Maybe the guys at CAMRA have finally gotten to me and programed my brain in my sleep to really believe it, but I’m pretty obsessed with cask beer. The slightly warm, slightly flat that always brings more than a slight smile to my face. One of the problems with cask is that it’s pretty hard to find in St. Louis. For the longest time it was basically available at either the Tap Room or Iron Barley (and from what I gathered Square One on rare occasions.) But now it looks like we have another location for “true” ale:

Dave Johnson from O’Fallon Brewery emailed me to let me know that cask 5-Day IPA is now available at Dressel’s Pub. Cask beer at a Welsh pub? Sounds like a winning combination to me.

Derick from O’Fallon informed me of a beer dinner that Chef/owner Anthony Devoti will be hosting at the Newstead Tower Pub on Wednesday, January 16th at 7PM.  The cost of the 5 course dinner is $40 dollars.  Reservations will be required.

I’ve included the menu with the beer pairings in  the image below:

I’ll admit that I’m a bit disappointed to see the lack of a 5 Day IPA inclusion.  A cask 5 Day would have been off the chart.  Oh well, maybe some other time.

I recently got a chance to ask Dave Johnson, one of the brewers at O’Fallon Brewery, some questions. I’m going to try and make this a regular feature so if you have anyone you’d like me to interview or any questions you’d like me to ask feel free to contact me.

STLHops: What’s your biggest daily struggle as a brewer?
Dave Johnson: Trying to keep the production up with the sales, and keeping the quality standards excellent.

STLHops: How much creativity are you allowed in this profession?
DJ: In a production brewery you have to brew all your beers very consistent. We only get creative when we come up with a new beer. Then we’ll throw around ideas for weeks, till we come up with something we think will be great.

STLHops: If I’ve heard correctly you guys are only allowed to brew up to a specific ABV, are there any plans to get that changed?
DJ: Currently we can only make beers up to 5% ABW (6.3%ABV), we are in the process of getting it upped to a “wine” license.

STLHops: Do you have any styles or ideas in mind once you do up it to a “wine” license?
DJ: That’s when we can get creative. We have too many ideas right now, but the first one that comes to my mind would be Imperial Smoked Porter- “Barrel Aged”?

STLHops: As a brewery in a small space, how do you pilot out new beers to develop?
DJ: Lately we have homebrewed them. It gives us a idea of the malt profile and the hop profile. Then we can tweak it and scale it up to 15 bbls.

STLHops: I’m sure I’m not the only homebrewer interested, but what equipment do you guys use to homebrew?
DJ: We use Brian’s converted keg for a mash tun, and my converted keg for a kettle. We have a 30bbl. hot liquor tank. We ferment in a 6.5 gal carboy in the temp. controlled Firkin cooler. Then we keg it in a corny.

STLHops: Your beer styles range from the Smoked Porter to Wheach, do you have a theme in mind with all of your beers?
DJ: Except for Gold, all our flagships started out as seasonal or limited offerings. Our Unfiltered Wheat started out as “Summer Wheat”. The seasonal usually have a theme in mind, like Pumpkin Ale in the fall, and Wheach for summer. Our newest is Goats Breath Bock Ale for winter.

STLHops: Why just one strain of yeast? Is it now considered a house strain?
DJ: We don’t have a lab. You have to be careful that different strains don’t mutate. Without a lab you can’t monitor that. Kolsch is our “House” yeast, and what we like about it is it’s versatility.

STLHops: What kind of hops do you use for the 5 Day IPA and when do you put in your hop additions?
DJ: The hops we use in the 5 Day are:
Summit, 90 min. and 60
Centennial, 30 min.
Cascade, 10 min., end of boil, and end of whirlpool
Cascade and Glacier dry hop in the fermenter

STLHops: Thank you Dave for your time.

Well the weekend is almost upon us, so that means it’s time for the STL Hops Round-Up.

• Mike at Hoosier Beer Geek alerted me to an interview he did with Mitch Turner from St. Louis Brewery. It’s good stuff, be sure to check it out.
• Dan checks in with an article about cask beer in the New York Times. As some of you may know I’m completely obsessed with the cask O’Fallon 5 Day IPA. If you want to try it I would suggest heading down to Iron Barley and giving it a shot.
• Paul at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton alerts me to some new beers he has in stock:
  • Ridgeway Brewing - Bad Elf
  • Ridgeway Brewing - Seriously Bad Elf
  • Ridgeway Brewing - Very Bad Elf
  • Ridgeway Brewing - Santas Butt
  • Cropton Brewery - Rudolphs Revenge
  • Wychwood Brewery Company - Bah Humbug
  • Brouwerij Huyghe - Delirium Noel
  • Harvey & Son Ltd - Harveys Christmas Ale
  • Microbrouwerij Achilles - Serafijn Christmas Angel
  • O’Fallon Brewery - Goat’s Breath Bock Ale
  • ODells Brewery - Extra Red Ale
• Lukas Liquor also has a new few beers in stock:
  • Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck - Kasteelbier Donker
  • St. Bernard Brouwerij - St. Bernardus Christmas Ale
  • Sierra Nevada Brewery - Harvest Fresh Hop Ale
  • St. Louis Brewery - Schlafly Winter ESB
  • St. Louis Brewery - Schlafly Coffee Stout
• Schlafly’s ESB is also available at the Bottleworks. I saw it the other night while at the Maplewood Farmers’ Market.

Here’s a list of upcoming beer events:

• Oct 26 - Beer tasting at Randall’s Wine & Spirits
• Oct 26 - Halloween Beer Tasting at Provisions
• Oct 27 - Beer and Wine Tasting at Wine and Cheese Place
• Oct 31 - Cicero’s Beer School
• Nov 3 - Teach a friend to Homebrew Day
• Nov 12 - Autumn Beer Dinner at Duff’s

Well you’re now all round-up. Next week is going to be pretty exiciting at STLHops. I’ll have a write up about last night’s beer dinner at Mangia Italiano and an interview with Dave Johnson from O’Fallon Brewery for starters. So be sure to come back all next week to check it out. In the meantime drink some good beer this weekend.