Out of the World - Flying Saucer Beerfest Recap

Kansas City's Flying Saucer held their first annual Fall Beer Festival yesterday.  Excellent showing first time out.  Flying Saucer brought in a bunch of beers that we don't get on a regular basis, if we get at all.  That is exactly what I expect from a beer fest!  The festival was held across the street from the pub, but there was plenty of festivities inside.  Mrs. Monkey and I needed to grab some food before Fest-ing, so we went inside.  We ran into most of the Gents from KC Beer Blog.  They were being quite sociable, I almost felt like one of the Gents myself.  Bull E. Vard was still jealous of the hockey jersey.

Every two hours or so they would tap a new rare beer and I started with a Founders Black Biscuit.  Black Biscuit is a barrel aged Old Ale.  It was smokey and boozy from the barrel aging, but the strong malt profile.  Paul A. Ner spent most of the fest inside drinking these.

Once out at the fest we started hitting the tents. There were quite a few rare beers available outside as well. Mrs. Monkey went back to the Schlafly Pumpkin Ale often. Can't blame her. I was more interested in the more obscure offerings like Breckenridge Flying Saucer 15th Anniversary, Avery Kaiser 2009, and Sierra Nevada Fritz & Ken's Ale.

There was plenty of tables to sit down, enjoy your beer, and talk to other beer enthusiasts. Brilliant move here.

Lines for the tents were very well organized. There was a good crowd, but we were able to get in and out at the tents. The tasting ticket worked out pretty well.

After a while we headed back in to catch the tapping of Péché Mortel from Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel.  This is a great double stout made with coffee. I enjoyed this even more than the Black Biscuit, despite what a errant Tweet may say.

There was dancing!

I had a chance to chat with Flying Saucer co-founder, Captain Keith Schlabs. He was a very cool guy to talk to to, seemed very laid back. He told me that Flying Saucer doesn't make any money on a fest like this. They do it for the love of beer, and to help build craft beer awareness. I was telling him how much I appreciate what the Flying Saucer has done for the beer scene in KC. Other establishments are starting to rise to the challenge of what the Saucer is offering. While I was in the middle of telling Keith how much Matt Gardner, local Flying Saucer GM, has done for KC.  As I'm talking we see Matt hauling a keg across his shoulders from across the street.  I tell you, that Matt guy is a saint.

Around this time our friend and local Schlafly rep Gary Briggs pulls out a bottle of Schlafly Raspberry Coffee Stout from his personal stash.  Gary said this was the only bottle he was able to snag since they are going so fast off of the Schnucks shelves.  I'm going to have to make some calls to my contacts in St. Louis to see if I can get some more.  This was good stuff.

Gary shared the Raspberry Coffee Stout with the Gents from KC Beer Blog as well.  While we we gathering everyone up for the tasting, Mrs. Monkey noted that we looked like a bunch of junkies looking for a hit.  When it comes to rare beer, that's not too far from the truth.