Who’s ready for rain and cold and Indiana beer tomorrow?! When this event was announced a few months ago I thought to myself, “Finally, a nice warm month to enjoy some great beer with other beer enthusiasts.” And of course Mother Nature decided to give us another Cabin Fever but with the added bonus of rain. But we’ll get the last laugh, all of that CO2 from the beer has to go somewhere! Take that Nature!

Stuff from around the web

• In case you missed the Repeal of Prohibition Toast at the Tap Room because you wanted to sleep, there’s video here.
• You may or may not have seen the list of Top 50 Breweries in America by sales for 2007.
• Here are some other very interesting stats about craft brewing in the US.
• A review of the Schlafly Pilsner has been added to Beer Review Online.
• Sam Adams recalled a boatload of beer due to glass shards in some of the bottles.

Beer Releases and News

• Paul at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton alerts me to some new beers he has in stock:
  • Bass Pub Cans
  • Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat
  • Left Hand Polestar Pilsner (Bottled on 04/09/08!)
  • Left Hand Jackman’s Pale Ale
  • Left Hand Deep Cover Brown Ale
• Ric at Sybergs on Gravois alerts me to some new beers he’s carrying for your drinking enjoyment:
  • Rogue - Hazelnut Brown Nectar
  • Paulaner - Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier

Here’s a list of upcoming beer events:

• April 12 - Schlafly Repeal of Prohibition Festival
• April 16 - “Tripel” Around the World at Whole Foods
• April 23 - Beer Tasting with Ray Hill at Rendezvous Cafe & Wine Bar
• April 26 - 2008 Beerfest at Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton
• April 30 - Starr’s Beer Dinner

I finally made it and this is already in full swing. More pictures after I meet up with Bill and Ellie and get a beer.

3:10 In an attempt to be more timely than the last liveblog, I’ve probably already failed. But I’ve brought plenty of pictures this time!

One of the most interesting beers so far has been the “milk” stout. It’s a oatmeal stout that was aged in one of the former bourbon barrels for 16 months and was finally opened on Thursday. It has this wonderful creamy mouthfeel and slight milky flavor. It’s quite a pleasant mistake.

3:48 It’s a wonderful 18 degrees out. A full degree above the forecasted temperature. If you’re willing to brave the cold (me) you can always rely on the comfort of being around the firepit. If you’re not willing to stand outside (Bill and Ellie) at least you can enjoy some bluegrass from the Cumberland Gap.

4:48 The party is starting to wind down and the wind is starting to pick up. The beer is beginning to freeze to the serving tables and the servers are having to scrape the head off of beers as they pour them into pitchers. Sure it’s cold, but a nice Imperial Stout goes a long way to warming you up. Plus, if it’s too cold for you, you can talk to Dan Kopman (the VP of Schlafly) and Drew Huerter (the cellarman for Morgan Street Brewery) inside. And if you’re really lucky, while you’re inside you’ll come across a couple of 06 Barleywines.

5:15 - Like almost any good party, it needs to end with a party-foul. In this case it was Andrew from Whole Foods dropping his complementary tasting glass. Sure he may blame it on the cold, but my guess is that it had more to do with the Dopplebock. If you love the cold, this was the kind of event you can’t miss. If you hate the cold, you were at home reading this blog. Next year, put on a couple of extra layers and come out and join our frostbite. You’ll come out into the cold and you’ll stave off cabin fever for a while.

For those of you that don’t want to face the bitter cold tomorrow, I’ll be doing it for you. I’ll be live blogging the Schlafly Cabin Fever event tomorrow at the Schlafly Bottleworks. I’ll try and take as many pictures as possible and try to give you a feel for the experience if you can’t make it out yourself. Should be a hell of a time.