For those of you living in Oakville, your beer options can limited at times. But, it was always nice to know that with a quick 10 minute drive into Illinois, you could find one of the best beer stores in St. Louis, Bon Vivant Wines.

Unfortunately, those days are ending.  Bon Vivant Wine’s owner Andrew Traughber has informed me that as of this Saturday, February 20th at business close, he’ll be shuttering his doors.

While this may be a blow for those of us looking for great beer, the upside is that Andrew is a great guy and is not going to be without a job.  The reason for the closure of the store is that he’s accepted a position at Cellar Advisors.

The other upside is that if you want so great beer at “comically absurd prices” then you need to get over to Bon Vivant before the Sautrday deadline.

Good luck to Andrew, I know so many of us will miss Bon Vivant.

So way back in September STL Hops reported that San Diego brewery Port Brewing/Lost Abbey had may its way into the Chicago market:

While this does not immediately affect us in St. Louis, all of the beers we currently see in Southern Illinois got there because of Chicago and some faithful beer nerds who made sure they make it down our way. So while there is no guarentee we’d see these beers in our area, the idea that it could be possible does not “suck.”

Well, it looks like we had to wait about 6 months,  but some of us finally got our wish.  Andrew from Bon Vivant Wines in Columbia, IL let me know that he’s received his first shipment of beers from the San Diego brewer.  Here’s a list of what’s available:

• Port Brewing Wipeout IPA
• Port Brewing Old Viscosity
• Port Brewing Hop-15 Double IPA
• The Lost Abbey Avant Garde Biere de Garde Ale
• The Lost Abbey Devotion Belgian Pale Ale
• The Lost Abbey Red Barn Farmhouse Saison
• The Lost Abbey Inferno Belgian Style Strong Ale
• The Lost Abbey Serpent’s Stout
• The Lost Abbey Carnivale

This is with apologies to my Illinois brothers and sisters.  Please don’t get me wrong, I actually kind of enjoy the fact that I can only find certain beers on the other side of the river, but sometimes I want to drink a draught beer and I don’t want to make a 20 minute trip to drink it.  I’m sure this will also be a controversial post as well, one because of the ten breweries I selected.

I’m sure I left off your favorite brewery, but I chose some of the most requested breweries in the nation.  Second, with a nod to Dave, I know there is some concern that maybe we have too many breweries in the area right now.  This isn’t lost on retailers or distributors, they’re wondering the same thing.  By bringing in a new brewery, it makes less shelf space for what may be a good, but not as popular beer.

So what’s the point of this poll?  One, it’s fun. Two, it should provide some fun conversation.  Three, as we’ve noticed in the forums, by emailing and writing to our favorite breweries, it gets them to notice us.  If they notice us, they’re more likely to distirbute to us in the future.  So maybe we’ll take the top three winners and start a campaign to bring them to St. Louis.  Anyway, on to the poll.  You can only pick one choice.  Choose wisely.

When I started my great journey of beer all I kept hearing was, “You have to visit Corral Liquors!” After hearing this from at least 6 or 7 people, I was beginning to wonder, “Can this place live up to the hype?” After my first visit, I can enthusiastically say, yes.

Corral Liquors houses one of the largest beer selections in the metro area, providing a large variety of beers that you can’t find in Missouri. We had a user in the forum asking about where to find the best mix-a-six selection in St. Louis and a number of users (including me) said that Corral provides the largest variety of beers that can be bought in singles.

Corral also offers a large variety of beer in kegs, just be certain to call first to find out what’s available. Corral may be a little out of the way if you live on the western side of the river, but it’s a fantastic place to find some gems.

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If you’re not a member of the STL Hops Forum (why not?) then you may have missed this little nugget.  Johnny’s Sidebar, at 109 E. Main St, in Collinsville is having a beer tasting on Wednesday, Nov 19th, at 6:30pm.  Here’s the list of beers they’re having:

We are offering nine beer tastes (4oz.) for $10. It is going to have a Christmas theme and it will include our new special order Christmas beers from Shelton Brothers. Here are the offerings.

• Santa’s Butt – Winter Porter
• Jenlain Noel – French Christmas Ale
• Weissenohe Monksfest – Traditional Marzen Beer
• Lump of Coal – Dark Holiday Stout
• Severely Bad Elf – English Double Ale
• Breckenridge Christmas
• St. Bernardus Apt 12
• Gouden Carolus Hopsinjour
• Weltenburger Kloster Anno 1050 – Urtyp Hell

As I’m still feeling a bit under the weather, I probably won’t be able to make it out.  If you do attend, please be certain to take plenty of pictures to share.

I first mentioned this event way back in the early days of STL Hops.  Well, this is the third year for the Granite City Craft Beer Festival and from what I’ve been told, it’s a hell of a good time.  This year’s festival will be held on Saturday, October 11th from 1PM to 6PM.

The event will be held at the Granite City Elks Pavilion which is located at 4801 Maryville Road, Granite City, Illinois (Map It).  They’ll be offering over 70 selected craft beers from local, national and international breweries and also an entire tent devoted to homebrewed beer as well.

The cost is $10 per person in advance or $15 at the door, which allows you 10 samples.  Additional samples can be purchased the day of the event.  Tickets  can be purchased at the Elk Lodge, Corral Liquors or by calling Charlie Brinza at (877) 332-1894.  All the proceeds go to Illinois Elks Crippled Children Corporation, so drink up for a good cause.

My parents live in Oakville, or as I like to call it, “The Wasteland of Beer.” So when I found out about Bon Vivant Wines last year, I could begin to express my joy. Only about a 10 minute drive from 255 and Telegraph in Columbia, Illinois, this short trip makes it an absolute stop for any beer drinker in the area.

Store: Bon Vivant Wines Address: 123 S. Main, Columbia, IL 62236 (Map it) Phone: 618-281-3464 Selection: Over 100 beers.

Proving that bigger isn’t necessarily better, owner Andrew Traughber has used his limited shelf space to put together one of the finest beer selections in all of St. Louis. As is common with our friends in Illinois, Andrew is able to stock many things that we can’t find here in Missouri. It wouldn’t be surprising to find Three Floyds, Dogfish Head, Founders and Dark Horse on any visit. As is also common with Illinois stores, Andrew also offers an extensive mix-a-six, allowing you to pick and choose from anything on the shelves.

If you’re looking for anything special that’s not on the shelves Andrew will try and do what he can to get it. From my own personal experience he’s gotten me a case of DFH 90 Minute and a 1/6th Barrel of Founder’s Red’s Rye, that’s what I call service. This may sound like a bit of hyperbole, but I honestly think Bon Vivant is the savior for all of those looking for a great beer in South County.