Happy 4th of July to you all. I hope the the start of your three-day weekend is going well. Looks like we’re going to have almost perfect weather for fireworks, friends, food and beer (I lost my alliteration). Hope everyone has a great time and remembers to be safe. Here’s the Round-Up:

Stuff from around the web

• A couple of reviews about Schlafly’s latest offerings.
• The Post-Dispatch has been all up in the beer business lately.
• William at Year of Beer reviews Boulevard’s Double-Wide IPA.
• The Suburban Journal takes a look at The Stable.
• Java Journal looks at microbrewing in St. Louis…
• …and Bill Burge gets rant-y over the phrase “craft beer.“

Beer Releases and News

• Andrew from Bon Vivant Wines informs me to some beers he has in his stock:
  • Capital Brewing Company - Special Pilsner
  • Capital Brewing Company - Bavarian Lager
  • Capital Brewing Company - Wisconsin Amber
  • Capital Brewing Company - Munich Dark
  • Dark Horse Brewing Co. - Black Bier
  • Dark Horse Brewing Co. - Crooked Tree IPA
  • Moylan’s Brewing Co. - Pale Ale
  • Moylan’s Brewing Co. - IPA
  • Moylan’s Brewing Co. - Kiltlifter
  • Two Brothers Brewing Co. - Oh Brother Tripel
  • Lagunitas - Lucky 13
  • Lagunitas - Maximus IPA
• Andy from Whole Foods let’s us know about some new beers he has in his stock (and remember if you don’t see it on the shelf, be sure to ask for it):
  • Avery - Karma
  • Avery - 14′er ESB
  • Avery - Red Point
  • Avery - White Rascal
  • Shmaltz Brewing Company (He’Brew) - Sword Swallower
  • Shmaltz Brewing Company (He’Brew) - Albino Python
  • Hitachino XH, Espresso Stout 330ml
  • Gouden Carlus 2008 Red and Blue 750ml
  • Mendocino - Spring Bock
  • Mendocino - Summer White
  • New Belgium Folly Pack w/ Old Cherry
  • Ommegang Witte 750ml
  • Bison Brewing - Reunion Beer 2008
• Paul at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton alerts me to some new beers he has in stock:
  • McAuslan St. Ambroise Apricot Wheat
  • McAuslan St. Ambroise Plae Ale
  • McAuslan St. Amborise Oatmeal Stout
  • Avery Karma
  • Avery 14er ESB
  • Avery Redpoint Amber
  • Mikkeller Stateside IPA
  • Nils Oscar IPA
  • Nils Oscar Kalasol
  • Nils Oscar Imperial Stout
  • Nils Oscar Barley Wine
  • Eisenbahn Lust
  • Eisenbahn Defumada Smoke
  • Haandbryggeriet Dark Force
  • Haandbryggeriet Norwegian Wood
  • Brasserie de la Senne Taras Boulba
  • Gavroche French Red
  • Nogne IPA
  • Nogne Saison
• Joe Billhartz of Specialty Import Distributing Co. let me know of some beer over in Illinois. Contact your favorite beer store to see if these are available:
  • Harviestoun Ola Dubh 12, 16 & 30
  • Anderson Valley Summer
  • Shipyard Summer
  • Lagunitas Maximus
  • Lagunitas Lucky 13
• Mike Cherre, Beer Consultant at Lukas Liquor posts on their blog some of the new and special selections they have in stock:
  • Maredsous Dubbel and Trippel (750ml)
  • Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van de Keizer 2008 (750ml)
  • St. Ambroise Apricot Wheat (4pk)
  • St. Ambroise Pale Ale (4pk)
  • St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout (4pk)
  • Berghoff Red Bock Winter Ale
  • Shiner Bohemian
  • New Grist Sorghum Beer
  • Bell’s Oberon 5L mini kegs & 6pks
  • Buffalo Bill’s Orange Blossom
  • Aventinus Wheat Doppelbock vintage 2003 & 2004
  • New Belgium La Folie

Here’s a list of upcoming beer events:

• July 16 - Newstead Tower Public House Boulevard Beer Dinner
• July 17 - Starr’s July Beer Dinner

In the continuing series of beer classes put on by Andy Snead and Ric Syberg from Whole Foods, this month brings us a tasting of some of the best IPAs the world has to offer:

Come in tonight for some devilishly good India Pale Ales, otherwise known as IPA’s. First brewed in England, IPA’s were exported for the British troops in India during the late 1700s. To withstand the voyage, pale ales were “tweaked” to become IPA’s. The resulting brew was much more “malty”, boasted higher alcohol content and was well-hopped, as hops are a natural preservative. Historians believe that the IPA was then watered down for the troops, while officers and the elite would savor the full strength version. To try some brew and learn more, sign up now, this one sells out quick!

These are always extremely fun events with plenty of knowledge along with plenty of great beer. This event will be held on May 15th at Whole Foods in Brentwood from 6:30-8PM. The cost of the event is $20 and tickets can be purchased here.

Or should I call it the 2008 Brewers Heritage Messtival? Boy was it muddy. Still a lot of fun seeing everyone down at Forest Park enjoy the best beer St. Louis has to offer.

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.

What is it about beer events on Saturdays that means, “Hey! It’s time to freeze your butt off!” It’s May, I shouldn’t have to worry about frostbite. But on the plus side, there was always beer to make the event tolerable. Irene and I headed out to O’Fallon Brewery on Saturday morning to begin the day with the Garage Brewing Society. When we arrive at about 11:30, things were in full swing.

Many different kinds of brewing systems. The photo in the lower right is Drew Huerter sparging his American English Barleywine.

You can always count on two thing to warm you up, fire and beer. In this case this beer is Augie Altenbaumer’s Rye Pale Ale that was brewed for the upcoming Heritage Festival.

We then celebrated the worldwide toast at Noon. This was a touching toast that not only celebrated homebrewing but to honor Beer Hunter Michael Jackson as well.

Homebrewers weren’t the only ones brewing on Saturday. Brian Owens, the head brewer at O’Fallon, was brewing up a batch of the O’Fallon Pumpkin Ale. Brian accidentally forgot the rice hulls in this batch until he had sparged about six barrels. Whoops! We then made our way to Worm’s Way to visit the St. Louis Brew’s event.

Read the rest…

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

I’m sure you’ve been barraged by all sorts of media about the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition, and I guess I’m no exception. But this is too important of an anniversary for it to go unnoticed. Thanks to the 21st Amendment we’ve now legally been able to enjoy beer for the past 75 years. We’ve seen the beer industry have its ups and downs, but I think we’re finally returning to the pre-Prohibition days where beer was local and large cities had multiple breweries providing their product to the locals.

In celebration of the event, Anheuser-Busch was kind enough to send me a replica wooden case similar to the ones around post-Prohibition. They also included a 6-pack of Budweiser and a bottle opener. You’ll notice that my 6-pack is now a 5-pack, that’s because one of my friend snagged a beer before I could take a picture.

There are going to be a number of events happen all of this week to celebrate the event:

• Today at approximately 10AM, Dan Kopman of Schlafly will be on the Charlie Brennan show on KMOX to discuss the importance of the anniversary.
• Anheuser-Busch has expanded it’s Tour Center to include more information about how AB stayed alive during the days of Prohibition. You can preview the tour here.
• Schlafly will be hosting an appetizer beer pairing cocktail party on April 7th at Schlafly Bottleworks for SIP Club members to celebrate the event.

Also if you’re a history nerd like I am, you’ll also want to watch this YouTube video of August A. Busch Jr.’s national radio address from KMOX CBS Radio at 12:01 a.m. on April 7, 1933. They also have some more media up on their website that you should check out. Video after the break. Read the rest…

If you’re the kind of person that doesn’t need to get up on a Monday morning to go to work and loves beer, I have quite the event for you. On Monday, April 7th at 12:01AM, Schlafly will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition with a barrel tap and toast:

Join us as we kick-off the celebrations commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition with a Barrel Tap and Toast. Patrons attending the special session will receive a commemorative pint glass with the purchase of their first pint. The events for the week will culminate in the Repeal of Prohibition Beer Festival at Bottleworks.

I’m still debating if I want to man-up and attend on Sunday evening. Could make for a long day at work on Monday. Anyone else planning on attending?

In the continuing series of beer classes put on by Andy Snead from Whole Foods, this month brings us a tasting of Tripels from around the world:

Come with us on a “tripel” around the world as we celebrate this fantastic style of beer. The name “Tripel” actually stems from part of the brewing process, in which brewers use up to three times the amount of malt than a standard Belgian ale. Traditionally, Tripels are bright yellow to gold in color, which is a shade or two darker than the average Pilsner. Head should be big, dense and creamy. Aroma and flavor runs along complex, spicy phenols, powdery yeast, fruity with a sweet finish. Bitterness is up there for a beer with such a light body for its strength, but at times is barely perceived amongst the even balance of malts and hops. The lighter body comes from the use of Belgian candy sugar (up to 25% sucrose), which not only lightens the body, but also adds complex alcoholic aromas and flavors. Small amounts of spices are sometimes added as well. And, they are downright delicious. We’ll taste tripels from all over, so join us on this ride round the world, or at least through America and Europe. Cheers!

These are always extremely fun events with plenty of knowledge along with plenty of great beer. This event will be held on April 16 at Whole Foods in Brentwood from 6:30-8PM. The cost of the event is $20 and tickets can be purchased here.

If you’re a fan of black beers and bivalves, Schlafly has the weekend you’ve been waiting for. This Friday (5:00 p.m.-Midnight) and Saturday (Noon-Midnight) is the 2008 Schlafly Stout and Oyster Festival.

Schlafly is flying in over 25,000 oysters not to mention shuckers from both coasts to demonstrate to you their shuckin’ skills. If the tantalizing thought of oysters isn’t enough, they’ll also be offering three of their stouts:  Nitro Irish Stout, Oatmeal Stout and the Coffee Stout.  (Unfortunately, the Imperial Stout isn’t part of this festival.)

These events are always a lot of fun, but they’re also extremely busy.  If you’re interested in going I’d make sure you allot plenty of time to waiting for a table.  You can always have a few beers at the bar and play some darts, after all that’s what we did for Cod and Cask.