4- Rundown - Boulevard Pale Ale (Sampled in Manhattan, KS)

Boulevard Brewing Company | Pale Ale

Pale Ale 5.4%

Kansas City, Missouri

Missouri, not Kansas. 

Look:  5/5 What you expect from a Pale Ale - a nice golden. 

Smell:  4/5 Slightly fragrant & hoppy smell.

Taste:  3.5/5 Slightly bitter, dry, with a hoppy profile. 

Feel: 3/5 Light, subtle but not fully clean finish. The hops resonate.

Drinkability: 3/5 There’s room for three in my belly.

Overall: 3.6

After a long first day of goin' up the country, Bryan and I stopped for the night in Manhattan, Kansas. We have some close friends, Jordan & Justin that live there. Justins in the service, and they could move to Las Vegas sometime in the future, so maybe I should invite them to do the blog too. Good idea, zealots! 

So, the 'Little Apple' is actually a pretty cool town. It's flat as all get out, and you never hear too much about it, save for Kansas State being there (Go Wildcats) - but, that doesn't mean that everyone isn't extremely nice and there's nothing to offer. There were quite a few spots I wanted to try out, but being as we were only in town for 12 hours, we had to land on but one spot. 

Aside - Next time we do this, we are absolutely taking a day in between for each city we stop in. I'm worn out just thinking about 1900 miles in 4 days. 

That spot, as it turned out, was a neat, hip pub on Poyntz Ave named Bourbon & Baker. 

We scoped a few places out, but after seeing the cocktail menu here, we figured we'd be losing at life if we didn't try drinks named G.F.B.C. (Good-F*ck!n Bourbon/Coke), Mascara on a Mule, or Redundant Redhead. Our curiosity actually led us all around the drink menu, and if I recall correctly, we ended up having tequila, a few GFBC's, a bourbon or two, the ended (Sorry in advance that this post isn't about this last drink. I was a little sloshy at this point) on an absolutely beautiful glass of Sinatra's Select Jack Daniel's. Damn was that sip was delectable (No - I was drunk - was it actually that good?). 

If I'm not mistaken this also led to a walk home within which many a Christmas light was enjoyed, all to a wonderful holiday melody sang by a Cher.

But, before all of this went down - I did start the night off with a beer. This particular beer was from Boulevard Brewery - about 2 hours away, in Kansas City, Missouri. And yes, the brewery is on a boulevard (Southwest Blvd, to be precise). Born in 1989, this brewery instantly gained some clout with me, being that we were some of the last, and greatest things to ever come out of the 80's. 

The Boulevard Pale Ale was, well - Pale. It had a great flavor, color, and taste. It was a bit dry, which I liked. Maybe best in the warm evening months. Even as I like a juicy ale most of the time, something about the drinkability of this one had me sold. I would have had 3+ if I wasn't planning on waking up at 5:30 the next morning!

Alas. I feel like there is so much more ground to be covered in Manhattan. I honestly dont think I'll have too many more experiences in Kansas, but when I do, I think the best setting would be in the eastern part. Why you ask? Because the drive from Manhattan, Kansas to the next stop we made was straight and long and booooooooooring. But that's another post for another day. Cheers, Kansas!

A little history with my friend, Jordan.