Irene and I made our way down to the newest Amalgamated Brewing venture, The Stable, for Saturday night’s grand opening. I’ve been to a few grand openings as of recent and for the most part they’re usually low-key events. The opening of The Stable was anything but. We walked in and the place was packed, filled to the brim with people either waiting to get a beer or waiting to get a table.

The Stable
1821 Cherokee Street (Map It)
St Louis, MO 63118
(314) 771-8500

Beer

If The Stable doesn’t win some sort of award next year for best beer selection in a restaurant in one of the local magazines, I may just have to give up hope for this town. The devotion to beer that everyone involved with The Stable has is just mindblowing. With over 20 hand-picked draught choices and another 15 in bottles, The Stable proves that having the largest selection doesn’t necessary mean you have the best selection. Two other extremely encouraging tidbits I picked up was that this will be a rotating selection, so that beer you had on your first visit may not be there on the second. Also, they’ve made the promise that you’ll see no beer with the word “Light” in the name.

Food:

Not content with just pizza and beer, The Stable offers a full line of sandwiches and also some interesting starters. I had the steak special and Irene tried the cajun carbonara. While my steak was cooked perfectly to temperature, I found it a bit tough and not very moist. But I was in the mood for beef so it satisfied my craving. Irene’s carbonara was the winning dish between our two. The spiciness of the andouille helped to balance the richness of the cream sauce. The pasta itself was also very well received as it still had a bit of chew to the noodles, almost just shy of al dente.

Intangibles:

This place is pretty gorgeous. If you’ve ever been to the Lemp Mansion you’ll know that it’s almost like stepping back in time to when the mansion was full of Lemps. The Stable does a good job of taking a lot of the feel from the Lemp Mansion and continuing it in this new spot. The updated wood features along with some of the other features keeps you in a very particular mindset. Irene couldn’t stop looking around and saying “wow.” They also feature a “patio” area featuring a second bar which seems less finished and much more sparse. I’ll be interested to see if it gets updated as well.

I’m really excited about the future of The Stable, some time to work out some opening kinks I think it could quickly become the best beer restaurant in St. Louis. Let’s hope that the crowds I saw on opening night think the same as me and keep filling the place up.

I shouldn’t have been shocked when Jared Gardner, the beverage manager for the Rotten Apple, sent me over an another beer list for The Stable that also included bottles, but I was pretty bowled over. Not only will they have an impressive draught list, but some great bottle beers as well. The Stable is open for bar service now and will be opening full service either Friday or Saturday from what I’ve been hearing. Give them a call to find out for sure. Oh and Jared also let me in on a little surprise, see if you can find it in this new list:

Draught

• Schlafly Schwarzbier
• North Coast Scrimshaw Pils
• Reissdorf Kolsch
• North Coast Red Seal Ale
• Hoegaarden
• Duchesse De Bourgogne
• Lefthand Milk Stout
• North Coast Old Rasputin
• Sleeman Cream Ale
• Unibroue Maudite
• O’Fallon 5 Day
• La Chouffe
• Kasteel Rouge
• Bell’s Two Hearted
• Arcadia Hopmouth
• Ayinger Brau-weisse
• Bell’s Oberon
• Schalfly Hefe
• Kostritzer Black Lager

Bottles

• Great Divide Hercules
• Great Divide Yeti
• Chimay Grande Reserve
• Southern Tier Unearthly Imperial IPA
• Hebrew Brewing Lenny’s RIPA
• Unibroue La Fin Du Monde
• Weihenstephan Brewing Hefe
• Rogue Brewing Shakespeare Stout
• Rogue Brewing Imperial Pale Ale
• New Belgium Fat Tire
• Cantillion Iris
• Boulevard Brewing Double Wide IPA
• Budweiser
• Miller High Life
• Stag

The Stable the newest location from the people who brought you the Rotten Apple will be opening in just a few weeks.  Not only will they be brewing their own beer and distilling their own alcohol but they’ll also have a fine selection of draught beer as well.  I was just given the list and I have to say I’m pretty excited:

Reissdorf Kolsch
O’Fallon 5 Day ipa
Old Rasputin
Michelob
Schlafly Hefe
Red Seal
Stag
La Chouffe
Kasteel Rouge
Scrimshaw Pils
Hopmouth
Hoegarden
Maudite
Schlafly Export IPA
Duchesse De Bourgogne
Left Hand Milk Stout
Charleville Half Wit Wheat

This is a pretty exciting list with a couple of beers I’ve personally never seen draught in St. Louis.  Nice to see another place in the area that is giving beer the love it deserves.

I may have taken far too long to get the post on The Scottish Arms up, but I won’t make the same mistake twice. We attended the opening of The Shaved Duck on Thursday evening and I implore you to visit. Not only do you get a wonderful dining experience in an upscale but laid back restaurant, but you get a great selection of American craft beers.

The Shaved Duck
2900 Virginia Ave (Map It)
St. Louis, MO 63118
(314) 776-1407

Beer: I’ll be honest, I can’t quite say enough good things about the beer selection. But one thing I want to get straight first, in the lead up to the opening of the Shaved Duck, Allie (the owner) called to ask for my thoughts on a beer list. Looking back on my post, it looks like I had something to do with the beer list as it is now. I just want to say, Patrick and Allie didn’t need my help in the least. They had done a great job of choosing a lot of the beers before I ever got there. I don’t want to take credit for something that I don’t deserve.

Anyway, now that I’ve got that off my chest, the beer menu is a varied at it is affordable. I didn’t see a single 12oz bottle over 6 dollars and not a single 750ml for over 10 dollars. I had a draught 20oz glass of Unibroue’s Maudite for $5.00. Let that sink in for a couple of seconds. $5.00?! I don’t think I’ve seen a draught Unibroue for less than $6.00 anywhere in St. Louis. Especially not one with a 20oz pour. I posted the list about a month ago, but it has changed slightly, as any good beer list should.

Food:

The Shaved Duck offers a numerous amount of small plates (one of my favorite ways of dining) and a few entrées as well. We tried the duck fat frites and the scallop wraped bacon to start. Both were very tasty. The frites were nice and light but still contained enough fat to remind you that they’re fries. Too often I find that potatoes cut this small become something similar to French’s French Fried Onions. The ketchup paired with the fries provided just enough vinegar to cut down on the sweetness of the tomatoes. The scallop wrapped bacon was a bit of a surprise as we originally read it to be bacon wrapped scallop. The wonderful part of the bacon remaining inside of the scallop was that the smokiness of the bacon didn’t overpower the dish and allowed the sweetness of the scallop to come through.

Both entrées were well prepared, though we were both a bit concerned that the dishes seemed very “wintery” and we’re quickly approaching summer. Nevertheless I’m rarely going to turn down a dish offering marrow and the didn’t disappoint. Irene’s pork was pleasant with the fennel pairing very well with the orange glaze, but the pork could have used a bit more salt to balance the sweetness of the glaze. The desert similar to The Scottish Arm’s wonderful bread pudding but with the addition of dried cherries and coco nibs. Irene found the cherries a bit boozy, but after 3 9% beers, I was completely down with them.

Intangibles:

I think one of the things I enjoyed most about The Shaved Duck was it felt very warm and upscale, but never came across as pretentious. It’s very laid back and never makes you feel like they’re pretending to be something they’re not. The staff was very personable, but there were obviously some opening night jitters and mishaps. But I was very impressed how well things were handled for a restaurant making it’s debut.

I can’t say enough good things about my experience at the Shaved Duck. If I have a few quibbles it’s that the price for a few of the small plates was a bit high (for instance, $9 for a single scallop) but otherwise it was a completely enjoyable experience and made me wish I lived closed to Pestalozzi Street.

I just received word from Scottish Arms owner Ally Nisbet that the Shaved Duck will be officially open for business on Thursday, May 1st at 5PM.  If you haven’t been following STL Hops, the Shaved Duck will be offering nothing but North American beers from some of the best craft breweries in the continent.  Here’s a write up from March detailing the Shaved Duck’s beer list.

You can make reservations for dinner by calling 314-776-1407.  But Ally says that if you can’t make it in for dinner, feel free to stop by and get a pint of beer!

The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton will be holding their Second Annual Beerfest tomorrow. In anticipation for the event, Paul Hayden sent over the preliminary beer list. This festival will be featuring over 100 beers to taste (including some not on the list!) Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to attend, so if someone wants to take some pictures, I’d appreciate it.

Bells Expedition Stout
Bells Porter
Fullers Vintage Ale 2007
Fischer Amber
Murphys Irish Stout
Konig Ludwig Weiss
Rogue Chipolte Ale
Orval Trappist
Flying Dog Double Dog
Grimbergen Dubbel
Grimbergen Blonde
Rochefort “8″
Rochefort “10″
Odell’s Imperial Stout
Abita Turbodog
Belhavens Twisted Thistle IPA
Fuller’s ESB
Lindemans Pomme

OMMEGANG:
Witte
Hennepin Saison
Rare VOS
Three Philosphers

Avery:
Collaboration not Litigation
The Reverend
Hog Heaven
Salvation
Samael’s Oak Aged
Czar Imperial Stout
Twelve Saison Ale

Chimay “Red” Premiere
Chimay Cinq Cents
Chimay “Blue” Grand Reserve Toohey’s New
Barons ESB
Barons Black Wattle
Carlsberg Elephant
Estrella Damm 79

Great Divide:
Old Ruffian Barley Wine
Denver Pale Ale DPA

Left Hand:
Milk Stout
Polestar Pilsner
Deep Cover Brown
Juju Ginger
Southern Tier
Imperial Hoppe
Imperial Red Ale Big Red
Belgian Style Tripel
Imperial Uber Sun
Imperial IPA Un*earthly

Delirium Tremens
Aecht Schlenkerla Rauch Wheat
Arcadia Hopmouth
Arcadia Whitsun
Brasserie de Roc Blanche Dubel
De Proef La Grande Blanche
Gouden Carolus 2007
PranQster
Fort Collins Major Tom’s Wheat
St. Feuillen Triple
Blanche de Namur
Kasteel Rouge
Brigand
Klaster Czech
Kapuziner Schwarz Weizen
Monschoff Kellerbrau
Moosbacher Schwarz Weiss
Dorothy Goodbody Our Glass
North Coast Le Merle Saison
Hitachino Weizen
Sinebrychoff Porter
J.W. Lees Moonraker
St. Bernardus Prior 8

O’Fallon Table:
Wheach
Smoked Porter
Oak Aged-Buffalo Trace
Oak Aged Pappy Van Winkle 23
5-Day IPA

Boulevard Smokestack Series:
The Sixth Glass Long Strange Tripel
Double Wide India Pale Ale
Saison Bottle Conditioned

Stag Beer
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Lone Star
Old Style

Grey Eagle Table:
Shocktop
Ray Hill’s Pilsner
Hoegaarden
Land Shark Lager
Goose Island IPA

I meant to write this up quite a while ago, but I’ve just gotten busy as of recent. So, I apologize to Ally and Patrick for not getting this up sooner. I’m guessing they’re far too busy with the Shaved Duck to even care! Also, let me apologize for the oft blurry pictures. I usually take 3 or 4 shots of something to make sure I have a good one. But all of these photos stunk.

The Scottish Arms
6-10 South Sarah Street (Map It)
St. Louis, Missouri 63108-2819
(314) 535-0551

Beers: This wouldn’t be much of a Scottish pub if they didn’t feature beer and scotch, now would it? One of the first things you notice when you look over the Scottish Arms beer list is not only the big selection of English, Irish, Scottish and domestic beers, but also how reasonable the prices are. All draught beers are 20oz and all and except one are $5.50 a pint. I’ll provide the whole list of beers after the jump at the bottom of the post.

Food: Not only does the Scottish Arms offer tradition pub food such as Bangers and Mash and Fish and Chips (the fish breading is made with 6 different types of beer!) but more upscale fare as well.

Intangibles: I’ve never been to Europe (one of these days I’ll make it happen) but when I walked into the Scottish Arms it just felt like the UK Pubs of my imagination. It’s a warm and inviting place with people that truly care about beer.

Be sure you view the full beer list after the jump. Read the rest…

I received an email from Dan Kopman, the VP of St. Louis Brewery last week and I thought it posed an interested thought, what’s my ultimate list of local beers? Here’s the email:

Just a quick thought (run on sentence to follow). I saw a posting about your perfect beer list or something like that. Moving on from that idea and as a big believer (instilled in my beer DNA from my early days at Young’s in London) that freshness is the key and that locally made is the key to freshness, what would be your perfect list for a bar with say 4 to 6 taps and then some bottles, of locally made beer including what AB makes in StL? I ask this with Heritage Fest approaching and many retailers looking to feature local beers during that week.

I thought this was a clever idea and really gave me something to ponder. Unfortunately a lot of my local favorites are seasonal so I’ll actually be making two lists, the first list will be of beers that are available year round and the other list will be comprised of my favorite local beers. Also remember, I made these choices based on beers that are actually distributed in St. Louis just so people don’t think I was looking to shun local craft brewpubs. The lists are after the jump. Read the rest…

A couple of months ago I received an email from Ally Nisbet, the owner of the Scottish Arms, thanking me for mentioning The Shaved Duck. The real shocking part to me was when Ally asked me to come by the Scottish Arms some time and talk about the beer list for the Shaved Duck. So on a cold Tuesday evening a few weeks ago, we (Ally, myself and one of Ally’s right hand men, Patrick Thomas) got together had some beers and discussed ideas for the new restaurants beer list.

They wanted their beer list to feature North American craft breweries. I thought this was a genius idea. America is one of the only beer brewing countries in the world that features all of the different styles of the world. Only in America will you find beers from German-style Pilsners to Belgian-style ales. It was a concept I was extremely excited about and couldn’t wait to see what kind of list they’d come up with. Without further ado, here’s the (very large) list after the jump:
Read the rest…