Crane releases limited-edition Farmhouse IPA with Brett, Celina Tio collaborates with Jolly Pumpkin, Cinder Block pairs up with oysters

Crane Brewing Co.’s doors are now open a couple of days during the work week.

Tuesdays and Thursdays — from 2 to 6 p.m. — you can swing by the brewery (6515 Railroad Street, Raytown) to buy bottles of Crane’s four flagship beers. (The tasting room is still under construction.) In addition to those mainstay brews, Crane is selling its first brewery-only release, a Brettanomyces-conditioned version of the brewery’s Farmhouse IPA.

“At bottling, instead of adding bottling yeast, we dosed each bottle with a small amount of Brettanomyces, an interesting formerly wild yeast that adds unique flavor additions and complexity,” Crane’s Chris Meyers told The Pitch. “We intentionally conditioned the bottles until they had the desired brett character and are now releasing them to the public.”

That character pops from each sip. (Crane provided The Pitch with a 750 ml bottle to sample.) The beer pours a cloudy and opaque golden brown. The hops give way to the funk of the brett in this Belgian-style ale, leaving more of a fruity taste and not a lot of bitterness on the back end.

While you’re picking up a bottle at Crane, you can also hop on a tour (they start at 2, 3 and 4 p.m. and cost $10, which also gets you a couple of pours). Make a reservation at
info@cranebrewing.com.

Crane Brewing is also pouring samples of its beer at The Pitch’s Sugar Rush event Friday night at the Guild.

Also this week …

Thursday, February 25
Girl Scout cookies and beer? Why not? Girls’ Pint Out is selling cookies that you can pair with eight beers on tap at Bier Station (120 East Gregory Boulevard) from 6 to 11 p.m.

Barleywine Week marches (or staggers) on at the Flying Saucer (101 East 13th Street) with a California vertical night, featuring 2012 Green Flash Barleywine, 2013 North Coast Class of ’88 and 2014 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot. Be there at 6 p.m.

Have you tried Boulevard’s Rye on Rye on Rye? No? It’s time. Get a glass of this boozy (14.6 percent ABV) beer. Waldo Pizza (7433 Broadway) taps it, along with Founders reDANKulous Imperial Red IPA and Deschutes Red Chair Northwest Pale Ale (also delicious).

Grain to Glass (1611 Swift, North Kansas City) holds a PicoBrew demonstration and Missouri Mashers’ Meeting from 6 to 10 p.m.

Friday, February 26
The midtown Gomer’s (3838 Broadway) puts on a tasting with Columbia, Missouri’s Bur Oak Brewing Co. from 4 to 7 p.m. Get a taste of some Odell brews at Plaza Liquor (4500 Belleview) from 4 to 7 p.m.

Across the state line, Rimann Liquors (15117 West 87th Street Parkway, Lenexa) lets you try Summit beers from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Bier Station (120 East Gregory Boulevard) throws a Torn Label happy hour from 4 to 7 p.m., featuring barrel-aged Long Time Comin’ imperial stout aged in J. Rieger whiskey barrels and $1.50 off all of the KC brewery’s pours.

Saturday, February 27
Cinder Block keeps Stout Month going with an oyster-eating contest to complement its latest pilot-series beer, CBB004 Oyster Stout. It’s at 2 p.m. at the restaurant (4814 Roanoke Parkway).

The biggest beer festival of the year so far — Kansas City Brew Festival — goes down from noon to 4 p.m. at Union Station (30 West Pershing Road). Tickets are sold out, so maybe hit Craigslist or Beer Tasting KC on Facebook for scalpers.

Sunday, February 28
Gordon Biersch (11652 Ash, Leawood) taps its Belgian Tripel, and a dollar from every beer sold goes to KC Pet Project.

Want to learn about how hoppy beers have evolved? Pat Combs will tell you all about them as part of his educational series at Bier Station (120 East Gregory Boulevard) from 2 to 4 p.m. Tickets cost $20 (and yes, that covers a flight of four beers), and you can RSVP at brytos.com.

Monday, February 29
Firestone Walker arrives in Kansas with a launch party at Barley’s Brewhaus (5031 West 135th Street, Leawood), with Opal Saison, Pale 31, Stickee Monkey Quad and more. The party starts at 7 p.m.

Tuesday, March 1
New Belgium rolls into Liberty for a beer dinner at Conrad’s Restaurant and Alehouse (210 North State Route 291) starting at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $40.

Firestone Walker’s introduction to Kansas continues with a five-course beer dinner at Pig & Finch (11570 Ash Street, Leawood), starting at 7 p.m. RSVP at 913-322-7444.

Wednesday, March 2
In a nod to her second collaboration beer with Jolly Pumpkin Brewery (which is getting national distribution), chef Celina Tio hosts her monthly bottle share at the Belfry (1532 Grand) at 6:30 p.m. The theme is collaboration beers, so grab a 750 ml collaboration bottle and head to the beer bar. It costs $20 to partake, and Tio will provide some goodies to keep you from going hungry.

Urban Chestnut Brewing and the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City team up for a fundraiser at Bier Station (120 East Gregory Boulevard). Every penny of the proceeds from a keg of Zwickel lager, and a percentage of sales from other taps, go to the Humane Society. 

Firestone Walker’s launch week keeps going with a tap takeover at Grinder’s Stonewall (10240 Pflumm Road, Lenexa), at 5:30 p.m. Look for Nitro Merlin, Pivo Pils, Union Jack and Easy Jack.