Kansas. A nondescript state that doesn’t bring thoughts of craft beer to mind. I don’t know that I would trek to Kansas if it wasn’t for the very important family I have there. Knowing we’d want to travel to “the city” while visiting, I decided to google for a brewpub in the area. Turns out there’s a reason why Kansas doesn’t make me think of craft beer – there really isn’t much to offer. Although several breweries call eastern Kansas home, there is one lone brewery in the west. Just so happens that brewery is in Hays, which is “the city” we like to visit.
Lb Brewing Co. shares a spot with Gella’s Diner, and has accolades from GABF and the World Beer Cup for their Liberty Stout and Oatmeal Stout, respectively. I think these gold awards gave me exceptionally high standards. I probably built it up too much in my head, and I’m sad to say I was mostly underwhelmed with the beers. We ordered a sampler, which had six regular beers and two seasonal, 4oz each. The waitress brought over the tray, explained the numbering system (*which is clever!) and left us to our tasting.
It may seem as though I’m stalling on actually reviewing the beers. That’s because I am. This will be my first attempt at a review of beers I didn’t fall head over heels for. Add to that the fact that I’m very new to the world of beer tasting as a hobby, and you’ve got the kind of stalling that can only be rivaled by algebra homework. So, with that disclaimer out of the way, let’s talk beer:
That’s Kelli on the left, and yours truly on the right.
No. 01 Pale Ale – Was not as hoppy as I expected. It was light, refreshing, and crisp, but no identifying flavors to be noted. It reminded me a lot of a very cold Coors Light.
No. 02 American Wheat Ale – This beer was almost flavorless. It was effervescent at first, which mellowed as the beer warmed a bit, and it had a taste like the ingredients were very fresh and good quality, but lacking in quantity.
No. 03 Amber Ale – Nice and sweet, very pretty golden color. There was a good balance of hoppiness to this beer. I think this was the most balanced beer of the samples.
No. 04 Downtown American Brown – Much lighter mouthfeel than some of the browns I’ve had. It tasted a lot like the Amber Ale, but a little more bitter.
No. 06 Oatmeal Stout – Started out tasting just like most of the oatmeal stouts I’ve had. It was slightly bitter when cold, but not offputting in any way. As this beer warmed, it developed a nice boozy finish.
No. 09 American Hefeweizen – Probably my favorite of the samples. It had a good fresh wheaty flavor, and lots of citrus. I got an almost grapefruit smell from it. There was also a bit of herb character as it warmed.
No. 30 Irish Red – I thought this was really heavily hopped. Probably hoppier than the Pale Ale.
No. 50 Liberty Stout – Started out very pleasant, full bodied, good roasted aromas. As this beer got warm, the booze flavor overpowered everything else. It had a strong bourbon-y flavor and burned going down. I liked this one better cold.
I don’t have a lot of information on whether some of the beers are barrel aged or not, but the stouts had to be at some point. I’m also not very good at documenting my beers in photograph form. You’ll have to settle for this picture of my Turkey Club for now:
The last thing I can say is that the food was great. Gella’s Diner serves standard American fare such as Turkey Clubs, Patty Melts, burgers, and darn good kettle chips. Kelli, my best friend and greatest travel companion ordered a Falafel Pita that was a bit on the dry side, but that’s not what I had, so I can’t complain. I had a Turkey Club and enjoyed it immensely. Overall the beers weren’t bad, and I think the American Hefeweizen and Oatmeal Stout are worth a stop here if you find yourself in the middle of Kansas.
*the numbering system laid out at Lb’s was clever and made tasting so very easy, and a little more fun than a placemat with circles. Each beer has a number along with it’s name, and the numbering card accompanying the samples had a map of the tray, with the numbers of each beer written in. We could refer to the giant menu board behind the bar to identify the beers. This was the most interesting part of the tasting at Lb.
I actually went there a year and a half ago, and I really went in with low expectations thinking that there’s no way a brewery in Kansas could compete with Colorado. But I was pleased with the experience, and I know I tried a couple of different brews, but I don’t remember which ones I had. If I remember correctly, I had the Irish Red and I also thought it was hoppy (which I like). But I was just happy that there was this place in the middle of nowhere, that had craft beer!
David –
I will give Lb that- it was nice to find a craft brewery in the middle of nowhere! The beers weren’t bad, I do think I just built it up a lot before going.
Thanks for the comment!!