Mo’s Place has a Website

I don’t know when it happened, but Mo’s Place in Beaver, Kansas now has their own website.  WordPress reports statistics back to me, and our report from Mo’s Place Grill and Brewpub is one of the most visited on this blog.

Located in an unincorporated town of about 30 people, Len and Linda Moeder live the dream of owning their own business.  They’ve operated the restaurant since 1999, and in 2004 they obtained a microbrewery license and became a brewpub.  In 2006, when we visited, they were brewing on a half-barrel system and had quite a following among the locals.

In addition to owning the restaurant/pub and a house nearby, they bought the defunct bank – the only building in town with a basement – to use for beer storage.  And it’s not just the tiny brewing system that makes this place unique.  Where else can you find “gizzards” on the appetizer menu?

Lb. Brewing (Hays, KS)

As I stated in my last post, we were glad that the birding was so awesome at Quivira NWR last evening, because our morning birding on the south drive wasn’t very productive. We repeated the north drive just for fun, and did pick up a few new birds, plus got a great look at black-necked stilt babies (not a very long look, as we didn’t want to upset the parents!)

We drove back to Grand Rapids, KS by way of Ellinwood – a cute little town with wheat sheaths on the lightpoles – where we found Mississippi Kites and Eurasian Collard Doves.   We continued on to Liebenthal where we followed the advice of Leo from Mo’s and picked up some Pat’s Beef Jerky.

There was no coffee this morning, so combine with the monotony of the drive from Grand Rapids to Hays, I fell right asleep. I woke up as we were driving into Hays from the south, and it looked like a sleepy little town (coming in from the north, it looks like any other larger town on an Interstate exit – busy with gas stations, convenience stores, fast food and chain restaurants.)

We located Gella’s Diner & Lb. Brewing Company, and things were far from sleepy in there! This place has a clean, fresh look that ranked it as a restaurant fitting for any major U.S. city. The literature described it as “inspired by icons of the Midwest”, with it’s handpainted farm murals, industrial agriculture lighting, open spaces and references to early railroad (one of the most obvious references was a part of the restaurant sectioned off my box-car style sliding doors.

This building, built in 1922, was used by Western Union and Midwest Energy, then closed up for many years until local investors were inspired to create the pub. The brick walls, light wood and use of metal piping and brushed aluminum against black surfaces gave clean lines to the entire place. Even the bathroom sinks were great – gooseneck faucets over flat white marble – the sinks were at least 1.5″ x 1.5″ with a 1″ lip.

“Fesh” is their motto, with as many ingredients as possible homemade and homegrown (mustards, dressing and ice cream all made in house; meats with no preservatives and never frozen, vegetables prepared on site and nothing ever microwaved.) The only contradiction to this were the colorful jars of pickled vegetable products that lined large sections of walls – giving the place beautiful color, although I noticed they were pickled products from Jake & Amos in Lancaster, PA.

Mo’s Place (Beaver, KS) and Birding Quivera

By July 6, D was his restless self – ready to get up and get going! We were able to delay him a bit with coffee and a Cushman ride out to the secret garden, but then we had to go. Tim took us to a great breakfast place in Topeka where we all enjoyed eating way too much, but it would carry D and I through most of the day.

On the drive west on I-70 across Kansas, we stopped off at Grandma Hoerners and bought a few food items, then kept on driving. Our destination was Beaver, KS (which may or may not be found on a map), and the two prime birding spots in that area (Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area and Quivira National Wildlife Area.)

We almost decided to re-route our trip when we saw the mileage to a town in eastern Colorado…only 225 miles to that location, which was half way to Colorado Springs…D suggested we call our friends David and Carrie to see if they were free to dinner (at Phantom Canyon, of course), but I didn’t have a phone number with me, so we stuck to the original plan.

Shortly after the Salina exit, we headed south on 156 toward Chaflin, which was the Zip code town for Mo’s Place, which is actually located in Beaver, KS. It was another 15 miles to Beaver (turn right off Rt. 4 at the “city” of Redwing – three inhabited homes near train tracks – then go north for 8 miles.)

Beaver is town of less than 100 people, with dirt roads and perhaps no street signs (we didn’t see any); a grain elevator and Mo’s Place are the only operating businesses in town (the bank closed, and the brewery now uses the underground vault – the only underground space in Beaver – to store beer; the gas station owner died and no one took over that business.) 

Mo’s Place looked like a smoky dive bar – a long building covered in red and yellow aluminum siding with a soda machine outside and a lighted Coor’s sign in the window. But D had met the brewer on a previous trip to Montana, and he claimed this was the smallest brewpub in America, so we had to go in and check it out. What a gem!

Little Apple Brewing (Manhattan, KS)

Amy and Mike just didn’t stop with the hospitality, or the way they carried it out with such ease! We all got up a little late in the morning, and a tasty breakfast spread was out in no time. Coffee, cantaloupe, biscuits with gravy, sausage and bacon were all out for us to enjoy (and we did!)Tim joined us for breakfast, and soon whisked us off for an adventure. We were headed for the Konza Prairie, but there were many things to do along the way.

Before we could leave town, we had some errands to run, so on the way, we looked at possible property sites for his new business (Barista’s) and with coffee on the brain, we stopped in at PT’s for latte’s to go!Our first stop was Paxico – just north of I-70. This old German-settled town was once abandoned, and is now restored. The former general store, bank, doctor’s office and other buildings house shops now – mostly antique dealers, but a few other items of tourist shopping appeal. On our way out, we passed Wyledwood Cellars – makers of elderberry wine – but we didn’t stop. Our next stop was in Alma at the creamery  for some “famous” cheese.  Apparently Emeril is a big fan of it. I liked what I tasted, and we bought ourselves some cheddar curds and smoked mozzarella for the road. We also bought elk bologna – MMMMmmmm.

Finally we made it to Little Apple Brewing Company in Manhattan, KS (“little apple” because it is sister city to the Big Apple…) The folks there greeted Tim right away, and we took seats at the bar. Seven beers were on tap, and they served 10-oz glasses, so I had a few of those while the boys drank pints.

4th of July: The Prairie and the Party

After filling a few Blind Tiger growlers for the Independence Day party (Pale Ale, ESB and Java Porter), we parted ways with Tim for a bit.  D and I headed south toward Emporium to explore the Flint Hills and tallgrass prairie (bird list is at the end of this post.) A 10,894-acre property with Kansas limestone buildings from the early 1800’s is now operated by the National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy as Tallgrass Prairie Preserve.  The barn houses a display area, and the house has a nice gift shop.  You can also visit the 3-seater outhouse and the summer kitchen.   

But most fun was walking the trail through the tallgrass prairie (okay, most fun might have been the bus tour out to the prairie – there are 20 miles of roads and trails to explore – but I neede the exercise.) The loop trail took us across the prairie, through the woods to an old schoolhouse, then back to the house by way of one of the hills.  It was great to see the rolling nature of these Flint Hills – contrary to the popular belief that
Kansas is flat!

Blind Tiger Brewery (Topeka, KS)

The morning was so nice! After a cooling overnight shower, things were greener and extremely pleasant. Tim treated us to his home roasted coffee, and his mom made pancakes for all of us. It was a great time to chat with her, and relax a little.

By 11:30 AM, we were ready to get out to do something, and our first stop was Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant. This place was named for prohibition era custom of exhibiting stuffed tigers in the window to indicate that bootleg alcohol was available. And although they closed an hour early on Monday night, they opened an hour early on Tuesday.

75th Street Brewery (Lawrence, KS)

From Free State, we headed a few miles away to 75^th Street Brewing, which is named for the original location in Kansas City.  This is one of several restaurant and brewing operations under an umbrella ownership, but each has it’s own brewer and own level of style.  I had been to the Kansas City location of 75^th Street in 2001, as well as one of the Barley’s locations.  They were memorable, but not the sort of place I’d drive out of my way to try. The Lawrence location of 75^th Street has a sports bar atmosphere – lots of televisions – and a really interesting round raised ceiling.  I was getting pretty tired (sleepy and full), so I tried a sample platter of everything they had to offer.  Again, so excited to be with our friend Tim, and so tired from the trip, I took no notes on the beer.  We did enjoy a loaf of spent grain bread with porter butter! 

That night they carried:

• Cow Town Wheat (5.72% ABV; 9 IBU)

• Royal Raspberry Wheat (5.25% ABV; 9 IBU) – winner of 1995 GABF Bronze

• Good Hope IPA (6.4 ABV; 52 IBU)

• Possum Trot Brown Ale (5.98 ABV; 21.5 IBU) – winner of 1997 GABF Gold and 1998 IWBF Bronze

• Berry Brown

• Alt

• Red

Unfortunately, an electrical problem at our original sleeping location kept us from going out to “the farm” for our first night, so we headed into Topeka to stay at Tim’s mom’s house.  D and I were amazed at the fireworks displays along the highway (in PA, you can’t just shoot off those sorts of fireworks anywhere!)  In every direction, the fireworks were sparkling around us.  Even on neighborhood streets – in front of houses and parked cars – people were lighting them off.  It was the most bizarre thing to me. 

We did try to make a stop off at the Blind Tiger – just to get it out of the way – but they closed early due to lack of patronage.  We were exhausted, so it was okay with us, but we heard great things about Blind Tiger as a brewpub and looked forward to trying again on Tuesday. 

In Topeka, “mom” took great care of us, and we slept so comfortably after our loud night in Iowa City.  The fireworks calmed down, and despite a horrendous thunderstorm that brought much needed rain and a real change to the hot and humid weather, we slept straight through the night.  In fact, D slept in longer than I’ve ever known him to!  Good thing we could have a relaxed morning with Tim and his mom!

Free State Brewing (Lawrence, KS)

I don’t think I was awake for much of the drive from Des Moines, IA through Missouri, and woke up around Kansas City.  We crossed in to Kansas and headed straight for the city of Lawrence, KS.  Our friend Tim suggested we meet at Free State Brewing, which is located on the main street among a mixture of small family businesses that range from practical to funky, and higher-end stores I expect to see in fancy malls.

The building is a former trolley station, and retains many of the original features (if you go, look up!), but is well suited for a crowded restaurant with multiple choices for seating areas.  Plenty of people also chose to move outside to the street patio (drinking only.)  We sat in the front of the restaurant, near the crowded bar and under the balcony seating.  The businesses in Lawrence, KS are all non-smoking, so we knew the air would be breathable from any table!