Bell’s Draught Back In St. Louis
May 28, 2008 8:35 am Beer News
For a long time the St. Louis area has had to endure a world without draught Bell’s beer. It looks like out metro-wide nightmare is over. Dave from Beer, Wine and Whiskey is reporting that Bell’s Oberon has been sighted at the Central West End location of Llywellyn’s Pub. While Oberon may not be my favorite beer in the world, does this mean that beers such as Two Hearted (which may be one of my favorite beers in the world) will be far behind? Let’s hope not.
scotty p :
Date: May 28, 2008 @ 9:42 am
I know 100% for a fact that Ciceros had Bells draft as of this past winter. It is a seasonal tap or guest but it was listed as Bell’s and it was Java Stout.
Dave :
Date: May 28, 2008 @ 10:09 am
Scotty, Missouri had Bell’s draft for years. Bell’s pulled draft last Summer. Anything that was left over the Winter was a testament to how slowly it was moving, not that Bell’s continued to ship draft. Let’s hope it gets better support all around this time. I know I’ll be drinking more than my fair share.
scotty p :
Date: May 28, 2008 @ 10:24 am
the java stout is only out from Nov through March according to Bells, so if Ciceros had this then it would have been a year old as of this past winter.
Dave :
Date: May 28, 2008 @ 10:41 am
And . . . .
I’ve got e-mails direct from Bell’s confirming both the pull out last Summer and the return. You can draw your own conclusions about the Java Stout from those.
Dave :
Date: May 28, 2008 @ 12:42 pm
Let me just clarify this whole thing a little bit. I don’t know when/where Cicero’s got their keg of Bell’s Java Stout. Whether the beer on at Cicero’s was “vintage”, or was something that Glazer’s still had in its stock after Bell’s pulled draft, or whether Cicero’s worked out something special with Bell’s, I do not know.
What I do know is that as of last Summer (my confirmation e-mail from Bell’s is from July), Bell’s told me it was no longer sending draft into Missouri. This just recently resumed with Oberon-only for now, with more brands to come in the Fall (and the ability to try to special order stuff now), assuming all goes well. So, drink up the Bell’s as quickly as you can if you’d like to see it stick around, and would like to see more of their brands available on draft!
cubby_swans :
Date: May 28, 2008 @ 2:38 pm
Here’s my question…. Glazers distributes to Bob’s Liquor. I asked Bob’s if they could call Glazers and see if they could get me Bell’s Oberon in a keg. I got a ‘nope’. Is Glazer’s only distributing to bars/restaraunts? I would think a sale is a sale if they already deliver to a liquor store.
cubby_swans :
Date: May 28, 2008 @ 2:42 pm
let me clarify that… Bob’s did call Glazers, and was told by them that they could not get Oberon
Dave :
Date: May 28, 2008 @ 2:56 pm
I haven’t tried to get a Bell’s keg since they started coming back in as my kegerator has been full. Perhaps Bob’s Glazer’s rep. didn’t know it was back?
I had no problem getting my keg of Two-Hearted through Glazer’s before the pull out, and have gotten plenty of other kegs that come through Glazer’s.
Carl :
Date: May 28, 2008 @ 5:47 pm
I do seems to remember a conversation (I think with Dylan at 33, but don’t hold me to that) where I was told the kegs were for bars/restaurants only. I know part of the reason Bell’s pulled out in the 1st place was that empty kegs were not being returned. At least for the time being, they wanted tighter control of where the kegs were going.
C
Dave :
Date: May 28, 2008 @ 7:52 pm
The Bell’s rep told me via e-mail that 20l kegs of specialty beers (HopSlam, Expedition, SDCS, etc.) would be for bars and restaurants only, but he seemed to have no problem with me ordering (even special ordering for brands that aren’t here yet) half barrels.
Derek Bean :
Date: May 28, 2008 @ 10:04 pm
It is entirely possible that Bell’s is directing Glazer’s to only sell their kegs to bars/ restaurants. But, of course, it also depends on who Bob’s talked to at Glazer’s and how knowledgeable said person is. (With Glazer’s, finding someone knowledgeable on the phone can be difficult.)
cubby_swans :
Date: May 29, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
Well, I tried Friar Tuck too. They said they’ll get back to me… But Dave, if Bell’s has no problem with you ordering half barrels, how do you do that? Obviously I can’t call the brewery and order a keg, bob’s says glazers can’t/won’t get me one…. but Bell’s says it’s OK. Bottom line is, WHO do I call to get a 1/2 barrel of Bells? In the forum it was suggested that I try 33. But if 33 can get it, why not somewhere else closer to my home?
Dave :
Date: May 29, 2008 @ 12:37 pm
I get my kegs through either 33 or Bon Vivant. I’d contact Dylan at 33, and he’ll get the scoop. Drop me an e-mail or PM through the forum here, and I can share some other thoughts. 33’s Glazer’s rep used to be the beer buyer for Lukas in Ellisville, and is the first person from whom I heard about the return of Bell’s draft.
Ericstl6 :
Date: May 29, 2008 @ 7:14 pm
Cubby,
I swear to god…make the short trip north on 55 to “33″ and talk to Dylan! If it can be done he will get it done!
Derek Bean :
Date: May 30, 2008 @ 11:01 pm
Dave hit it on the head: you have to have 1)a knowledgeable Glazer’s rep (or any distributor rep, for that matter) who cares, and 2)a knowledgeable account who cares. Lukas would be the best bet at an off-premise account who knows their shit about ordering kegs, and has the the cooler to store them. Not knocking anybody else, just sayin’ that it relates back to the equation of having the right rep who a)knows their shit, and b)cares + having a retailer who also knows his shit and cares.
Sounds like 33 is the proper on-premise spot for ordering your keg needs.
But, again, if you go to Bob’s, they can always order you a keg of 5-Day IPA, and who needs anything else?!