First of all, let me just quickly say that Buffalo Brewing is not closed or closing. I tried to keep from any sort of speculation about the current state of the brewery in the last post, but obviously speculation is bound to occur. Also, let me apologize again to Dave and Dushan from Buffalo because as I mentioned in the original post it was never my intention to cause any problems.

According to Dave Johnson, Dushan (the owner of Buffalo) is looking to take on an investor to the Buffalo Brewery which will allow him to not have to spend every waking hour at the restaurant. Dushan is very devoted to Buffalo, but as you can imagine all of the hours he puts in can take a bit of a toll on him. Bringing someone else on to help with managing the place is a good way to allow him to give him a bit more free time for a personal life.

Now, if someone came to him and offered to purchase the business, this is something I’d think he’d probably consider as any good business person should. At this point it’s looking like we’ll all have hopefully have beer from Buffalo for years to come.

You may have heard by now, but Anheuser-Busch’s board of directors have approved the purchase of the company by InBev. I’ve given my thoughts on this merger in the past, but I can’t say it’s still not a bit of a sad day. As someone who’s been through a few mergers and lay-offs in my short life, my best wishes go out to all of those people currently working at AB. Feel free to leave your comments about the merger and the impact. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next.

As someone always looking for an upside, maybe we see more beer in St. Louis because of it?

I’ve mentioned Buffalo Brewing a couple of times now, but it’s looks like we’re in the home stretch now. According to Dave from O’Fallon Brewery the final inspections are occurring and he hopes to be brewing on Sunday. Wondering what kind of beers they plan on offering? Well lucky for you, Buffalo Brewing now has a website which also provides a quick rundown of their first beer offerings:

Buffalo Gold
Is brewed with premium American barley, wheat and imported hops. This light colored ale has a light malt flavor and smooth finish
5% ABV - 15 IBU

Chili Beer
Our Fun Beer!
Is brewed with highly modified premium American Barley, wheat and imported hops. Our chili ale has a light flavor and subtle spiciness.
5% ABV- 15IBU

Buffalo Drool
Our interpretation of the American Brown Ale. It’s brewed with six American grains and American hops. Our brown ale has a strong malt backbone and slight chocolate flavor, with a hint of hops in the finish
5.5% - 15 IBU

Buffalo Red
It’s brewed with four premium American grains and premium American hops. Our red ale has a strong malt backbone and a high hop flavor.
5.6% - 30 IBU

Buffalo Drool sounds a lot like Moose Drool from Big Sky Brewery in Montana. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Moose Drool, so if Buffalo Drool is anything like it, we’re in for a treat.

Edit: Dave informed me that they’re also be carrying two seasonal beers, starting with a Bavarian Hefe and a Rye IPA.

Avery Brewery, the makers of Hog Heaven, Salvation and Ellie’s Brown Ale, have been sighted in Kansas City, MO. Looking at Avery’s website it looks as if Major Brands was scheduled to begin distributing them in Missouri starting this month.

With any luck we’ll be seeing them in St. Louis shortly. If you need your Avery’s fix right now though, you can easily find them at many fine Illinois vendors.

I finally made it and this is already in full swing. More pictures after I meet up with Bill and Ellie and get a beer.

3:10 In an attempt to be more timely than the last liveblog, I’ve probably already failed. But I’ve brought plenty of pictures this time!

One of the most interesting beers so far has been the “milk” stout. It’s a oatmeal stout that was aged in one of the former bourbon barrels for 16 months and was finally opened on Thursday. It has this wonderful creamy mouthfeel and slight milky flavor. It’s quite a pleasant mistake.

3:48 It’s a wonderful 18 degrees out. A full degree above the forecasted temperature. If you’re willing to brave the cold (me) you can always rely on the comfort of being around the firepit. If you’re not willing to stand outside (Bill and Ellie) at least you can enjoy some bluegrass from the Cumberland Gap.

4:48 The party is starting to wind down and the wind is starting to pick up. The beer is beginning to freeze to the serving tables and the servers are having to scrape the head off of beers as they pour them into pitchers. Sure it’s cold, but a nice Imperial Stout goes a long way to warming you up. Plus, if it’s too cold for you, you can talk to Dan Kopman (the VP of Schlafly) and Drew Huerter (the cellarman for Morgan Street Brewery) inside. And if you’re really lucky, while you’re inside you’ll come across a couple of 06 Barleywines.

5:15 - Like almost any good party, it needs to end with a party-foul. In this case it was Andrew from Whole Foods dropping his complementary tasting glass. Sure he may blame it on the cold, but my guess is that it had more to do with the Dopplebock. If you love the cold, this was the kind of event you can’t miss. If you hate the cold, you were at home reading this blog. Next year, put on a couple of extra layers and come out and join our frostbite. You’ll come out into the cold and you’ll stave off cabin fever for a while.

For those of you that don’t want to face the bitter cold tomorrow, I’ll be doing it for you. I’ll be live blogging the Schlafly Cabin Fever event tomorrow at the Schlafly Bottleworks. I’ll try and take as many pictures as possible and try to give you a feel for the experience if you can’t make it out yourself. Should be a hell of a time.

First off, how did no one notice that I had 01/11/07 for last week’s Round-Up? D’oh. Is it cold enough for you yet? Cabin Fever should be fun tomorrow, I’m thinking I may live blog it. I guess it just depends on whether I love hypothermia or not.

Stuff from around the web

• Anheuser Busch may be taking the low road for the Here’s to Beer campaign. Bleh.
• The Potable Curmudgeon chooses Schlafly APA as one of his favorite lawnmower beers.
• Make Mine Potato takes a trip to St. Louis and visits Bon Vivant and Whole Foods.
• AB is looking to increase their presence in Western Europe.

Beer Releases and News

• Andrew from Bon Vivant Wines informs me to some new beers he has in his stock:
  • Brasserie d’Achouffe - N’Ice Chouffe
• Paul at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton alerts me to some new beers he has in stock:
  • Coors Brewing - Blue Moon Rising Moon Spring Ale
  • Boston Brewing - Sam Adams White Ale
  • New Belgium - Fat Tire 22oz size
• Paul also informed me that they have a lot of Abita coming in and it’ll be on sale just in time for Mardi Gras.

Here’s a list of upcoming beer events:

• Jan 19 - Cabin Fever: Schlafly Winter Beer Festival
• Jan 19 - Beer Tasting at Rendezvous Cafe & Wine Bar
• Feb 4 - Beer on the Bayou with Schlafly Beer
• Feb 29 - New Belgium Beer Dinner at Whole Foods

See you tomorrow at Cabin Fever, we’ll all freeze together.

Been a very busy week around here at STL Hops. Plenty of really interesting developments, I’ve got a lot planned for next week as well, so stay tuned. On to the Round-Up:

Stuff from around the web

• Ian alerted all of us to the opening of a second Tin Can Tavern location. If you didn’t see it, here’s my review of the original.
• Anheuser-Busch is shipping more beer to wholesalers.
• Jeannette is ready for Cabin Fever!
• Joe Bonwich visits the Newstead Tower Public House.
• Year of Beer blog also recently had the Smoked Porter from Schlafly.

Beer Releases and News

• Andrew from Bon Vivant Wines informs me to some new beers he has in his stock:
  • Brasserie Dupont - Avec Les Bon Voeux
  • Avery Brewing Company - The Czar
• Paul at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton alerts me to some new beers he has in stock:
  • Anheuser Busch - Wild Blue Blueberry Lager
  • Anheuser Busch - Shock Top Belgian White

Here’s a list of upcoming beer events:

• Jan 16 - O’Fallon Beer Dinner at Newstead Tower Pub
• Jan 19 - Cabin Fever: Schlafly Winter Beer Festival
• Jan 19 - Beer Tasting at Rendezvous Cafe & Wine Bar
• Feb 29 - New Belgium Beer Dinner at Whole Foods

As always, if you’re interested in promoting an event or a new beer you’ve seen, feel free to drop me a line at mike@stlhops.com.

Dave from O’Fallon let’s me know they’re kicking off the re-release of Goat’s Breath with an event that almost sounds like it requires a Toga:

Join us this Thursday, January 10th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Rumple’s Pub (221 North Main Street in St. Charles) for the OFFICIAL kick-off of our re-introduction of Goat’s Breath Bock. Enjoy great beer and food, visit with the brewers and meet our mascot, “Cooter,” the goat! (For real!)

If you haven’t tried it, Goat’s Breath Bock is a malty clean beer that you almost wouldn’t expect is an ale. So not only do you get a chance to try it, but you get to hang with Cooter the Goat. Sounds like a hell of a time.

Dave from O’Fallon Brewery reported on the BA forums that there will be a new brewpub opening in St. Louis not too far from the new SLU arena.

Sometime in January “Buffalo Brewing Co.” will be open in St. Louis. The location is at Olive and Compton just behind the new SLU arena in the Parrish Laundry building.
Updates soon.

No Round-Up today, it’s  pretty slow due to the holidays.  It’ll be back next week.  Have a Happy New Year.