I mentioned in last Friday’s Round-Up that I was participating in a couple of firsts in my short homebrewing career. I was entering my beer for the first time into a competition and I was judging in a homebrew competition for the first time ever. I was a little nervous leading up to the competition. I mean, who am I to judge someone else’s beer? But I was reassured that it’s good practice and all judges had to start somewhere.

First a little background on how a homebrew competition works. Each brewer enters their beer into the competition based on Beer Judge Certification Program’s (BJCP) style guidelines. (The BJCP is kind of a controversial entity for some in the beer world, but that’s another topic all together.) The judges then use the style guideline to determine if the beer submitted fits into the category. Beers are awarded points via five different components: Aroma (12 points), Appearance (3 points), Taste (20 points), Mouth Feel (5 points) and Overall Impression (10 points.) Here’s the score sheet for my Southern English Brown to give you a look at the judging process.

Read the rest…

We have a lot of new readers to STL Hops, welcome to you all. This is the Friday Round-Up, a place for me to post some of the cool stuff I’ve found throughout the week along with new beers and beer events in the St. Louis area.

A couple of firsts for me tonight. For the first time ever, my homebrew will be judged in a competition. After some good compliments at Mondays St. Louis Brews meeting I’m hoping to get some decent scores and some decent input. The other first for me tonight is that this will be my first time judging a competition as well. I’ve got some excellent judges by my side, so I hope I don’t fumble too much. Enough of my blathering, on to the Round-Up:

Stuff from around the web

• The history of the Kegerator provides some interesting history of St. Louis brewing.
• Anheuser-Busch is using its Michelob brand to battle craft brews.
• STL Hops and Washington University are looking to improve your love life: Beer helps you get laid.
• How did you celebrate the REAL anniversary of prohibition?

Beer Releases and News

• Andrew from Bon Vivant Wines sent me this last weekend of beers he has in his stock. Give him a call to see if they’re all still there:
  • Ommegang - Chocolate Indulgence Stout
  • Dogfish Head - 60 min IPA
  • Dogfish Head - Chicory Stout
  • Anderson Valley Brewing Co. - Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout
  • New Holland - The Poet Stout
  • Allagash Brewing Company - Allagash White
  • Allagash Brewing Company - Allagash Grand Cru Reserve
  • Avery Brewing Company - The Reverend
• Paul at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton alerts me to some new beers he has in stock:
  • Brouwerij Van den Bossche - Pater Lieven (Kerst Pater Special) Christmas
  • Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck - Brigand Belgian Ale
  • Charleville Vineyard - Charleville Tornado Alley Amber Ale
  • Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg - Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Bier Helles
• Paul also informed me that they’ll be tasting Kerst Pater, La Chouffe Golden Ale, Delirium Noel, Brigand and Great Divide Titan IPA on Saturday between 11AM and 3PM.
• Chris at Randall’s Wine & Spirits in St. Louis alerts me to some new beers sets he has in stock, just in time for the holiday season:
  • Brouwerij Het Anker - Gouden Carolus Noel (4-pack)
  • Carlsberg Sverige - D. Carnegie & Co. Stark Porter
  • Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg - Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Bier Helles (4-pack)
  • Greisediek Brothers Brewery - Golden Pilsner (6-pack)
  • Abbaye de Leffe S.A. - Leffe Blonde (6-pack)
  • Anheuser-Busch - Shock Top Belgian White (Formerly Spring Heat Spiced Wheat) (6-pack)
• Chris is also expecting these beers in today at the Fairview Heights Randall’s:
  • Dubuisson - Bush de Noël (Scaldis Noel) (750ml)
  • Goose Island Brewery - Imperial IPA (4-pack)
  • Goose Island Brewery - Bourbon County Stout (4-pack)
  • Goose Island Brewery - Christmas (6-pack)
  • Pyramid Breweries - Snow Cap (6-pack)
  • Unibroue - Terrible (750ml)

Here’s a list of upcoming beer events:

• Dec 8 - Happy Holiday Homebrew Competition
• Dec 26 - Schlafly 16th Anniversary Party

Do you ever wonder what professionals in the brewing industry do on their off days? Well some of them, like Drew Huerter, homebrew. Last week I was invited over to Drew’s house, along with Brennan from Schlafly and Charlie from O’Fallon Brewery and Jeff (another excellent local homebrewer), to help brew up two different batches of beer. The first beer was a rye pale ale. The second beer was a very special beer, it’s going to be a wedding beer.

When you’re a Schlafly brewer and you’re going to get married, you get the privilege of brewing up a beer specifically for your wedding. In this case it’s Brennan that’s getting married and he’s decided to brew a American Brown Ale with a hell of a lot of hops. He wanted to homebrew the recipe first before brewing a big batch at The Tap Room. Brennan asked his friend Drew to help, as he is probably one of the best homebrewers in St. Louis. So I headed out on Sunday, which is part of my excuse for forgetting about the St. Louis gift blog, to brew with some of the brewers that make our local beer.

I arrived at Drew’s house on Sunday around 11:30. Drew had given me the heads up that since this was going to be a double brew day he was starting around 8AM. But a pillow was calling my name at 8AM on a Sunday. When I arrived the boil for the rye beer was almost complete as was the mash for Brennan’s brown. The copper device you see to the left is an immersion wort chiller, it uses cool water to cool the wort down as quickly as possible.

No sooner than Drew turned on the hose to start pushing water through the chiller it sprung a leak, which causes Brennan and Drew to find a way to clamp it. Hose water and cooled wort can be a dangerous combo. You’ve just spent a good amount of time sanitizing your wort, so the last thing you want to do is contaminate it with hose water. Little did we know that hose water would be the least of our concerns. Find out what else happened after the jump. Read the rest…

Are you a homebrewer? Have you entered the Happy Holiday Homebrew Competition yet? If you haven’t you still have a sliver of time to enter. It’s really simple, you just register your beer here, print out the confirmation, and then drop off the beer, entry fee and confirmation at either The Tap Room, St. Louis Wine and Beermaking or Worm’s Way. Who knows, you could come away a winner? Here’s this week’s Round Up:

Stuff from around the web

• The Brew Site did a review of O’Fallon’s Pumpkin Ale
• Anheuser-Busch tells us that the beer market is strong, but then warns about beer prices going up.
• Bill let’s us know about a new brewery/restaurant in Granite City Creve Couer (thanks Bill), with an unusual way of making beer
• St. Louis native Neal Stewart lets us know what his fantasy beer dinner would entail.
• AB moves into the vodka biz.

Beer Releases and News

• Andy from Whole Foods let’s us know about some new beers he has in his stock (and remember if you don’t see it on the shelf, be sure to ask for it):
  • St. Louis Brewery - Schlafly Pumpkin
  • Anchor Brewing - 2006 Our Special Ale Magnum
  • Anchor Brewing - 2007 Our Special Ale Magnum
• Paul at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton alerts me to some new beers he has in stock:
  • Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck - Brigand Belgian Ale
  • Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV - St. Bernadus Mixed 6 Pack
  • Shmaltz Brewing Company - He’Brew Jewbelation Eleven
  • Coors Brewing Company - Blue Moon Full Moon Winter Ale
• Paul also informed me that they’ll be tasting Blue Moon Full Moon Winter, Anchor Christmas, Harveys Christmas Ale, Delirium Noel, Sam Smiths Winter Welcome, He’Brew Jewbelation and Gouden Carolus Noel on Saturday between 11AM and 3PM.
• Chris at Randall’s Wine & Spirits in St. Louis alerts me to some new beers sets he has in stock, just in time for the holiday season:
  • Mendocino Brewing Company - Mendocino Imperial IPA Winter Seasonal
  • Arcadia Brewing Company - Arcadia Imperial Stout (4 Pack)
  • Arcadia Brewing Company - Arcadia Shipwreck Barrel Aged Porter (22oz Bomber)
  • Arcadia Brewing Company - Arcadia Cereal Killer Barleywine (220z Bomber)
  • Barons Brewing Company - Barons Extra Special Bitter
  • Barons Brewing Company - Black Wattle Superior Wattle Seed Ale
  • Tooheys Brewing - Tooheys New
  • Anheuser-Busch - Brewmasters Private Reserve 2007
  • Anheuser-Busch - Michelob Celebrate Series
• Chris is also has these beers in today at the Fairview Heights Randall’s:
  • Left Hand Brewing Company - Snowbound (6 packs)
  • Left Hand Brewing Company - Warrior IPA (Bombers)
  • August Schell Brewing Co - Snowstorm (6 Packs)
  • Boulder Beer - Never Summer Ale (6 Pack)
  • Breckenridge Brewery - Christmas Ale (6 Packs)
  • Sprecher Brewing Company - Winter Brew (4 Packs)
  • Sprecher Brewing Company - Dopple Bock (4 Packs)
  • Wychwood Brewery Company - Bah Humbug

Here’s a list of upcoming beer events:

• Dec 3 - St. Louis Brews Homebrew Club Meeting
• Dec 8 - Happy Holiday Homebrew Competition
• Dec 26 - Schlafly 16th Anniversary Party

As fellow beer enthusiasts you may or may not be aware that hop and malt prices have sky rocketed. In fact trying to find specific types of hops right now is near impossible. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has picked up on the story of local brewers hop pinch.

For now, it’s a mad dash among small breweries to find supplies of the hops that define their brews. Brewmasters are mulling ad hoc recipes to mimic certain flavors in case they can’t get the usual varieties of hops. Suppliers are tightening payment terms, demanding faster cash.

Hops are “incredibly scarce,” said Daran Churovich, brewmaster at Kirkwood brewpub Alandale Brewing Co. “Everybody’s scrambling.”

Much of beer’s flavor and aroma is affected by hops; not being able to purchase the hops that are specific to the commercial beer you’re producing could lead to a noticeable change in the beer itself. One of the most important aspects of the brewing industry is consistency. You want every pint, every bottle and every keg to taste the same from one batch to the next. Being forced to change what hops you use puts a real crimp into your consistency.

This hop scarcity problem isn’t affecting just the big (or little) boys, but homebrewers as well. Talking to Dave a few weeks ago at St. Louis Wine and Beermaking he was pretty frustrated about the lack of hop availability. Fortunately, homebrewers are a bit luckier in this regard. We’re not selling a product, we’re brewing beer to drink for ourselves and friends. We have the luxury of experimenting and using newer or more unusual hops such as Marynka (Polish,) Pride of Ringwood (Austalian,) Progress (UK,) or Newport (US.)

I have a feeling over the next few years in the US we’re going to see the strongest craft breweries survive and those that are producing mediocre beers being to falter and close up. No matter what, we’re all going to be paying a higher price in the end.

_{Thanks to Jim for the Denver Post article.}

I know this is a bit of a repeat post, but I want to make sure to get the word out. If you’re interested in getting some feedback on some of your beers, a homebrewing competition is the best place to get it. Lucky for you there is a local competition coming up soon.

The Happy Holiday Homebrew Competition is the St. Louis Brews annual homebrew competition. It is a fully sanctioned AHA and BJCP event. This year it will be held on December 8, 2007.

The location of the competition & banquet is the Annunciation Church in Webster Groves, located at 12 West Glendale Road, just South of Hwy. 44 on Elm Avenue. Here is a link to a map. We are proud to be the final qualifying event for the Tenth Annual Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing.

2 bottles per entry
Fee is $6.00 per entry

Please register on the web with a valid email address. The registration page will have all the details of where to send the entries. Local dropoff will be at the local homebrew shops.

Scoresheets will be scanned and emailed back to the brewer by the next day. Currently this is the only competition that I know that scans and emails scoresheets for quick feedback to the brewer.

At this point I believe I’m entering a Belgian Wit, Robust Porter, Vanilla Robust Porter and a Scottish 80. With the exception of the Belgian Wit, these are all brand new styles for me to brew. This is a perfect opportunity to see how close I came to the style.

Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. This week has been insanely crazy between all of these events and things going on at work, even I’m shocked I’m still alive. And as much as I love Eric and Lauren from New Belgium, I’m secretly glad they’re heading home. I don’t know how much more I could take.

What’s that? The Schlafly Beer and Cheese tasting is tonight? I guess I can take a bit more.

Quickly put, as I’m running out of time, last night was a blast. Dave from Beer, Wine and Whiskey was there (in fact you can read his write up of the event), Steven and Brennan from Schlafly were where, Charlie from O’Fallon was there, it was like a who’s who of the St. Louis beer scene. I also got the chance to meet Dave, the owner of Bailey’s, which allowed me to gush about his beer selection. It was just a blast being able to stand around and gab about beer for hours on end.

But if the gabbing wasn’t enough, then the vintage bottles of La Folie broke out. We had a chance to try two different 2004 bottles and one 2005. Being able to try the two 2004 side by side was really impressive and it’s amazing how much different two bottles can be, even if they were bottled on the same day.

It was a great event and it was great to meet everyone from New Belgium. It’s just a blast being around people that have the same passion and love that you do and then have the fun of sharing it together. I can only hope that some of my passion comes across here at this blog and that you start feeling the passion too.

Sorry about the lack of pictures, I was just having too much fun!

I’d like to think that in every hobby there is a task that no one looks forward to. That one thing that you have to do in the hobby that is unbearable at times but still has to be done. In homebrewing that task is bottling. Oh sure, it’s fun the first few times you do it because it’s new and you love the hobby, but after a while you begin to dread it. The cleaning, the sanitizing, the filling, the capping. It can get to you at times.

At this point you’re probably asking, “Mike, what the hell does this have to do with American and Belgian brewers?” Well, I’ll tell you. As a homebrewer you can easily buy bottles from any number of local or global vendors. It will cost you about 13 dollars a case. But if you’re a homebrewer it probably also means you’re a beer fan which also means you’ll still be drinking a lot of commercial beers. If I’m drinking a commercial beer, I’m going to save the bottle for homebrewing use later on.

Well, I’ve saved a lot of bottles, probably close to 8 cases worth. Well there comes a point where you need to prepare the bottle to your homebrew in. In my case that means removing the label. Oh sure, I could leave the label on and it would save me a step. But this is my beer going into the bottle now, not theirs. So I want the bottle to be brown and label-less.

To try to move this story (and my point) forward, on Saturday I loaded up my basement sink up with about 50 bottles and then proceeded to fill it with warm water. I’ll leave the bottles overnight and by the next day they’ll be ready to get peeled. It’s not really a fun process. You peel the label off, but there is always paper and glue left behind. Unless that bottle is a Belgian bottle.

I don’t know the science behind it, I don’t know if it’s some sort of weird European magic glue that they use on the bottles. But every Belgian beer bottle I’ve ever come across, the labels comes off without me having to touch it. It’s like sweet beautiful bliss when you go to pick up that Belgian bottle and the label just slides off.

I have a theory behind why the American brewers have stickier labels than their European counterparts: the cooler. Something tells me that most Belgians aren’t throwing a six pack into a cooler and heading out to a sporting event or a picnic. American brewers have to worry about their labels sticking to bottles while being submersed in ice and water.

That being said, there are a couple of American brewers that have pretty decent labels to remove. The best I’ve encountered so far is from our very own Schlafly. The labels will peel off all in one sheet and leave only a small amount of glue behind. In a task that can get really annoying, these bottles were a joy to work with.

Here’s a quick list of good and bad American bottle labels:

Good:

• Schlafly
• New Belgium (though I ran across a couple of difficult ones yesterday)

OK:

• O’Fallon Brewery
• Ray Hill’s

Bad:

• Bells (I’d rather recycle the bottles than try and peel their labels off)
• Red Hook

I think I’m going to update this list as time progresses. I’m sure it’ll be of use to someone.

This really should have been done earlier in the week, but life happens and it just didn’t happen when I wanted. But better late than never, right? As I mentioned last Friday, Saturday was the national Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day. As such I went over to St. Louis Wine and Beermaking to purchase some yeast to homebrew a Scottish 80 Shilling.

To celebrate National Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day, St. Louis W&B was putting on an all-grain homebrewing demonstration. Luckily I was smart enough to bring my camera to snap a couple of pictures:

What was originally going to be a 5 minute trip turned into an hour of standing around, watching a pot try to boil and talking homebrewing techniques with novices and experts. It was nice being able to help new guys out and give them some tips and also pick up some tips from people more experienced than I.

When I got home a small homebrewing task awaited me. I needed to move my Belgian Dark Strong from the carboy to a corny keg for aging. Usually this goes pretty easily, but for whatever reason I ended up with a lot of water on myself and the basement floor. Oh well, it least the beer is being aged now.

I cleaned myself up and let myself dry out a bit and then headed over to The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton to visit with Paul and to sample the 06 Schlafly Barleywine vs the 07 Barleywine.

It’s amazing what a year can do, I found that the hops on the 06 have really dropped out and the malt character has really started to come into it’s own and develop a really amazing beer. That’s not to say the 07 isn’t ready to drink right now. It’s a fantastic beer that may make hopheads pretty happy.

I’ve never been to the Clayton Wine and Cheese Place as the Rock Hill location is right down the street, but I’m here to tell you that this is a dangerous place for a beer lover.

Everywhere you turn you think, “Oooh, I want that! And that! And That!” and the next thing you know you’ve given Paul 60 of your hard earned dollars. That’s if you’re lucky to keep it less than that.

One last thing that’s not all beer related (except it goes fantastic with it) is that Wine And Cheese Place is selling salami that has been created by the wonderful Salumi Cured Meats out of Seattle. If you’re a fan of salami, you’ll do yourself a huge favor by ponying up the dough and picking some of this up. It’s absolutely delicious.

If you weren’t aware, tomorrow is Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day. It’s a chance for us homebrewers to teach someone else how their beer is made and how they could do it themselves. I plan on teaching my friend Bill Burge the ins and outs of homebrewing, we’re going to make a Scottish 80 Schilling.

So if you’re a homebrewer, bring a friend (or a couple of them) over and make an event of it. At worst, you can all sit around and enjoy some homebrew! Here are some of the particulars from the American Homebrewing Association:

What is Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day?

The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day is an international event to introduce people to the homebrewing hobby and establish relationships with local homebrew supply shops.

Each year on the first Saturday in November, homebrewers around the world are encouraged to invite non-brewing and brewing friends and family to celebrate Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day and brew a batch of beer together.

Before the event, participants that have Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day events register their site on this web page. These registered sites help the American Homebrewers Association track how many participants celebrated the event. 2006 event results will be posted on this page a few weeks after November 4.