Last year, I showed you a photo of just some of the casks that Schlafly purchased to expand their cask beer program. Well, when you have this many casks at your disposal, it means you get to put on events showcasing your beer.

In this case, it’s taking a cask of Schlafly beer and serving it at Bigelo’s Bistro in Edwardsville, Illinois.

This Friday, July 30th, starting a 5PM, a representative from Schlafly will be tapping a cask of the very special Indian Brown Ale.  This beer was originally created as a wedding beer for Schlafly brewer Brennan Greene; it’s now become a annual favorite at the Tap Room. They’ll be serving it until the cask runs out or until Bigelo’s closes.

Nothing quite like being able to enjoy some great cask beer right in your own backyard. While you’re at Bigelo’s, make sure to ask for the very awesome STL Hops pizza.

Last year, I showed you a photo of just some of the casks that Schlafly purchased to expand their cask beer program. Well, when you have this many casks at your disposal, it means you get to put on events showcasing your beer.

In this case, it’s taking a cask of Schlafly beer and serving it at Bigelo’s Bistro in Edwardsville, Illinois.

This Friday, March 28th, starting a 5PM, a representative from Schlafly will be tapping a cask of the new American IPA that’s been dry-hopped with Columbus, Simcoe, and Centennial Hops. They’ll  be serving it until the cask runs out or until Bigelo’s closes.

Nothing quite like being able to enjoy some great cask beer right in your own backyard.   While you’re at Bigelo’s, make sure to ask for the very awesome STL Hops pizza.

Southern Illinois and South County people rejoice, there is a location to get some of the Illinois beers you’ve been craving since the closure of Bon Vivant Wines.  U-Gas Convenience Store has begun dabbling with offering craft beer at their newest location in Waterloo, Illinois.

Is it the biggest selection in Illinois?  No.  This is a new world for U-Gas and I think they want to gauge the support for this. But they are offering up things like Dogfish Head, Ska and Hoppin’ Frog.  I know that they’re looking at possibly bringing in some other things this week.

If you want to have them expand their selection, then you need to go buy some beer from this store.  Waterloo is only about an additional 8 minutes from the JB Bridge, so if you were previously a fan of Bon Vivant, this is about your best choice for some great beer in this area.

Full Disclosure: This store is being managed by my brother Andrew Sweeney.  While I will not personally benefit from any additional sales from this store, he possibly could. But great beer is still great beer and I thought people in this area would like to know about this store.

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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