I was in Champaign, IL on business last week and I decided to stop into The Blind Pig and have a pint or two (or three.) One of the first things that caught my eye on the list was that they had Avery’s Maharaja on draught. Which got me to thinking, where is our draught Avery?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to have Avery now available in St. Louis, but why are we limited just to bottles? Is it a supply issue from the brewery? Is the local distributor not interested in bringing in kegs? Is there not enough local interest? I don’t know the answers to these questions but I’d love to find out. Is anyone from Major Brands or Avery able to step up and answer some questions for us?

Paul from the Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton informed me that a very special beer has made it’s way to St. Louis. The beer is Avery and Russian River’s second batch of Collaboration not Litigation. Here’s the back story on it:

Salvation. The name of two intricate Belgian-style ales, created by Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing and Adam Avery of Avery Brewing. After becoming friends a few years ago, we realized that we both had a Salvation in our line-ups. Was it going to be a problem? Should one of us relinquish the rights? “Hell no!” we said. In fact, it was quickly decided that we should blend the brews to catch the best qualities of each and create an even more complex libation. In April 2004, in top-secret meeting at Russian River Brewing (well actually it was packed in the pub, and many were looking over our shoulders wondering what the hell was going on), we came up with the perfect blend of the two Salvations. Natalie, Vinnie’s much more significant other, exclaimed, We should call this Collaboration, not Litigation Ale! “Perfect!” we shouted. We celebrated deep into the night, (or is it morning?). Fast forward to February 2008, and we completed our second blending of these two fine ales. Batch 2 will become available to the public February 12th.

All profits from this joint venture will fund a return educational trip to Belgium with our bros Tomme (Port Brewing), Sam (Dogfish Head Brewing) and Rob (Allagash Brewing). This pilgrimage will enable us to learn even more about traditional brewing techniques to combine with our already strange and unique styles here in America. Gezondheid!

This is a very unique beer, created by two amazing brewers. I can’t imagine this one will last long (especially if I have my way with it.) Hurry up and pick it up!

Being the greedy bugger I am, one of the first questions I asked when Avery first arrived was, “Awesome, but are we getting the specialty and seasonal beers too?”  Sadly, at the time the answer was, “We don’t have them yet.”  Well, things are finally looking up as Paul from the Wine and Cheese Place just informed me that Avery’s Imperial IPA Maharaja is now available in St. Louis.  Here’s the description from Avery’s website:

Maharaja is derived from the sanskrit words mahat, - “great” and rajan - “king”. Much like its namesake, this imperial IPA is regal, intense and mighty. With hops and malts as his servants, he rules both with a heavy hand. The Maharaja flaunts his authority over a deranged amount of hops: tangy, vibrant and pungent along with an insane amount of malted barley - fashioning a dark amber hue and exquisite malt essence.

This newest Avery Dictator completes the “Dictator Series” joining the likes of The Kaiser & The Czar. Be aware that The Maharaja is a limited release only available for the summer. Welcome to his kingdom!

I’ve also been informed that we’ve only received 15 cases so far.  But there is no guarentee that more is on the way.  The easiest way to make that happen is to buy some as soon as possible.  Show Avery we love their product, that way we’re more likely to keep getting these limited releases.

You may remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned that Avery was now distributing in Missouri, but we in St. Louis hadn’t received anything yet. Well I’m here to tell you that Avery has arrived in St. Louis. Paul from the Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton has informed me that he received his shipment of Avery products from his distributor today. Mike from Lukas Liquor also let me know he has Avery in stock as well.

So rush out and get a 6 pack of Ellie Burge recommended Ellie’s Brown Ale today.

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.