Happy Halloween everyone. Hope everyone has a safe trick or treating experience. Here’s the Round-Up:

Stuff from around the web

• Let’s all welcome Drinker’s Ed to the St. Louis blogging circle.
• Adam Jadhav’s Hip Hops returns with a look at Pumpkin Beers.
• Hangovers, Halloween, the Playboy Mansion and You.
• The STL Hops Anniversary Party gets a little love.

Beer Releases and News

• Andrew from Bon Vivant Wines informs me to some beers he has in his stock:
  • Clipper City Winter Storm
  • De Ranke Pere Noel
  • Founder’s Backwoods Bastard
  • Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout
  • Mikkeller Beer Geek Stout
  • Mikkeller Santa’s Little Helper
  • Nogne-O Winter Ale
  • Ridgeway Warm Welcome Nut Brown
  • Three Floyd’s Alpha King
• Paul at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton alerts me to some new beers he has in stock:
  • Goose Island Bourbon County Stout 2008
  • Bells Double Cream Stout
  • Bells Cherry Stout
  • Bells Third Coast Old Ale
  • Bells Expedtion Ale
  • Bells Winter White
  • Lion Stout (Sri Lanka)
  • Lion Lager
  • Lion Imperial Lager
  • Amarcord La Tabachera Double Brown Ale
  • Amarcord La Putena Double Red Ale
  • Amarcord La Mi Dona Double Pale Ale
  • Amarcord Prima Donna Lager
  • Samuel Smiths Winter Warmer 2008/2009
  • Red Hook Greatest Hits 12 pack mixer
• Lukas Liquor posts on their blog some of the new and special selections they have in stock:
  • Sierra Nevada Wet Hop Harvest
  • Bell’s Double Cream Stout
  • Bell’s Winter White
  • Bell’s Expedition Stout
• Robin at Provisions Gourmet Market has some new beers as well:
  • Goose Island Bourbon County Stout 2008
  • Bells Double Cream Stout
  • Bells Cherry Stout
  • Bells Third Coast Old Ale
  • Bells Expedtion Ale
  • Bells Winter White
• Mike at The Wine and Cheese Place in Rock Hill alerts me to some new beers he has in stock:
  • Goose Island Bourbon County Stout 2008
  • Bells Double Cream Stout
  • Bells Cherry Stout
  • Bells Third Coast Old Ale
  • Bells Expedtion Ale
  • Bells Winter White

Local Restaurant Beer List Updates

• Dave Johnson of Buffalo Brewing Company dropped me a line to let me know about their current draught list:
  • Gold
  • Drool
  • Chili
  • Belgian Pale Ale
  • Oktoberfest
  • Dunkel Rye (New!)
• Karen McVicker of Cicero’s dropped me a line to let me know about their rotating draught and bottle list:
  • Sierra Nevada – Harvest Ale
  • O’Dell’s – 5 Barrel Pale Ale
  • North Coast – Red Seal
  • New Belgium Lips of Faith – Abbey Grand Cru
  • New Belgium Seasonal – Giddy Up
  • Goose Island – 312
  • Sam Adams – Boston Ale
  • Arcadia – Nut Brown
  • Bell’s – Two Hearted Ale
  • Schlafly Seasonal – Saison
  • Schlafly Specialty – Coffee Stout
  • Missouri Rotating -Charleville Hoptimistic
  • Ommegang – Witte
  • Fuller’s – London Pride Ale
  • European Tap – Triple Karmeliet
  • German Rotating Tap – Radeberger Pilsner
  • Belhaven – Twisted Thistle
  • Guest Tap – O’Fallon Cocao Cream Stout
  • Kasteel – Rouge
  • Schlafly – Oatmeal Stout & Pumpkin Ale (Bottle)
  • O’Fallon – Pumpkin Ale & O’Fallon Gold (Bottle)
  • Bell’s – Third Coast Ale (Bottle)
  • Boulevard – ZON (Bottle)
  • New Belgium – Trippel (Bottle)

Here’s a list of upcoming beer events:

• Nov 1 – National Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day
• Nov 3 – Duff’s Autumn Beer Dinner
• Nov 6 – Schlafly SlowBake Supper at Companion
• Nov 6 – Boulevard Beer Dinner at SLeeK
• Nov 8 – Homebrewers Harvest Festival

A few quick beer tastings to tell you about.The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton has moved their weekend tastings to Friday which is a great way to start your weekends. Today, from 4PM to 6:30PM will be having a tasting featuring Bell’s Expedition Stout, Bell’s Third Coast Old Ale, Bell’s Cherry Stout, Bell’s Double Cream Stout, Bell’s Winter White, Lion Stout, and Goose Island Bourbon Barrel Stout. More information can be found at their blog.

Mike at the Wine and Cheese Place in Rock Hill will also be holding a tasting today from 4PM to 6:30. He’ll be sampling these beers: Bell’s Expedition Stout, Bell’s Third Coast Old Ale, Bell’s Cherry Stout, Bell’s Double Cream Stout, Bell’s Winter White, and Bells Two Hearted Ale. Once again, more information can be found at their blog.

Tasting is a great way to try before you buy.

If you’re a retail shop and want me to list your tasting, make sure to email me at mike@stlhops.com.

It may have not been the largest festival I’ve been to this year, but the Monsters of Beer at The Stable was pretty fun nonetheless.  It also seemed like there were a lot of people in attendance that didn’t know very much about beer, but were very eager to learn.  Always an exciting opportunity for me as I love teaching about beer and beer styles.

I hope that the small attendance  doesn’t dash the opportunity to do this again next year as it provided a wonderful opportunity to try a bunch of really fantastic beers that could be sampled for a fraction of buying each individually.

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Über-Chef Hubert Keller’s local steak house, SLeeK will be holding a dinner on Thursday, November 6th at 7PM pairing unique creations with Boulevard beers. Also of note is that the dinner will be attended by Boulevard Founder and President John McDonald and Brewmaster Steve Pauwles. The dinner will cost $58 and reservations can be made by calling 314-881-7595.

Ian Froeb’s review of SLeeK can be found here.

For those of you that attended the September meet-up at the Stable, you may remember the Drew Huerter kept passing his phone around like he was a proud papa. For you see, before Drew had come to visit us, Mattingly Brewing Company had received their fermentation tanks. This was one of the biggest steps to brewing beer at Mattingly and now they’re just that much closer to having freshly brewed beer on premises.

According to Drew, they received their first grain order last week and he fully expect Mattingly beer too be on draught by the end of the year. I can raise a glass to that.

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For those of you not lucky enough to attend the Trappist Beer Tasting at Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton, I snapped a few photos of the event. We had the ability to try beers from all seven Trappist Breweries, including the elusive Westvleteren. It was a fun event and I got to meet some very cool beer nerds.

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I know I’m very random about which new beer releases get their own post and which get just get put on the Friday Round-Up.  I’ll be honest, the reason is that there are just some beers I’m far more excited about than others.  That’s not to say those are beers aren’t important.  I’m just easily excitable about some beers.

Goose Island‘s Bourbon County Stout is one of those that tickles my fancy.  It’s just a wonderfully complex beer that gets better and better with each sip.  This beer is perfect for these cool fall evenings to just sit back and savor.  Paul from the Wine and Cheese Place now has this year’s beer available for $17.99 a four-pack.  For added fun, visit Andy over at the Galleria Whole Foods and pick up four-pack of the 2007 and sample them side by side.

I often have people asking me about aging beers.  I’m happy to say this is one of the best examples of what giving a beer a little age will do.  You’d be remiss if you have a cellar and don’t have this beer in your collection.  Go out and buy some today.