With the 4th of July Holiday fast approaching I’ve begun deliberating about what beer I want to take to our annual event.  While this year it looks like we’re going to have mild (and maybe rainy) weather, you always need to consider the fact you’re going to be outside in the sun.  So usually things like stouts, porters and a lot of imperial beers are out of the running for me.

For the most part I’m not a big fan of American-style wheat beers like Schlafly “Hefe” and Boulevard Wheat.  Sure they make a fine lawnmower beer for some folks, but I still want a bit more flavor.   I think Dave and I are the same wavelength about wheat beers.  If I’m going for something cloudy and yellow, I want something with another depth of flavor, be it the spice of a Wit or clove/banana of a Weiss.

Fruit beers are another option.  I think too many beer nerds are too quick to dismiss fruit beers. Sure when they’re bad, they’re usually really bad.  But when they’re good, they can hold their own with some of the best beers out there.   The one concern about some fruit beers is that they can fall into the upper tier of the alcohol range sometimes.  Just something to consider.

What about the old stand-by beers, like Pale Ales, APAs or IPAs? Those are always decent choices, but I’ve never been a huge fan of bitter beers in the hot sun.  Beer should be refreshing in that environment and shouldn’t weigh you down too much with flavor.  That being said, I’ve become much more of a hophead in the past year so I may have to give them another go this year.

Well, enough babbling, what have I decided on?   Well, I’m still trying to decide and maybe some of you can throw out some things I may have forgotten about.  But at this point:

• Bell’s Two Hearte
• O’Fallon Wheach?  (I love it with a hot dog)
• Unibroue Apple Éphémère
• Hitachino Nest White Ale

What are your choices for celebrating this holiday?

Sorry about the late Round-Up, I’m currently in Kansas City for the Cards/Royals series. I plan on making a trip over to Boulevard and the Flying Saucer while I’m out here. Should be a blast. I’ll take lots of pictures. On to the Round-Up:

Stuff from around the web

• Some thoughts on last weekend’s Rhythm and Brews Festival.
• Q&A With Dan Kopman about Schlafly’s greeness.
• Bill comes back from Kentucky with quite a haul.
• You may have heard, but AB said “no thanks” to InBev.

Beer Releases and News

• Paul at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton alerts me to some new beers he has in stock at the Clayton and Rock Hill locations:
  • Mikkeller Jackie Brown
  • Coney Island Albino Python
  • Coney Island Sword Swallower
  • Unibroue 8 pack Sampler
  • Mendocino Cast of Hawks 12pk sampler
  • Duchesse de Bourgogne 25oz

Here’s a list of upcoming beer events:

• June 28 - Westport Beer and Brat Festival
• July 16 - Newstead Tower Public House Boulevard Beer Dinner

Sorry for the small Round-Up today, everything just seems relatively quiet on the beer front in St. Louis.

Stuff from around the web

• Neat write-up about the Rotten Apple.
• Don over at OatSoda reviews the Export IPA from Schlafly.
• If you’re Green and like beer, Schlafly is the place for you.
• More information on the upcoming Stable opening.
• CraftBrewRadio interviews Tom Schlafly.

Beer Releases and News

• Paul at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton alerts me to some new beers he has in stock at the Clayton and Rock Hill locations:
  • Hitachino Nest XH Matured in Sake Casks
  • Hitachino Nest Commemorative Ale
  • Thiriez Extra Dry Hopped French Farmhouse Ale
  • Inveralmond Brewery Blackfriar
  • Orkney Dragonhead Orcadian Stout
  • Mendocino White Summer Ale

Here’s a list of upcoming beer events:

• June 21 - Hermann’s Rhythm and Brews
• June 21 - Wine Stein and Dine
• June 28 - Westport Beer and Brat Festival
• July 16 - Newstead Tower Public House Boulevard Beer Dinner

If you’re not all festivaled (yes, I did just make up a word) out yet then Saturday, June 28th is your next chance to get yourself a sampler glass and enjoy some Missouri beer.  Westport Plaza is hosting a Beer and Brat Festival from Noon-6PM next Saturday to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.   Here is a list of the breweries who are attending:

• Schlafly
• Buffalo Brewing
• Anheuser-Busch
• Alandale
• Boulevard
• Griesedieck
• Gruhlke
• Ray Hill

Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 dollars at the door.  Not too many things go better together than beer and brats.

Iron Barley is celebrating not only their fifth anniversary, but also is kicking off the beginning of American Craft Beer Week with a party on May 10th. Now you may be saying to yourself, “Hey! That interferes with the Heritage Festival!” But not so fast, Iron Barley is providing a shuttle to the festival at 11AM and will pick you back up at 5PM. Here are some details for this event:

Celebrate Our 5 Year Anniversary

Saturday May 10th
Breakfast Buffet 9-11am
Shuttle Bus to Forest Park
For the Heritage Festival 11-5pm

Come Back to Iron Barley and enjoy Food and Sampling of The Boulevard Smokestack Series. And meet with Ray Hill!

Live Music by:
The Line Men
Melody Den
The Transmitters and More….

Well, it looks like we have another cool Saturday in store just in time for another beer event. But that never keeps us beer nerds down, we always persevere. Here’s the Round-Up:

Stuff from around the web

• The Los Angeles Times discusses the high price of beer costs and gets Stephen Hale’s good side in the process.
• Kevin Adams from the blog Spectre’s Sayings provides his thoughts on Schlafly 15.
• Granite City Food & Brewery keeps opening stores and losses keep getting bigger.
• The Beer Evangelists review one of my favorite local beers, the Schlafly APA.

Beer Releases and News

• Andrew from Bon Vivant Wines informs me to some new beers he has in his stock:
  • Founder’s Rubaeus
  • DFH Aprihop
  • Jolly Pumkin Calabaza Blanca
  • Two Brother’s Monarch White
  • Hofbrau Maibock
• Paul at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton alerts me to some new beers he has in stock:
  • Boulevard Smokestack Series
  • Bud Light Lime
  • Schlafly Export IPA
  • Mahr’s Weisse
  • Hopback Summer Lightning
  • Wychwood Scarecrow
  • Nethergate Old Growler
• Ric at Sybergs on Gravois alerts me to some new beers he’s carrying for your drinking enjoyment:
  • O’Fallon - Wheach
  • O’Fallon - 5 Day IPA
• Jerad Gardner, of the Rotten Apple lets me know about his most current draught selection. If you haven’t been to the Rotten Apple, take the time to visit:
  • Lagunitas Brewing - IPA
  • Dogfish Head Brewing - 60 min IPA
  • Founders Brewing - Centennial IPA
  • Two Brothers Brewing - Cane and Ebel
• Chris at Randall’s Wine & Spirits alerts me to some new beers sets he has in stock at the Fairview Heights Randall’s:
  • Fort Collins Double Choc.Stout
  • Pyramid Curveball
  • Lost Coast Indica IPA
  • Boulder Sweaty Betty Blonde
  • Left Hand Sawtooth ESB
  • Avery Collabaration Not Litigation
  • Avery Maharaja IPA
  • De Ranke Xx Bitter
  • Schlafly Export IPA
• Chris is also expecting these beers in today at the St. Louis Randall’s:
  • Boulevard Smokestack Series
  • Schlafly Export IPA
  • Southern Tier Un-Earthly IPA
  • Southern Tier Uber Sun
  • Southern Tier Hoppe
  • Wittekerke Beer
  • Fort Collins Mix 12 pk

Here’s a list of upcoming beer events:

• May 3 - National Homebrew Day
• May 8, 9, 10 - St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival

MC from Lukas Liquor emailed to inform me that Boulevard’s Smokestack series is now available at Lukas Liquor. I had a post earlier this month detailing the information for all 4 Smokestack beers. I’ve also heard a rumor (so take it for what it is, a rumor) that Boulevard may stop producing the Double-Wide IPA as the hop shortage is causing some pricing issues, so that may be a keeper if you buy it.

Late Breaking Info: Paul from Wine and Cheese Place informed me that the Rock Hill location has the beers in stock and Clayton will get them in tomorrow.

If you had a chance to attend any beer festivals last summer that Boulevard Brewery participated in, you may have had the opportunity to try some of their bigger beers that were previously only available if your took the Boulevard Brewery tour. Well, back in November of 2007 Boulevard finally released these beers labeled as the Smokestack Series in 750ml bottled. Unfortunately demand overtook supply and these beers were only available in the Kansas City metro area, until now..

Now that things have settled down a bit and these beers are scheduled to arrive in St. Louis in early May. If you’re not familiar with these beers, read over the press sheets below:

I should also note that the beers will be available to taste at The Wine and Cheese Place’s 2008 Beerfest.

For those of you who haven’t quite yet made dinner plans for Valentine’s Day, let me remind you of Newstead Tower Pub’s Boulevard beer dinner.  I was just send a copy of the menu for your perusal: