33 Wine Shop & Tasting Bar will be hosting a special event tonight, Monday, November 9th, called Blood & Sand. This event is to help kick off the new St. Louis chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild.

Blood & Sand will not only allow you to try some samples of beer and wine, but local mixologists Ted Kilgore and T.J. Vytlacil will be on hand to put together some of their amazing cocktail creations.

I will be on hand to assist with the beer tastings. So come on out and show your support for the local Bartenders Guild and enjoy some tasty beverages to boot. The event will begin at 6PM and admission is free.

So, it just happens I head up to 33 Wine Shop and Tasting Bar to meet with a few of my favorite chums, and what do I happen to see on the draught list?  None other than the highly sought after Sierra Nevada Chico Estate.

In case you don’t know, this is a beer in which every ingredient is grown right on Sierra Nevada’s property.  Very cool and very rare stuff.  You better get down here soon, because this is a 20L keg and there are some very thirsty people down here.

This episode of Know Your Styles has been temporarily interrupted to bring you an article by Dylan Mosley of 33 Wine Bar fame. Dylan took it upon himself to teach us all a little something about oak.  Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Oak and Beer

MmmmmmmmmmBeeeeer. HS knew what he was talking about. However, I’ll admit that I grew a little tired of all those Oaked up Bombs that came out of the woodwork like popped collars, Crocs, and big-ole-sunglasses. I digress. So here I am readin’ and writin’ bout’ wood. Oak that is. I’m pointing myself toward a new dawn of understanding and sympathy to Quercus Alba (American White Oak) and Quercus Petrae and Sissilis (French Oaks). So if I’m headed down that dark path of mis-information then so are you and we’re both gonna learn a few things that Wikipedia and Google can both easily provide to anybody with 2 minutes to spare and a healthy index finger. We’ll learn some Latin, try our best to nod along with chemical reactions, and release our inner wood sprite. PS. Know your Styles has been temporarily hijacked and is now Know your Shite.

The Mostly True Account of Oak.
It’s not a mistake that Oak is the wood of choice for Wine and Beer. Oak is a legendary tree; often sacrificed to Thor (hey it’s a tall tree that gets hit by lightning a lot.), the Druids couldn’t get enough of it- even carrying around acorn nuts to stave (look! STAVE!) off ageing. Naturalist Galus Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder) recorded Druidic rituals that reverenced oak/mistletoe (mistletoe on oak trees was the imprint of the Hand of God according to the googles) and oak is the ‘tree of doors’ leading to other dimensions (Rod Serling eat your heart out) All of this is to say that since Oak has proven itself as so strong and durable that it gets a lot of street cred with the ancients. Granit Oak, Bartek, Gernikako Arbola, Queen Elizabeth Oak, Kongeegen, Major Oak, Ivenack Oak, Stelmuze Oak, Merlin’s Oak, Angel Oak, Emancipation Oak, Tree that Owns Itself and Son of the Tree that Owns Itself are just a few of the named oaks of lore we’re talking about. As a side note- Son of the Tree that Owns Itself is totally cool.

So, just what are the aspects of this tree that makes it so nifty? Well, for starters it’s dense. It has a density of 0.75 g/cm3 which didn’t mean anything to me until I looked up other densities of treesthe Janka Scale of Hardness is the standard measure for wood density – Balsa=100, Mahogany= 800, Boreal= 1023, Red Oak= 1290, Ash= 1320, White Oak= 1360 (same as Coffee Bean, huh, who knew?), African Paduak= 1725, Lignum Vitae= 4500. And who is going to make a barrel out of Lignum Vitae (Latin for wood of life)? Crazy people. And Dogfish Head (Palo Santo- which if you haven’t read The New Yorker article, you should. Nov. 24, 2008 pg. 86.) Density is also correlated to pest resistance; that must be why you never see an oak tree with a can of RAID.

Oak’s pest resistance is also increased by virtue of tannins that are usually toxic in quantity to consumers. Tannins (polyphenols) are located primarily in the bark- inside vacuoles (little intra-cellular suitcases full of whatever the cell happens to need) and in waxy structures like leaf, bud, seed, root, and stem tissues. FYI- leaching tannins from leaves and bark (usually from fallen trees and dead wood) into a nearby stream, pool, pond etc produces conditions for Black Water – an acidic, low nutrient, and tea colored water. (Check out Southern Tiers Black Water series; though I doubt they would describe their beers as being acidic, low nutrient, tea colored beverages- note to Marketing.) Just so tannins don’t feel beat up on, they do help protect wine and beer from oxidizing- that is part of the reason the highly tannic nebbiolo grape improves its taste and aroma with very long in-barrel times (and with that- my wine shout out is overalmost)

What else? Well, here is where we go down two big paths. One path is related to wine barrel making and the other to spirit barrel making- the beer industry goes Industrial Age and ponies up the dough for stainless – no more of that Bronze age crap for us! But sometimes we lament our past and spring for a few old-school barrels and remember what beer has been for centuries.

In France there are 5 major forests where oak is harvested- Allier, Limousin, Nevers, Trancais, and Vosges. Obviously the French have been making wine for a long time and their barrel making has evolved to reflect this national passion. French barrels are started with splitting their staves and outdoor curing for 24 months. This curing time does double duty – it both mellows the wood and allows some of the tannins to drop out (next time you are in France look under a stack of oak staves, you’ll see a bunch of grayish dust – remember Black water? Yup- we is learning. Splitting the staves does less damage to xylem cells that contain lactones. Lactones are cyclic esters that impart a noticeable vanillin and custard overtone (both taste and aroma). Lactones are very apparent in American spirit barrels that utilize sawn staves- necessarily releasing more of the compound. Additionally American barrels are commonly made from kilned wood. Kilned wood does not enjoy the martini by the pool, the beach strolls, and deep tissue massage that traditional French Coopered Oak does.

These differences in process have less to do with quality and more to do with intention. American barrels are driven by the bourbon, whisky, and American wine industry which all rely on a heavier oaken hand to balance their intense products. Of course, as the industry faces increased competition from all over the world, work practices change, new techniques and methods become adopted, and it becomes less easy to say “American method is this” and “French method is that”. Just look at a bottle of Glenmorangie Astar and check out its neck label – its proof that barrel making is still an art and worthy of expensive marketing campaigns. (PS. GO MISSOURI OAK!)

American Oak comes from all over. We don’t have specific forests as such, but the eastern states and MO (GO MISSOURI OAK!), AR, TN, KY, MN, WI, OR, and PN all harvest oak. Scientists can actually deduce which part of the US or France (or Hungary, or wherever the tree came from) a particular barrel came from by using mass spectrometers and comparing climate notes, indigenous pests and lichens, soil samples and such. Neat. I can do the Vulcan Greeting with my fingers.

Okay, okay. On to beer. Why put beer into Oak Barrels? Obviously the biggest reason nowadays is to flavor the brew since most companies still ferment in stainless and only use barrels as a treatment. Lots of brewers get barrels from distilleries and wineries after they have had other crappola in them like bourbon, whisky(ey), vino, maple syrup, shade-grown organic free-range no-gmo all-natural Harvard-educated black strap mollases. Anywhoooo. Most barrels are only used a time or two since whatever lived in that barrel previously becomes less apparent the more it is leached out over time. Sort-of like the more Capt. James T Kirk wails with ‘dramatic soliloquies, pregnant pauses, and staccato diatribes’ the less you believe him(source, TVLand.com).

However, some breweries/brewers use barrels for more than just a one-night stand. A lot of American Brewers are getting props for using barrels for more than just a prop. Russian River Brewing is a shining example (as many others are, but I’m the one writing this and I REALLY like Temptation.). Rotating barrels from fresh to used is part of the ongoing process/philosophy at Russian River and this management has in turn created a new beer over time – Beautification. Beautification utilizes a lot of wood that has become Kirkinated- I mean, lost its original flavor. As barrels used for maturation of Temptation (Chardonnay), Temptation (Pinot), and Consecration (Cab Sav) become less specific they get bounced down the line until considered Dead Wood. These ‘Deadwood’ barrels harbor a lot of intentionally grown nasty awesomeness like brettt, lacto and pedio and simply embody the efforts of the brewery at large. In these barrels Beautification sits and waits, passing from pupa to butterfly! From fire to phoenix! From Beetle to BumbleBee! From Joel MST3K to Mike MST3K (discuss)! Final offerings from RR are a blend of multiple barrels (usually) to get whatever mysterious textures, flavors or aromas Vinny is looking for. Cool Beans.

So spit it out Dylan! Sum it up! Make a point already! End this godforsaken rant and let people get back to the forum section of this website! Okay, well, certainly there is a lot more info on google and wikipedia about Oak, but you got fingers! Look things up like “eugenol’, the phenol that creates a smokey and spicey clove-like aromatic. Look up ‘oak chips’, which explain why some beers are labeled as ‘matured ON oak’ rather than IN it. “Solera”, the process of aging wines, beers, vinegars, and brandy(s) by fractional blending. Check out ‘The Best Page in the Universe” (NSFW? Depends on where you work.) – no info about oak that I’ve found, but its funny. Finally, I am by no means an authority on any of this – if you find a mistake you are not alone and bringing it to the attention of anyone else simply makes no sense. Finally, did you read all this?
Token list of available beers to try No particular order Jolly Pumpkin Oro De Calabaza, Russian River Temptation, Sam Smith Stingo, Xyauyu, CBS, Cantillion (anything), Barrel Aged Two Hearted, Oak Aged Yeti, Cask aged JW Lees, etc BTW, yes, BBL aged Two Hearted is made up. Sad Trombone.

The End
By: Dylan
Ps, Eric, yes I know this was supposed to be sent to Mike two months ago. Sue me.

For those of you that missed the first go arounds of Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout a little over a week ago, 33 Wine Shop and Tasting Bar will be serving CBS starting tomorrow, Tuesday June 30th at 3:30PM.

As I stressed in the last post, this is a very rare beer.  So if you had the misforture of misfortune of missing it the first time or you want one last taste, this is probably your last opportunity to enjoy this beer in the comfort of your hometown.

You asked for it, I asked for it, but we were told, “Sorry.”

Well, I guess selling out of our initial shipment of beer had Founders Brewery take notice and they’ve decided to provide three 1/6 barrel kegs of the coveted Canadian Breakfast Stout for the St. Louis area.  Here’s the description of the beer:

Founders Breakfast Stout aged in Kentucky whiskey barrels that were also used by a small maple syrup maker.  The beer is then aged underground in the town’s local mine.  Maple & whiskey soaked wood, Sumatra and Kona coffee beans breakfast stout.  Damn. What else can you say?

What you can say is this is rare, rare, rare.  They only made so much of it and it has only made it out of the Brewery to a few locations.  I’ve been told that the locations that are receiving this gem are The Stable, the International Tap House and 33 Wine Shop and Tasting Bar.

If you want to try this very special beer, you better not delay as it won’t last long.  Here are the tapping times for Friday, June 19th that I’m aware of:

The Stable – 12PM
International Tap House – 5PM

There has been rumors floating around for a while, but the news is now official.  33 Wine Bar in Lafayette Square is being sold.  But fret not, it’s not being closed and you’ll still be able to get a great beer (or wine).  33 founder Jake Hafner deicded it was time to move on and decided that rather than closing one of the best bars in the area, he’d hand the keys over to a 33 regular Jeff Stetner.

I think this is kind of a bittersweet moment for a lot of fans of 33.  While it sad to hear that Jake will no longer be in the bar every time you walk in the door, it’s good to hear it’s staying open and staying in good hands.  Jeff has a lot of new ideas planned for the bar, including expansion next door which will allow for more retail sales.

While it’s easy to fear change, I think everyone should keep an open mind about it all.  Jeff is a really good guy and a self-confessed “wine dork and beer dork.”  He fell in love with a wine bar and isn’t looking to add TVs or change the vibe.  You’re still going to see familiar faces when you walk in the door.  Jeff loves the place as much as many of us and doesn’t want to lose that 33 “feel.” I consider Jeff and Jake friends and wish them both a lot of luck.

You can read Jake’s full letter about the ownership change after the jump.

continue reading…

It was an amazing sight. It was awesome to see about 30 or 40 beer nerds descend on 33 Wine Shop and Tasting Bar last Friday night, kill a cask in about an hour and a half and then move on to their next beer adventure. At one point while pouring a Two Hearted, Jake, the owner of 33, looked at me and said, “You know, this is all your fault!” I can’t say I wasn’t a little proud.

As for the beer itself, my girlfriend and some people in the forum picked up a metallic taste and a bit of oxidation in the first few beers. I’m lucky to say my palate didn’t pick this up, but I will say that as the night progressed the beer got better. I don’t know if that’s because I had 3 or 4 beers or if the beer actually did get better, but it was pretty fulfilling. It was very cool to see everyone show up and have a great time.

Thanks again to Dylan, Jake and Mike at 33 for putting this on. Hopefully this becomes a more regular thing.

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