Eleven Three KC

Everyone deserves a seat at the table. Join us for a great night of beer (or coffee) and conversation discussing diversity and inclusion in our craft beer community. The ‘I am craft beer’ movement began in September 2019 after a prominent woman in the craft beer industry, Chalonda White (aka Afro Beer Chick) received revolting hate mail. Dr. J Jackson-Beckham, Brewers Association Diversity Ambassador and Executive Director of Craft x EDM, started the twitter hashtag #iamcraftbeer ; asking everyone to come together to post a selfie, tell something about themselves, while using the hashtag. This became a worldwide movement. You can find more information at iamcraft.beer Kansas City's craft beer community is a diverse community, full of support for one another. Let’s get together to show the world that Kansas City is craft beer, that we are united in diversity, that our breweries are safe places, and we continue to “spread love, fight hate, and advocate for equality and justice

Here is a list of upcoming beer festivals this year. I will be adding to it as the year progresses. January: 18th - Bacon & Bourbon Fest in Columbia, MO 23rd - 3rd Annual Ales & Tails in Lenexa, KS February: 8th - KC Brew Fest in KCMO 8th - KC Bier Co's 6th Anniversary Bier Festival 22nd - Stockyard's Big Chill, West Bottoms KCMO 29th - Bar K Beer Fest in KCMO March: 7th - Missouri Beer Fest in Columbia, MO 7th - Kansas Craft Beer Expo in Lawrence, KS 29th - Brew to Brew from KCMO to Lawrence, KS April: 4th - Grilled Cheese & Beer Fest in KCMO 4th - Spring Fling in NKC 18th - Kegs N Eggs in Bonner Springs, KS 25th - Parkville Microbrew Fest in Parkville, MO May: 9th - Strother District Brew Fest w/Blarney Brew Off in Lee's Summit 16th - Shift East Brew Fest by East Forty Brewing & Wind Shift Brewing in Blue Springs, MO 16th - KC Summer Brew Fest at Arrowhead in KCMO 17th - Tour de Bier in KCMO (bike ride) June: 6th - Get Ripped

This Saturday is the third annual Kansas City Foodie Festival hosted by the man, the myth, the legend - Mr. Dave Eckert! When I met Dave a few months ago, I learned of his love of Kansas City and food. We could probably talk about food, beer, and wine for hours! Dave's knowledge is vast. You can follow Dave's foodie adventures at The KC Happy Hour on Facebook and 'eatsanddrinkswithdave' on Instagram. Dave started the Kansas City Foodie Festival three years ago because he wanted to share what his talented friends create with all of Kansas City. KCFF will house several artisan foods and beverages to sample and purchase products. "It made sense to me to do it before Christmas so attendees could buy the items as Christmas gifts," said Dave. Try it before you buy it, perfect idea! There will be a silent auction as well that will benefit Boys Grow .  Boys Grow teaches inner city high schooler's "all sorts of agricultural lessons, from growing to proc

WOW! This year is flying by! So there are a few cool things happening this month that deserve their own blog post. This week, Wednesday May 1 Big Rip releases Lost in Santa Carla. A saison scale up by Dyon Harper, a member of the KC Bier Meisters who has been home brewing since 2016. Dyon's first home brew was a malted milk stout and from there, he hasn't stopped! Dyon entered Big Rip's scale up competition last year, October 2018, and shortly after he was notified that he won. On March 26th this year Dyon, Bri, and a few others joined up to brew this delicious saison! If you didn't get a chance to try it at Parkville MicroBrew Fest this past weekend, definitely try it starting this Wednesday! You will really enjoy it! It was the first keg to blow on Saturday, by the way ;) Dyon will also be there, so be sure to soak up all the knowledge he has to offer :) BEER FESTS! * Brew & Chew at East Forty May 4th * Fungi & Fermentation Fest at Powell Garden

Have you heard of The Don Bosco Centers here in Kansas City? They have two centers, their Senior Center and their ESL School. Their Senior Center helps our local senior citizens by giving them a place to meet with friends, providing health check ups, housing assistance, as well as hot meals both at the center and to their home via Meals on Wheels. The ESL School helps recent immigrants and refugees with learning English and career/trade skills.  Unfortunately, The Don Bosco Centers took a pretty big hit this winter and had to close eleven times. This left them with a hefty hole in their budget.  This is where YOU can help! The Don Bosco Centers is hosting a fundraiser May 4th. They will have a bus that travels to four different breweries for free beer and a good time! Who doesn't love either of those things?! Tickets are $75 but are limited! They can be purchased here . Breweries included are Strange Days Brewing Co., Cinder Block Brewing Co., Brewery Emperial

This weekend is St. Patrick's Day, with Saturday being Snake Saturday!! I believe *most* places have announced what they're doing this week so I thought maybe it would be a bit easier to list out all the events on Saturday now than to wait - so you can plan accordingly, of course! :) There is SO MUCH going on, on Saturday - celebrations, beer festivals, and a new brewery opening! Here we gooo! * HopCat St. Patrick's weekend party - you will need tickets * Happy Basset Brewing - opens at 6am: breakfast, photo booth, ping pong table, and music at 7pm * Big Rip - opens at 8am: breakfast ($5, RSVP), special tappings, music, and NO COVER * Cinder Block - opens at 9am: $3 or $10 cover, music, special food menu, and beer * Velo Garage - opens at 9am: beer specials * Grain to Glass - opens at 9am: $5 cover & $20 for parking, beer/food specials * Iron Rail Brewing - opens at 9am * East Forty Brewing - opens at 9:15am for the parade in Blue Springs: food & beer