The
Big
Looking for KC’s coldest beer, one (sometimes) frosty mug at a time.
W
e are not scientists. We fear numbers. Unavoidably, however, once we set out to find a truly cold beer — thereby answering a serious and quantifiable summer need — a metric was required, a system, a tool. Hello, $8.95 Taylor digital instant-read pocket thermometer. Each volunteer outfitted with one such device, and with zero further guidance beyond a tipsy “Go where you think you’ll taste the Rockies, maybe,” we left the building. A couple of weeks and an oxhoft of carby pint pulls later, we can tell you a couple of things with near-laboratory certainty.
O’DOWD’S LITTLE DUBLIN 4742 Pennsylvania 8:05 p.m. Saturday Beer: Guinness
46.1˚
The rooftop patio, with its Plaza views, is the draw at O’Dowd’s when the weather’s nice. But even near dusk, sometimes the sun is a little too ... sunny? So we sat at the downstairs bar and ordered what you’re supposed to here: a Guinness. Was it especially cold? No. But the presentation was perfect, and it tasted crisp, and that’s all that matters with a Guinness. At 8:15, the lights dimmed. At 8:30, they dimmed just a smidge more, in advance of the party people. We eyed the Bushmills and Powers
First, we’re all moving to Idaho. The Boise Weekly, from which we stole this idea, has been dip-testing brews for more than a decade, and that august paper keeps finding sub32-degree beers by the dozen. Last year, its winning glass was a frigid 27.1 degrees. (All temperatures in this story are Fahrenheit; we are not Canadian.) We thought we’d find a place around here where the suds did more than just fl irt with beer’s freezing point (about 27 degrees). We were wrong. Second, and more important, we know that the cross-section of local, nonchain establishments sampled in the pages that follow misses a few bars. More than a few. Probably someone’s
bottles, rigged upside-down, taplike, behind the bar. We resisted, settled up. Outside it was dark. Our battle with daylight was won.
THE PEANUT ON MAIN 5000 Main Noon Tuesday Beer: Boulevard Pale Ale
44.7˚
We’d never seen the Peanut looking so clean as when we stopped by this Tuesday afternoon, the bar’s first customers. The tables, freshly wiped down, shone. The air smelled of sprayed cleaning products. Two baseball games competed for our attention: White Sox vs. Twins and Astros vs. Tigers. Twins-Sox, a matchup
favorite, and that someone’s going to have a word with us in the comments section at pitch.com. (A pre-emptive confession: Beer-dampened and all scienced out, we succumbed to the siren call of the cocktail when we got to some of our favorite spots. Keep a stein on ice, Port Fonda. Next time, Harry’s.) By all means, tell us where the beer is colder than the beer we drank. We somehow found room in our sad waterbed bellies for this many, so give us a little time and we’ll go out again. Meanwhile, here’s to cold-ish beer, organized from warmest to chilliest. We’d toast, but we don’t want to touch the glass and warm our drink.
with more division implications, was awarded the audio. A split order was executed: a halfdozen wings and a BLT. Also, some beers. Also, some tequila shots. We indulged a daydream: many more beers, many more tequila shots, another four hours watching baseball. Instead, we ate, settled up, walked out the back door and past the kitchen. Out back, the cook was smoking in the shade. He nodded, took a last drag of his cigarette. Then we all went back to work.
QUINTON’S WALDO BAR 7438 Wornall 5:45 p.m. Saturday Beer: Boulevard Pale Ale
43.9˚ pitch.com
This outpost of Lawrence’s well-known Mass Street bar and restaurant looks and feels like its older brother to the west. For some reason, the beer isn’t terribly cold, but the throngs of customers who congregate here to watch a game don’t seem too concerned.
THE FOUNDRY
43.7˚
424 Westport Road 9 p.m. Wednesday Beer: Artie (mix of McCoy’s Brown Ale and McCoy’s Raspberry Wheat) The Foundry’s patio, in the center of Westport, is a high-demand continued on page 10 M AY 3 0 - J u n e 5 , 2 0 1 3
the pitch
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