Brandt’s Cafe, in the University City Loop, will be putting on a Beer Festival every Saturday this March.  Brandt’s will be offering up over 80 different beers from around the globe to try each Saturday including 25 different Belgian beers.

This will be taking place on March 13th, 20th, and 27th of this month from 12-5PM.  Don’t currently have a list of what beers they’ll be trying, but I’ll see if I can get one soon.

Each session will cost $30 per person with a pre-paid reservation or  $35 at the door.  This entitles you to unlimited 3oz samples during the 12-5PM tasting. Call 314-954-2326 for more details.

Last year was a year of firsts for the St. Louis beer scene.  For instance, it brought us the inaugural St. Louis Centennial Beer Festival.  Well, the creators of last year’s festival have up the ante this year with an entire weekend of events all centered around beer.

Here’s a look at what’s going on for the 2010 St. Louis Centennial Beer Festival which will be taking place the weekend of January 29th-January 31st:

Friday 1/29/10
Brewmaster Dinner - 6-9pm (Tickets $59)
Includes beer, food and service.

Join George Reisch, fifth generation brewmaster, president of Master Brewers Association of America and director of brewmaster outreach for Anheuser Busch as we taste a wide portfolio of beers paired with our meal.
Working together with Mr. Reisch, the Moulin chefs will prepare a phenomenal five course meal that will inspire and inform. This is an encore event and sold out quickly last time.

Saturday 1/30/10
Beer Tasting - 6-9pm (Tickets $25)
The second year will feature more than 60 beers to taste, live entertainment by Swing Cat Swing and food to purchase. Guests will receive a complimentary tasting glass and be treated to some of the best selection and widest variety of beers from around the world.

VIP Tasting Room – 6-7:15pm or 7:45-9pm ( Tickets Additional $10)
You have probably noticed that there are more and more ultra-premium beers hitting the market and for the price of a couple of bottles, you can enjoy a seventy five minute open tasting. The number of tickets are limited so that everyone will have an opportunity to taste and discuss the portfolio of high end specialty beers. Please indicate session 1 or 2 when purchasing your ticket.

Beer Makers Discussions – 6-9pm (Included with standard ticket)
New this year, throughout the evening we will invite beer experts to discuss a wide variety of topics with a question and answer period. It is a great way to introduce your self to the like minded beer aficionados and pick their brain on a wide variety of topics. Schedule and topics to be announced.

Sunday 1/31/10
Brunch and Pub Bus - 12-4:30pm (Tickets $70)
No better way to follow up Saturday then with a strong cup of coffee, brunch and a trip to the breweries.
Your day begins with brunch at Vin de Set. Once you eat your fill, you will board transportation that will visit three local breweries and get the inside tour from the local operators.

As an added bonus, our on bus tour guide will be Donald Roussin, who has visited every known brewery site within 150 miles, is co-author of St. Louis Brews – 200 Years of Brewing, and an avid collector of St. Louis area brewery collectibles. Specialty beer from the night before will be available for sale in mixed six packs. This is a must for the local brewery lover. Tickets are limited so purchase them soon. Brunch, transportation and beer tastings at three breweries are included

Tickets for all of the events are available by calling 314-241-4949 or by visiting the Moulin Events website. Sounds like a great way to spend a weekend in St. Louis.

For those of you that need the final push to purchase tickets for the Schlafly Fresh Hop Ale Festival, here’s the list of beers that will be available at the event:

Amalgamated
Harvest Pale Ale—An American-style Pale Ale with a large flavor addition of wet Amarillo hops. The wort was passed through the hop back packed with the wet Amarillo hops to extract and better retain the super-fresh hop character that results from using fresh, wet hops. (5.5 ABV)
Harvest Zoigl—This rare beer is a bready, malty lager with only a delicate hop flavor. Zoigl is a communal beer from the Oberpfalz region in Germany. Using these wet hops was a natural fit for a beer that focuses on the floral nature of the hops. (5% ABV)

Augusta/Square One
Hop Harvest—Our IPA is brewed with 2 Row, Crystal 40 and flaked barley, along with Perle, Golding, Cascade and Amarillo hops. 30lbs of fresh Amarillo hops were added to the fermenter for additional flavor and aroma. 2009 Augusta Bottoms Beer Festival, Favorite Festival Beer

Mattingly
Hop Seeker American Strong Ale—Our Hop Seeker is an American Strong Ale brewed with large doses of Magnum, Chinook, Ahtanum and freshly picked whole leaf Amarillo hops added to our hopback (built just for this beer), and is kept balanced by Pale Ale, Munich, Special B Malts and raw cane sugar. Hopheads, you have found what you seek. (8% ABV, 50 IBUs)

Morgan Street
Morgan Street Fresh Hop Lager—61 IBUs of Cascade hops make this pale lager intensely bitter. 30 pounds of fresh, wet Amarillo hops were added to the whirlpool and give a complex, grassy character. Finished with 8 more pounds of Cascade whole cone hops in the serving tank, this is one beer strictly for the hop lover. (61 IBUs)

O’Fallon
Extra Pale Ale—2-Row 82%, Munich 10L 12%, Caramel 20L 6%, Kolsch Yeast—30 lbs of Amarillo wet hops added at the end of boil in the hop back for that straight off the vine taste.

Schlafly
Tap Room Hop Harvest Ale—Brewed with Centennial and Cascade hops, then wet-hopped with 30 lbs of Amarillo fresh hops. Beer has a fruity, peachy quality and is very refreshing. (6% ABV 45 IBUs)
Bottleworks Fresh Hop Ale—An American Pale Ale style that is dry-hopped and wet-hopped. The wet hops include Amarillo hops and the dry hops include Amarillo, Sorachi Ace, and Cascade hops. These hops combine to give it a very floral hop aroma with touches of many different kinds on citrus. (5.4% ABV 44IBUs)

The Monsters of Beer Festival is happening next Saturday, October 24th at the The Stable. Just to get your taste buds a salivating, he’s a preliminary list of beers that should be available at the festival:

• Arcadia Brewing Hop Rocket
• Founders Breakfast Stout
• Goose Island Bourbon County Stout 08
• Peche Mortel
• North Coast Brother Thelonious
• Lost Continent
• North Coast Barrel Aged Rasputin
• Kasteel Tripel
• Amalgamated Brewing Imperial IPA
• Left Hand Twin Sister
• New Holland Night Tripper
• Southern Tier Pumpking
• Schlafly Imperial Stout Cask
• Southen Tier Cuvee 2
• Bells Cherry Stout
• Bells Third Coast Old Ale
• Boulevard Doppelbock
• Founders Harvest
• Bells Expedition Stout
• Bells Double Cream Stout
• The last 5 have yet to be determined.

It’s a spooky time of year and so The Stable brings back the Monsters of Beer festival.  On October 24th from 1PM-4PM, your $25 dollar ticket allows you to taste fifteen different 3oz pours of some monster beers with a commemorative glass. Only 175 tickets are being sold for this event, so you should buy them as soon as you can from The Stable or The Rotten Apple.

I don’t have the beer list for this event just yet, but I’m hoping to have it soon.

I said something similar last year, but I’ll say it again. If beer drinking was a sport, than to me Schlafly’s Hop in the City always feels like the beginning of a new season. It feels like the kick-off to a new year of beer and beer festivals and this kick-off never seems to disappoint.

I’m sure we can all see how much I loved the festival beer.  A few suggestions for next year are that I would look at different pouring configuration in the large tent.  As we all know, too many people congregate near the pouring areas and there wasn’t a lot of room on the east side of the large tent.  Also, maybe some signage about, “Get you beer, then move your rear.”

If you were unable to attend, here are a few photos of the festival which will hopefully tide you over until next year:

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Growlers Pub in Creve Couer will be throwing their first outdoor celebration titled Blues, Brews and BBQ on Saturday, August 1st from 12PM-6PM.  Not sure about what beers will be available for the event, but $35 for live music and all you can eat and drink is a pretty sweet deal.