If you’re looking at wanting to start judging beers or if you just want to have a greater understanding of the process of making and tasting beer, the Beer Judge Certification Program offers a great amount of information on the art of brewing. The St. Louis Brews homebrewing club will be offering a class to prepare you for the BJCP exam next January. If you have any questions about the classes, please contact Bob Beckmann “bbeckmann@missourienterprise.org” 314-608-7590, or Dan Stauder “president@sltbrews.org” 314-517-1121. Here’s the information about the classes:

BJCP Exam Class - This class is for anyone who is interested in studying and preparing for the BJCP exam. The class is open to anyone of any skill level (member of the Brews or not), as long as you have an interest in beer and would like to take the exam.

The class is taught by the students. As a student, you will be assigned a beer topic or two which you will research and present to the rest of the class. This will be something like “hops” or “mashing” or “recipe development”, etc.

Each student will also be assigned one or two beer styles. Again, the student will need to research that style in depth and present the information to the rest of the class. Included in this presentation will be samples of classic commercial examples which the class will taste and comment on.

More…If you take this class, it is assumed that you will be present to “teach” your topics, and it is assumed that you will take the exam.

Each class meeting will be supervised by someone who is an experienced brewer with substantial knowledge in the areas of discussion and who has already passed the BJCP exam. Read the rest…

Tags: beer, beer styles, bjcp, Homebrewing, judging, tap room

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the 2nd Annual St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival takes place this weekend. This festival was started last year to not only honor the longstanding brewing traditions of St. Louis but to also gather together the area’s brewers and showcase all of the talent we have in the area.

• The kick-off to this Festival begins this evening with a 5-course VIP dinner co-hosted by The Food Network celebrity chef Dave Lieberman and festival brewmasters.
• Friday begins with a new session, the “Business Man’s Special” which runs from Noon-4PM. This $50 event will not only allow you first crack at all of the festival beers, but the price also includes food as well.
• The grounds re-open on Friday for a session that runs from 6 - 10 p.m. and again Saturday, May 10, from noon - 4 p.m. and 6 - 10 p.m. Tickets for the Friday evening session and Saturday events cost $30 per person ($35 day of the events, so get your tickets now).
• This year will see a slight change (for the better in my opinion) of three tasting tents, instead of last year’s two. The three tents will be devoted to Ales, Lagers and also Specialty Beers.
• Restaurants participating in this year’s Festival are all from the St. Louis Originals group. Companion Bakery, Harvest, LoRusso’s Cucina, SqWires and Vin de Set have all created dishes designed to compliment the more than 70 beer styles available at the event.
• Not only will you be able to taste beer from 8 local breweries, but this year you’ll also have the chance to sample beers from a number of area homebrewers.
• The Heritage Festival Dark Lager recipe is back again this year, but we’re also privy to try Augie Altenbaumer’s Rye American Pale Ale recipe this year as well. The Suburban Journal recently featured an article on Augie and his beer, be sure to check it out.

The weather is looking wonderful for the weekend (a change over the last few weekends) with clear skies and 70°. It’s seriously looking like this year will be even better than last year. I’ll be attending tonight’s dinner, the Saturday Afternoon Session and maybe be attending part of the Friday Afternoon and Evening Session as well. I promise to provide plenty of pictures and hopefully a few interviews as well.

I’ve been sick as a dog these past few days, so it’s not surprising that Bill got the jump on me in regards to this story.

A state lawmaker wants to give the “King of Beers” its own kingdom by making Budweiser the official beer of Missouri.

“We’ve got a state dinosaur, a state frog, a state reptile, a state flower, a state nut, but no one has given a thought to a company that’s been in Missouri for many, many years and is bringing prosperity to our state and manufacturing a product in our state that many people enjoy,” Dougherty said.

Call it apathy, but my reaction to this is “eh.”  A Beer Advocate member suggested that Missouri BAers may want to “fight this” and I ask why?  I really don’t think it’s the big of a deal.  Let’s face facts, when people think of Missouri and more specifically, St. Louis, they usually think of Anheuser-Busch.  It’s the largest single brewery in the world (no, that conglomerate of breweries called InBev doesn’t count in my mind) and while it may not produce my favorite style of beer they do an amazing job of producing it.  I’ve mentioned this before, and I’m sure to do it again, but the American Style Lager that AB produces is one of the most difficult beers to make.  The fact they do it on such a large scale is really, really impressive.

I guess Bill’s bigger issue with this is the fact this State Representative is wasting tax payer time and money worrying about a “State Beer”, to which I have no argument.  (Plus, Bill’s been pretty cranky as of recent.)  I think William from Year of Beer has the best solution yet:

I think make the state beer American Lager, would be a fine idea. Not directly promoting any company, but still paying tribute to the best selling beer in America that is head quartered in St. Louis.

That’s a brilliant solution.  Not only do you give love to our St. Louis beer brewing giant, but you also get people thinking about beer styles as well as the history of beer.  Anyone interested in starting up a letter writing campaign?

If you don’t know your ales from your lagers or maybe you’re looking for a little refresher, then this class is for you. The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton will be holding a class on April 7th dedicated to beer and beer styles.

Learn the different styles and types of Beer. Beer has really developed in the past 10 years. There are more than 500 beers available in St. Louis now and there are many different styles.

Reservations required….314-727-8788

This event is $20 dollars and is sure to fill quick. I’ll probably see you there.