the brewers.  Both were very gracious and seemed to enjoy everyone enjoying their creation. 

I first talked to Steven, Boulevard's master brewer.  He retold how this collaboration came to be.  Both he and Jean-Marie were at a chemist convention in Tuscon, AZ.  The way Steven explained it, "you can only spend so much time at a chemist convention," so they went for a hike.  Steven suggested doing a collaboration beer with Jean-Marie, which Jean-Maire described his idea for an Imperial Pilsner.

I asked Jean-Marie if he had ever concidered another style for this collaboration.  He said "No, this is what I have been thinking about for thirty years.  It had to be this style.  Nobody else was willing to do this because it takes so long to make.  I told Steven it would take a long time, but he wanted to do it.  So we did it."  I asked if he thought the Imperial Pilsner was his masterpiece, and with an impish shrug he said, "Could be, yes."

I asked what was his go-to beer at home, his table beer.  He said it was Stella.  That was the first beer he had and there are many memories that go with that.  While I'm not a big Stella fan myself, I bet there is a huge difference between Stella in the States and Stella at the source.  In fact Jean-Marie was very adamant that "beer should not travel."  Even still, Boulevard will ship a care package back to Belgium so he can enjoy his creation at home.

Eventually the party moved to the other end of the hotel to the Bird Dog Bar.  The Bird Dog is a brightly lit room with high a ceiling and rough rock walls.  The room absorbs sound, which is perfect for me.  Usually I can't hear a thing in a bar over all the noise.  But here I could actually hear what people were saying and was able to have a conversation.  Each table had it's own name, we sat at Jinx.  I'm not sure what the significance is, but I bet it makes it easy for the servers.  The kitchen was not fully open yet but you could order a pizza to be delivered from A Slice of History, the resturaunt on the lower levels.

We ordered a Nightshirt Parade, which paired perfectly with the Imperial Pilsner.  Steven walked by and gave his approval, "Pizza and beer, Perfect!"  To be honest, the Imperial Pilsner would pair up well with just about anything.  It is so drinkable you have to remind yourself it's 8% ABV.

As the night continued more people showed up.  Jeremy Danner, another Boulevard brewer, told us about going to the airport to rescue Jean-Marie's lost lugage.  Chimpotle made his grand entrance after going to the Cask HopSlam event at the Flying Saucer.  Towards the end a crowd gathered around Jean-Marie and Steven when they started signing bottles.  Not one to pass up a momento for the collection I got in line.  I told Steven about my wall, and he personalized the bottle as the "#1 on the Beer Wall."  Awesome!

All night I kept thinking to myself that it is a shame that the Imperial Pislner is a one-shot.  I could really get used to drinking that all year round.  Julie Weeks says the plan is to try and do a Collaboration beer every year or so.  They are kicking around some ideas and will make an announcement when plans are finalized.  It will be hard to top this offering, but I can't wait to see what comes next.