Tomorrow is the first Friday of the month, so that must mean it’s time for another fantastic pairing of best place to get Neapolitan Pizza in the St. Louis area, The Good Pie, and a chance to enjoy some delicious cask beer from Schlafly.

This Friday, September 3rd, starting a 5PM, a representative from the St. Louis Brewery will be tapping a cask of the Schlafly Dry-Hopped APA (this version has been dry-hopped with Cascade and Simcoe). They’ll be serving it until the cask runs out or The Good Pie closes.

Sure, you can get cask beer at the Tap Room, but you can’t get Neapolitan Pizza to go along with it! Head on out there for some great pizza and beer.

Attention my Jefferson County brothers and sisters, there is a location to buy craft beer in Barnhart! For those of you looking to get your craft beer fix in Jefferson County, I’m happy to report that U-Gas Convenience Store on 1727 Catlin Rd. in Barnhart is now offering up a selection of craft beer.

After dabbling with craft beer at their Waterloo, Illinois location, I think that U-Gas is starting to see the benefit of bringing in more craft beer into the area.  For those of you that will frequent this new location and are looking for something that’s not on the shelf, be sure to ask for the management and tell them what you’re looking for.  They’re very receptive to their customers and are always looking for something new.

I’ve also been told that they’re looking to expand the selection you see below and also provide a cold selection of their craft beer in the future.  So, head on out and get your fix.

Full Disclosure: My brother Andrew Sweeney works for U-Gas. While he and I will not personally benefit from any additional sales from this store, I thought I’d still get this info out there.. Great beer is still great beer and I thought people in this area would like to know about this store.

Two casks in two weeks at The Stable?  Maybe it’s time to put in a permanent cask system? (Wink, wink. Nod, nod.)  Tonight, we’re provided with one of my personal favorite beers, Founders Red’s Rye PA on cask.

The tapping of this cask will begin at 6PM and the event will last as long as the cask keeps pouring.  While cask beer may not always be a religious experience, it is pretty darn great.  This is the kind of thing that we keep asking for, so we need to be the ones who go out and support it.

I’m pleased to announce that the two winners for the tickets to the Wine and Cheese Place Beer and Cheese Tasting are Sam Saikia and Caleb Posner! Congrats to Sam and Caleb and thanks everyone for entering. If you didn’t win, don’t be too upset, once again I have some cool stuff to give away soon.

I once again want to thank Paul Hayden from The Wine and Cheese Place for donating the four tickets to the tasting. There are a few tickets still available for those of you that didn’t win, be sure to head out to tonight’s tasting. It sounds like a lot of fun and I hope we see a lot more to come.

For all of you drooling over the pairings for the Beer and Cheese tasting that’s going on tomorrow, Thursday, September 2nd at 6PM, at The Wine and Cheese Place, I have a contest for you.

Only a few tickets for this event remain, but fortunately for you Paul was kind enough to give us 4 tickets to give away for this event. So, email contest@stlhops.com with the subject line of: Beer and Cheese. A couple of quick notes:

• If you’ve won something from STL Hops in the past 6 months, please be cool and let someone else enter.
• You much be 21 or older to enter.
• No multiple entries.
• If you don’t think you’ll be able to attend, please don’t enter. I’d like to make sure that people available to attend have a chance to win.

As this event is tomorrow, I’ll be picking two random winners tomorrow (09/02/2010) at 9AM. Send your email now if you want to attend!

Big thanks for BeerNews.org and @Hoptopia for pointing this one out.  In an interview posted on WineLibrary.tv today, Gary Vaynerchuk interviewed Bill Covaleski from Victory Brewing in Pennsylvania.  At the 11:15 minute mark:

Gary Vaynerchuk: What’s the biggest state you’re not in?
Bill Covaleski: What’s the biggest state we’re not in?  We’re hearing a lot from Missouri and we’re not in Missouri.
GV: You’re not in the St. Louis market?
BC: No, we’re not.

Later:

GV: So is that because you haven’t found the right distributor or distributors haven’t come to you or you just want to feel it or you’re not ready there with volume?  Where are you at?
BC: Great questions. Basically we utilize the internet to listen to demand and so we’ve been told these are ready audiences. We’ve just had to add some additional capacity for fermentation. And then finding the right wholesalers, these are life-long relationships you really need to do the right thing.

If this means we’re at the tipping point, maybe it’s time for a push from the STL Hops crowd? Call, Email, Twitter, and Facebook them, let them know that St. Louis wants Victory. Just be nice about it, we want them to know we’re passionate, but please be courteous. Here’s the contact info:

Phone: 610-514-7000
Email: Anne Shuniak, Communications
Twitter: @victorybeer
Facebook: Victory Fan Group

This is the time to put the power of STL Hops to work.  Hopefully we’ll find a distributor that wants to pick these guys up.

By the time this goes up, it’s still technically Friday.

This week on the STL Hops Twitter

• RT: @WaterlooUGas: Just got in Old Rasputin Twelfth Anniversary. about 18 hours ago
• For those of you that have a free evening, Adam Avery will be visiting STL Tonight. http://t.co/68RpgZg about 21 hours ago
• Also lookout for the @Schlafly Raspberry Coffee Stout collaboration with @SchnuckMarkets. Should be on the shelves at Schnucks soon. about 23 hours ago
• The @Schlafly Saison bottled yesterday, this will probably be the last chance to get it. It will not be coming back as a seasonal next year. about 23 hours ago
• Buffalo Brewing Co and former Mattingly Head Brewer Drew Huerter collaborated on a Belgian Witbier and it goes on tap today! #STL #craftbeer about 1 day ago
• Mikkeller / Revelation Cat Cream Ale being tapped tomorrow @33wine. about 2 days ago

Stuff from around the web

• The Beer Cruiser gives Schlafly Pumpkin Ale a sip.
• Evan Benn does a Pumpkin Beer Taste Off and also looks at some beer apps.
• Capturing CoMo does a Missouri Porter tasting.
• Sensory Overload loves some O’Fallon 5 Day IPA.
• The Suburban Journals do a piece about breweriana.

Retail Beer Releases

• Provisions Market (08/27/10)
  • Twisted Pine Hoppy Boy
  • Twisted Pine Honey Brown
  • Southern Tier Harvest Special Ale
  • Southern Tier Pimpking
  • Buffalo Bills Pumpkin Ale
  • Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autum Nutbrown Al;e
  • Blue Moon Harvest Moon Pumpkin
  • Shipyard Pumpkin Ale
  • Great Divide 16th Anniversary Wood Aged Dbl IPA
  • Schlafly Pumpkin Ale
  • O’Fallon Pumpkin Ale
  • Samuel Adams Oktoberfest
  • Hofbrau Oktoberfest
  • Ayinger Oktoberfest
  • Schlafly Oktoberfest
  • Left Hand Sawtooth Ale
  • New Holland Ichabod Pumpkin Ale
  • Paulaner Oktoberfest
  • Ska Buster Nut Brown Ale
• Wine and Cheese Place (Clayton) (8/27/10)
  • Tap Room 21 Lager
  • Tap Room 21 Pale Ale
  • Tap Room 21 Amber
  • Hitachino Nipponia
  • Southern Tier Pumking

Restaurant and Bar Beer List Updates

• 33 Wine Shop and Tasting Bar (08/25/10)
  • Ichtegem’s Grand Cru
  • Mikkeller Revolution Cat Cream Ale
  • Ommegang Witte
  • Anchor Steam
  • North Coast Scrimshaw
  • Schlafly #15
• Bigelo’s Bistro (8/26/10)
  • Boulevard Tank 7 Saison
  • Schlafly Octoberfest
  • Bell’s Two Hearted
  • Lagunitas Little Sumpin
  • New Belgium La Folie (4pm on 8/28)
  • Lagunitas Gnarleywine
  • Schlafly India Brown Ale
  • Six Row Whale
  • Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat
  • Rogue Shakespeare Stout
  • Schlafly APA
  • Blue Moon
• Blueberry Hill (8/26/10)
  • SEASONAL & GUEST BEERS
    • Schlafly Oktoberfest draught
    • Michelob Amber Bock draught
    • O’Fallon Wheach cans
    • O’Fallon Pumpkin Ale bottles
• Cicero’s (8/25/10)
  • Blanche de Bruxxelles
  • North Coast Red Seal
  • Founders Dirty Bastard
  • Arcadia Sky High Rye
  • Lagunitas Little Sumpin Sumpin
  • Bell’s Oberon
  • Houblon Chouffe
  • Goose Island Matilda
  • Big Sky Moose Drool
  • Gulden Draak
  • Monks Cafe
  • Newcastle
  • Blue Moon
  • Left Hand Milk Stout
  • Schlafly Helles Lager
  • Schlafly Kölsch
  • Schlafly Hefeweizen
  • Schlafly Pale Ale
  • Old Rasputin Imperial Stout
  • Guinness
  • Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
  • Reissdorf Koelsch
  • Ayinger Celebrator
  • Woodchuck Pear
  • Lindemans Framboise
  • Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat
  • Boulevard Tank 7
  • Cathedral Square Abbey Ale
  • O’Fallon 5 Day IPA
  • Maudite
  • Shiner Bock
  • New Belgium Fat Tire
  • New Belgium Ranger IPA
  • New Belgium Skinny Dip
  • Smithwick’s
  • Pilsner Urquell
  • Deliruim Tremens
  • Woodchuck Amber
  • Lefthand Oktoberfest
  • Sierra Neveda Summer Fest
  • Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse
  • Warsteiner Pils
  • New Hollands Dragons Milk
  • Maredsous Dubbel
  • Boulder Hazed and Infused
  • Unibroue Ephemere
  • Bass Ale
  • Sam Adams Oktoberfest
  • Shock Top
  • Goose Island 312
  • Hofbrau Oktoberfest
  • Fitz’s Root Beer
  • Bud Light
• Pi (Delmar) (08/27/10)
  • Lagunitas ‘Little Sumpin’ Sumpin Ale (Wheat Beer) — Limited Allocation!
  • Anchor Steam Beer
  • North Coast’s ‘Scrimshaw” Pilsner
  • Schlafly ‘Tap Room’ Witbier — ONLY @ pi delmar!
  • Bell’s Oberon
  • Six Row Kolsch
  • O’Fallon ‘Hemp Hop’ Rye
  • Pabst Blue Ribbon
  • Charleville ‘Hoptimistic’ IPA
  • Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat
  • Boulevard ‘Tank 7′ Saison Farmhouse Ale
  • Boulevard Single-Wide IPA
  • New Belgium ’1554′ Black Ale
  • O’Dell 5-Barrel Pale Ale
  • New Belgium ‘Mothership’ Wit
  • O’Dell ‘St. Lupulin’ XPA
  • Schlafly Dry-Hopped APA
  • Avery ‘Salvation’ Belgian-Style Golden
  • Schlafly Raspberry Hefeweizen
  • New Belgium Lips of Faith ‘Belgo’ IPA
  • Coming Soon… Stevens Point ‘Whole Hog’ Raspberry Saison, O’Dells 90 Schilling, & California Cider Co. ‘ACE’ Pear Cider’
• Pi (Kirkwood) (08/27/10)
  • Schlafly Irrationale (Kolsch)
  • Schlafly Hefeweizen
  • Schlafly Pale
  • Schlafly Pilsner
  • Schlafly Oktoberfest
  • Schlafly Oatmeal Stout
  • New Belgium Ranger IPA
  • New Belgium 1554
  • Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale
  • Bell’s Oberon
  • O’Fallon 5-Day IPA
  • O’Fallon Wheach
  • O’Fallon Hemp Hop Rye
  • Six Row Extra Pale Ale
  • Six Row Whale
  • Charleville Hoptimistic
  • Goose Island Honkers Ale
  • Bard’s Gluten Free (Bottle)
  • Buckler N/A Lager (Bottle)
• Pi (Central West End) (08/27/10)
  • Schlafly Pale Ale
  • Schlafly Oktoberfest
  • Schlafly Hefeweizen
  • Schlafly Ale 3.14 (Kölsch)
  • Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale
  • Bell’s Oberon
  • New Belgium Ranger IPA
  • New Belgium Lips of Faith Belgo IPA (Bottle)
  • New Belgium Lips of Faith Dark Kriek (Bottle)
  • Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca (Bottle)
  • Southern Tier Oatmeal Stout (Bottle)
  • Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye (Bottle)
  • Schlafly Summer Lager (Can)
  • New Belgium Fat Tire (Can)
  • Bard’s Gluten Free (Bottle)
  • Buckler NA Lager (Bottle)
• The Royale (8/25/10)
  • Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA
  • Boulevard Tank 7
  • Founders Dirty Bastard
  • Griesedieck Bros. Golden Pilsener
  • Guinness Stout
  • Houblon Chouffe
  • O’Fallon 5 Day IPA
  • Schlafly APA —> Oktoberfest
  • Schlafly Hefeweizen
  • Strongbow Hard Cider
  • GUEST BOTTLES
    • Bell’s Two Hearted
    • Boulevard Saison-Brett
    • Founders Double Trouble
    • Fuller’s ESB
    • Murphy’s Stout (can)
    • North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsner
    • O’Fallon Pumpkin
    • Scaldis
    • Schlafly Oatmeal Stout
    • Schlafly Pumpkin
    • Sierra Nevada Kellerweis
    • Skullsplitter
    • Weihenstephaner Festbier
• The Stable (8/25/10)
  • Amalgamated Altbier
  • Amalgamated Helles
  • Amalgamated Rauchbier
  • Amalgamated Zoigl
  • Arcadia Hop Rocket
  • Avery IPA
  • Bells Oarsman
  • Bells Winter White
  • Bell’s Two Hearted
  • Bell’s Oberon
  • Blvd Tank 7
  • Cathedral Square White Ale
  • Charleville Half wit
  • Founders Cerise
  • Founders Reds Rye
  • Lagunitas Lucky 13
  • Left Hand Milk Stout
  • New Holland El Mole Ocho
  • New Holland Mad Imperial Hatter
  • Odell IPA
  • Ommegang Abbey Ale
  • Ommegang Rare Vos
  • Raderberg Pilsner
  • Rogue St. Rgue Red
  • Shiner Bock
  • Ska Brewing Modus Hoperandi IPA
  • Ska Buster Nut Brown Ale
  • St.Louis Framboise
  • Strongbow
  • Tucher Hefe
  • Unibroue Ephemere

Brewery and Brewpub Beer List Updates

• Schlafly Taproom (08/27/10)
  • Pale Ale
  • Hefeweizen
  • Oatmeal Stout
  • Pilsner
  • Oktoberfest
  • Kolsch
  • Dry-Hopped APA
  • Pumpkin
  • Witbier
  • C3 – American Mild
  • Spiced Belgian Ale
  • Blueberry Cider
  • Cask- APA
  • Cask- American Brown

Here’s a list of upcoming beer events:

• Aug 29 – Boulevard Beer Dinner at Bigelo’s Bistro
• Sep 1 – Mattingly Brewing Beer Event at The Stable
• Sep 2 – Hill Brewing Company Beer Dinner
• Sep 4 – MIZBRU at the International Tap House Soulard
• Sep 13 – Goose Island Party at iTAP Chesterfield
• Sep 18 – 2010 Schlafly Hop in the City
• Sep 25 – 2010 STL Hops Pinball Party!