Barley & Hops Loves The Big Rip

Local Craft Brew Love = Birth of KC Microbrew Craft Candle

Big Rip made it easy.

To start, I have a soft spot for North Kansas City, and the small businesses in it. My first home purchase was made in North Kansas City. I had a very happy life in NKC with my daughter. We spent many a weekend exploring the quaint small town, roaming in and out of the little shops, visiting with the owners and making frivolous purchases.

North Kansas City Hot Spots

North Kansas City is also the home of  Chappell’s Sports Museum and Restaurant. Chappell’s is a local favorite of North Kansas Citians and beyond. It’s cozy decor and sports memorabilia lining every square inch of the walls and ceiling made it the perfect spot for me and my little girl to enjoy an amazing burger.

The Big Rip Brewing Company

Chappell’s isn’t the only treasure to be found in NKC. If you head down the street a couple of blocks and made a few turns, you will run into Big Rip Brewing Company. This brewery is very hard to miss. The front door exterior side of the building is painted an industrial slate grey. The Big Rip Brewing Company hanging sign is located just above on the west side corner of the building. Just around the corner is a spacious outdoor tasting pavilion. The exterior walls are red and distinctive. A great spot to enjoy some local KC craft brew.

The brewery was closed that day for brewing so I was instructed to enter through the side door located at the outside pavillion. Upon entry, I spied a couple of high-top bar tables, a foosball table and several large, silver brewing tanks. A voice beckoned me to the area beside the brewing tanks. I was pretty excited because the whole brewing process is very fascinating to me.

Around the corner were a couple of dudes that appeared to be stirring a huge pot of something very steamy.

“I bet we look like we’re stirring a huge witches brew!” said one of the guys. I chuckled and said, “You look more like a couple of Frat boys preparing for a hazing, hovering over a huge boiling pot of beer with your aerodynamic beer paddles.”

I don’t think they liked that comparison. I changed the subject by asking if they minded if I snapped a few pictures. I tried not to bother them too much as I could tell, by the looks on their faces, that this was a very important step in the craft brew making process. When they finished, they both introduced themselves to me. I had been talking to brewer and owner, Josh Collins for a few days, so I knew one of them. I was introduced to Kyle, the brew assistant, or the other dude stirring the pot. They were both extremely friendly and eager to answer all of my questions about the brewing process.

See more images from Big Rip Brewing Company in our gallery or below this article.

Sampling the Barley & Hops Craft Brew Candles

I was excited to share our brew candles with they guys. They took turns sniffing and offering up opinions and guesses as to what brew we might have been trying to emulate. Just like a brewer, our scentmaster and candlemaker has always been careful not to share too many Barley & Hops Craft Candle trade secrets when we were on our KC Brewery field trips. I did though share a few itty-bitty secrets as our scentmaster Marsha Flowers was unable to make the meeting!

Shhhhhhhh….

Sampling a few Big Rip Craft Brews

Josh poured me 3 of his favorite brews that were currently on tap. I took great measures to really get a good and seemingly awkward sniff from each of the flight glasses. In my head, I was really missing the presence of Marsha but it ended up being somewhat easier than I thought to decipher differences in the 3 different brew aromas.

My selection:

• Raspberry Gluten Free
• Zelda’s Vanilla Cream Ale
• Something Else

As much as I’d really like to tell you what the 3rd brew was, I am going to hold off. I will tell you though – I can confidently say that this final craft brew knocked my mismatched zebra printed socks completely off. I knew IMMEDIATELY this was the one. The last time I was that confident with my choice was when I was picking out my wedding dress. This choice was definitely not as stressful.

The Big Rip Brewing Company brew that we chose is one of their seasonal brews. It is also an award winner. Josh had a little bit left to share with me to use for the scent matching. I couldn’t wait to get this beauty back to Marsha.

Late-June Big Rip Brewing Company craft brew candle launch party

Josh said they wouldn’t be brewing this beer until late-June. We thought it would be the perfect time to introduce this amazing KC local brew candle. Stay tuned for more product party launch information. We do know it will be held at Big Rip Brewing Company located in North Kansas City.

Pick up a 32-ounce Growler for $11. I promise you, it’s worth it.

Read more about Big Rip Brewing Company at their website.

Don’t have any plans for the weekend, do yourself a favor and visit Josh Collins and his team at Big Rip. We might even see you there!

Cheers!