Photo courtesy of http://pavementandbeerforpeace.wordpress.com/
While in Kansas City for work, I found myself with a few free nights to myself and decided to do a bit of Craft Beer hunting. To speed my search, I asked my coworkers about the local beer scene, and they turned me on to some great Craft Beers from Boulevard Brewing Company. My coworkers mentioned that the best beer in Boulevard’s lineup was a Farmhouse Ale called Tank 7. When I tried to order a Tank 7 while having dinner at Swaggers, I was told that the keg had just kicked, so on another night, I opted to hoof it over to the nearest liquor store (isn’t MapQuest the best?) in search of the elusive Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale.
Here is what Boulevard Brewing has to say about this beer:
Most breweries have at least one piece of equipment that’s just a bit persnickety. Here at Boulevard we have fermenter number seven, the black sheep of our cellar family. Ironically, when our brewers were experimenting with variations on a traditional Belgian-style farmhouse ale, the perfect combination of elements came together in that very vessel. You could call it fate, but they called it Tank 7, and so it is. Beginning with a big surge of fruity aromatics and grapefruit-hoppy notes, the flavor of this complex, straw-colored ale tapers off to a peppery, dry finish.
I found the Tank 7 to have the following characteristics…
- Appearance: Golden color. A little cloudy. Mild foam and lacing.
- Aroma: A lot of citrus with a little sweet malt.
- Taste: Sweet, spicy with just a little hops, and a smooth, dry finish.
- ABV: 8%
The Tank 7 was a great beer. It might be the best Farmhouse Ale that I’ve ever had. It is both very flavorful and very well balanced. This beer was so good, that I ignored the 8% ABV and had two of them. One note of caution: all of the Boulevard beers are bottle conditioned, so beware of the funk that might be at the bottom of the bottle.
Categories: Boulevard, Brew Review
AMKrouse
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It's just the booze dancing... 
Of course reviewing a beer I’ll have a hard time finding and really want to try now. Well let the hunt begin!
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That’s sometimes a problem with travel. You find a beer that is really good and then come home and realize that there is no way to get it locally.
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I really like the Tank 7. What keeps me from really loving it is the dry finish. Having a never-ending supply of Boulevard and Schlafly might be the best part of being a Missouri resident.
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And, yet the finish is one of the things that I enjoyed about the Tank 7. I only got to try a couple of Boulevard’s line-up. Do you like something of theirs better than the Tank 7?
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Their Unfiltered Wheat is a classic, sort of the Babe Ruth of their line. It’s the one that put them on the map. Beyond that, the Bully Porter is pretty good. My favorite is the Dark Truth Stout. It’s one of my favorites in general, not just from Boulevard. I was slightly disappointed with both the Long Strange Tripel and Boss Tom’s Bock, but they’re both fine options.
I liked the Nutcracker Ale when I first had it… 15 years ago, so my opinion is pretty much invalid there. I was sort of shocked at how much I disliked the Lunar Ale, and I almost wonder if I didn’t get a mistreated or bad batch.
Now that I sort of vocalize all of this, it makes me realize that Boulevard was a gateway beer for me- one of the smaller craft beers that introduced me to better beer when I was in college. So I’ll always have a soft spot for them.
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So, you’ve had just about their entire line-up. Now, I wish I had made better use of my time in KC.
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Thank you thank you for the forewarning about residue at the bottom of the bottle – there’s nothing more disappointing than a great pour with a sediment surprise at the end.
I keep eyeing this at the liquor store, but after reading this I’ll be picking it up next time!
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I don’t mind the bottle conditioning. As long as you are forewarned, you just have to be a little more careful with the pour.
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This beer sounds very much to be right up my alley. Pity it’s a bit elusive in these parts. Guess I’ll have to stick with the Brasserie DuPont beers when I’m in the mood for a Farmhouse Ale. They are the gold standard after all.
Nice review!
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I think you would have really enjoyed this one. I need to figure out a way to get a few of their bottles to the Garden State.
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From what I can see, there are no Boulevard retailers within 100 miles of us. Gonna have to do some interwebz research to see how we can get our hands on this stuff!
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I totally snagged one of these when I drove through KC on my way to Arizona. I also may have merrily sloshed through a majority of the brewery tour at 10am with a glass of Tank 7 in hand…
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Sixth Glass is also very nice.
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