While we’ve seen more and more beers hitting St. Louis shelves as of recent, I’ve heard of a few that we won’t be seeing any time soon:

Bells - Java Stout and Sparkling Ale: Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing these two seasonals on store shelves this year as they’re being retired.  According to Bell’s rep Jim O’Connor both beers are being retired due to raw material issues.  But all is not bleak, we will see a return of Hell Hath No Fury to the St. Louis area along with a new Christmas Ale.

Founders Devil Dancer:  While we’ve all tried to weathered through the hop shortages this year here’s a victim that cuts straight through my heart.  Founders has announced that we will not be seeing their triple IPA Devil Dancer on shelves this winter.  On the plus side, Founders has expanded their capacity which means we’ll be seeing more of the beers we love so dearly (Red’s Rye) and hopefully more of the special seasonals they put out as well (Kentucky Breakfast Stout.)

Newstead Tower Public House is hosting another in their line of monthly beer dinners with this dinner featuring selections from Bell’s Brewery. Also attending this event will be Bell’s representative James O’Connor & Sales Manager Marty Compton. The date of the dinner is August 20th at 7PM. The cost of this event is $40 and reservations are required. You can make reservations by calling 314-535-7771.

For a long time the St. Louis area has had to endure a world without draught Bell’s beer.  It looks like out metro-wide nightmare is over.  Dave from Beer, Wine and Whiskey is reporting that Bell’s Oberon has been sighted at the Central West End location of Llywellyn’s Pub.  While Oberon may not be my favorite beer in the world, does this mean that beers such as Two Hearted (which may be one of my favorite beers in the world) will be far behind?  Let’s hope not.

Last May, Bill had planned a trip to Michigan to run a marathon so he could qualify for the 2008 Boston Marathon. While there, he decided to take a trip to visit Bell’s Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo. When he came back, he brought along some beer with him. One of these beers was the Consecrator Doppelbock. I remember it being this wonderfully malty, clean bock with a slight bit of sweetness. It was a really wonderful beer.

Well, I was just made aware that the Doppelbock has reached St. Louis and is now in stock at the Wine and Cheese Shop in Clayton and Rock Hill. Make sure to pick this one up and try it out for yourself. If it was a wonderful beer in May, it’ll be even better in February.

Thanks to Paul from the Wine and Cheese Place for alerting me.  Bell’s seasonal Hopslam will be available tomorrow in St. Louis.  Only 60 cases have arrived in St. Louis, so all of you lupulus lovers better get some quick because you know this one will be sure to go fast.

Here’s a quick commercial description:

A biting, bitter, tongue bruiser of an ale. With a name like Hopslam, what did you expect? O.G.: 1.095, IBUs: 70, 10%ABV

Paul over at the Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton alerts me to a Bell’s limited release that made it’s way into St. Louis, Bell’s Sparkling Ale. Here’s what Bell’s has to say about it:

Fill your glass and toast your friends with this special brew. Our take on a “glass of the bubbly,” Sparkling Ale is an American Triple - light in color with a subtle fruit body.

Only 56 cases arrived in St. Louis, so this is one that’s sure to sell out quickly. Paul also informed me that 5 liter mini-kegs of Two-Hearted ale arrived as well. If you’ve never had it, Two-Hearted is one of the best IPAs in America. This is the perfect beer to bring to one of your upcoming holiday parties.

If you’ve been paying attention to this site, you know this was a pretty eagerly awaited event for both Bill and I. Bill is a big Bell’s fan and I was looking for drinking some beers and eating with friends.

When we arrived I was happy to see that we were not the only ones who were looking forward to this event. While I wouldn’t have called it a sell-out, it was definitely a full house. We were fortunate to be seated next to the owners of Sugaree Baking Company and also a chef from L’Ecole Culinaire, this provided not only interesting conversation but also the ability to bounce our thoughts on the dishes to each other.

Roasted beets (tossed with herb goat cheese and beet reduction) with Bell’s Winter Wheat Bell’s Third Coast Beer.

This dish was originally supposed to paired with Bell’s Winter Wheat. Unfortunately Mangia couldn’t get the beer in time and a Third Coast substitute was brought in at the last moment. This was a bit of a disappointment as Bill and I were interested in seeing how the spice of the Winter Wheat would pair with this salad. The hoppiness of the Third Coast seemed to almost fight the delicate nature of the dish. I enjoyed both the dish and the beer on their own, but they didn’t seem to pair well together.

Seared sea scallops (over butternut soup butternut risotto) & Amber Ale

This was my standout pairing of the evening. I found that the soft flavors of the scallop and risotto melded quite beautifully with the Amber Ale. Many American Ambers often skew toward being overly hoppy, but this one was well balanced which I think is what helped make this such an excellent pairing. My only complaint about this dish was that the risotto was a tad overcooked yet the squash seemed undercooked to me.

Pan-fried pork medallions (w/ braised apples and greens) & Pale Ale

Unfortunately after what I thought was an almost picture perfect pairing, it was followed up with my least favorite dish of the evening. I hesitate to judge the pairing as I didn’t really enjoy the pork very much. It seemed kind of spongy and lacked any real chew or texture.

Smoked chicken tortellini (w/ black mole sauce) & Porter

This dish is the one that caught my eye when I read the menu the first time. I really enjoyed how well the smokiness of the chicken melded with the mole sauce and paired nicely with the porter.

I’ll be honest, at this point I was getting pretty full. I appreciate the portions that Mangia provided us for this event, but if they could have trimmed them down slightly I think I would have made it a bit more comfortable down the stretch.

Beef stew (w/ caramelized onions and spaetzle) & Kalamazoo Stout

I guess I was a bit confused when this dish arrived. I had a preconceived notion of what to expect for beef stew and this wasn’t at all what I was expecting. It seemed more like a ragu, it was very tomato-y. The beer did pair pretty well with the dish. I thought that bitterness of the stout provided a nice contrast to the bright tomato flavors.

Brown sugar and almond bread pudding (w/ housemade ice cream) & Cherry Stout

This was Bill Burge’s favorite dish of the night, the vanilla ice cream and the bread pudding were very delicious. Unfortunately I don’t think they paired very well with the Cherry Stout. The sweetness cherries almost seem to overtake the pudding and make everything a bit too sweet. This is another dish in which I enjoyed the beer and food separately, but not paired together. I would have rather seen the Kalamazoo Stout or Porter in the final spot where the bitterness of the beer would compliment the sweetness of the dish.

Overall for 50 dollars it was a lot of good food and beer. Most importantly it was a great time, we all had a lot of fun and met some really great people. I’m looking forward to the next beer dinner and also going back to Mangia (they have a really good beer selection!)