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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: Bier, Heritage, Press

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: Bier News, Bier, Heritage, Press

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.

Three Biers Featured in The Beer Connoisseur Top 100 Beers of 2018

Written by · Categorized: Press, Bier, Bier News

We are beyond thrilled to announce that The Beer Connoisseur, a nationally-distributed beer magazine, featured three KC Bier Co. biers on its list of the Top 100 Beers of 2018. The featured biers include Festbier at #10, with a “World Class” 96 rating; Helles Lager at #55, with an “Exceptional” 94 rating; and Hefeweizen at #88, with an “Exceptional” 93 rating. Follow the links below to read the reviews of each bier and the Q&A features with KC Bier Co. head brewer Karlton Graham.

Festbier also enjoyed a “Judge’s Second Opinion” review for landing in the #10 slot:

KC Bier Co. of Kansas City, Missouri has gone to exhausting efforts to bring us their quality Vienna-style Festbier. Vienna Lager was the original bottom-fermenting beer first introduced by Austrian Anton Dreher in 1840/1841 after a lengthy study tour of breweries throughout Germany and England.

Traditional German Pilsner and Vienna malts utilized here create a base that marries nicely with German noble hops and a special Bavarian monastic yeast strain that rounds out the flavor profile. The labor-intensive brewing technique of decoction mashing, which is seldom used in modern brewing, is not spared here and makes a strong presence via the complex and engaging malt character.

The final steps to brewing this beer include a six-week lagering period followed by a natural conditioning process that cuts down on the beer’s carbonic bite and smooths out the mouthfeel considerably.

It should also be noted that this beer adheres strictly to the Reinheitsgebot (The German beer purity law of 1516), which further maintains the style’s originality and KC Bier Co.’s credibility.

Considering the care and effort in creating this traditional example of the Vienna Lager style, it is of little wonder that the end result was a beer of high quality and one that would have made its creator Anton Dreher proud.

This is a beer style that has stood the trials of time for more than 178 years and credit should be given to the brewer in helping to preserve it and present it in its original form to the twenty-first century.

– James Link

We’re honored to be in such great company and are proud of the results that come from brewing with 100% imported German malt, hops and yeast, and using traditional and time-consuming production methods. Thanks to all of our fans and supporters, and here’s to 2019 — a great year for bier!

KC Bier Co. Wins Four Medals at 2018 U.S. Open Beer Championship

Written by · Categorized: Press, Bier

We’re excited to announce KC Bier Co. was awarded four medals at the 2018 U.S. Open Beer Championship this past weekend in Oxford, Ohio! The 2018 U.S. Open Beer Championship included more than 6,300 entries representing 110 styles from breweries throughout the world. Blind judging was conducted by industry professionals from the U.S., England and Canada.

Now, onto the winners…

  • Der Bauer, gold medal, American-Belgo-Style Ale
  • Edelweiss, silver medal, German Wheat/South German-Style Weizenbock/Weissbock
  • Pils, silver medal, German Lager/Pilsener
  • Dunkel, bronze medal, Münchner Dunkel

Steve Holle, KC Bier Co. managing owner, said the brewery’s medals are a testament to its commitment to brewing high-quality and genuine German-style beers using only traditional German brewing methods and all-imported German ingredients.

“Our mission always has been to brew authentic-tasting German-style beer and deliver it with the same character, flavor and freshness as beer brewed and consumed in Germany. We go to great lengths to brew bier in the traditional way — double decoction, natural carbonation, and eight weeks of cold lagering. We’re honored that the judges recognized the flavor contributions of these time-honored brewing methods that helped our bier stand out in this competition.”

For a more in-depth look at the award-winning bier and the processes that make them unique, read The Kansas City Business Journal’s interview with Steve Holle here.

Click here to find any of these award-winning biers near you.

Der Bauer Releases in Bottles!

Written by · Categorized: Behind the Scenes, Press

For the first time ever, we’ve bottled our summer seasonal, and it’s headed your way!

Der Bauer (dare-bow-er) is a hazy, golden farmhouse ale brewed with 100 percent German malt and hops.

Steve Holle, KC Bier Co. founder and managing owner, describes the bier as dry, crisp and effervescent with rustic yeast flavors and citrus hop aromas. Der Bauer finishes at 7.75% ABV and 37 IBUs.

“We wanted to recreate what Bavarian farmer-brewers 200 years ago subject to the Beer Purity Law would have brewed using only malt and hops, and no sugar or other adjuncts or flavorings used in many saisons or farmhouse ales produced domestically today,” Holle said. “In fact, our yeast strain is reported to have come from a German-speaking brewery in the Alsace area of France.”

Karlton Graham, KC Bier Co. head brewer, added, “what sets Der Bauer apart from a traditional saison is that it’s an all-malt bier brewed to a higher IBU than a traditional saison (37); and it uses all German malt and hops, including Mandarina Bavaria (about 2 pounds per barrel), which imparts an orange and citrus character. This yeast strain leaves a silky-smooth finish. It’s a recipe we developed in 2013 before we opened, and we’re excited to have it available as our first bottled seasonal bier.”

Following suit with other Bier Co. bottle labels, the label artwork for Der Bauer (the German translation for The Farmer) depicts a cityscape that highlights the historical and cultural heritage of Kansas City.

“Being a farmhouse-style ale, we wanted Der Bauer’s label to highlight Kansas City’s agricultural roots,” Holle said. “The grain elevator situated at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers along with the barge and train represent Kansas City’s importance to Midwestern farmers as an agricultural transportation center.”

Der Bauer will be available in 6-packs of 12 oz. bottles and on draft from June through August throughout our distribution territory.