Love drives people crazy.  I can think of at least three love songs off the top of my head that have the word “crazy” in the title.  You want proof that love makes people do crazy things?  Here it is:

All this Valentine’s Day weekend at the International Tap House, they’ll be serving the Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck St. Louis Framboise for 50 cents a glass.  I know how much this keg costs, and let me tell you, it’s crazy.

If a Framboise isn’t your thing, they’ll also be serving the Left Hand Milk Stout for $4 a pint.  Sounds like the perfect accompaniment to the St. Louis Framboise.

If you love these beers, you would be crazy not to visit iTAP this weekend.

This is a right-handed world.  Don’t believe me?  Ask a lefty how they feel about wirebound notebooks, scissors or trackballs.

But, while the lefties of the world have to be annoyed by of life’s little quibbles, they can always fall back on the fact they have a brewery that sticks up for them.

Left Hand Brewing is throwing a Pint Night at the International Tap House on Wednesday, December 16th from 7PM to 9PM.   Mike Walters from Left Hand will be in town and they’ll be featuring 400lb Monkey IPA.

They’ll also be offering up vintage kegs of Oak Aged Imperial Stout and St. Vrain Tripel. (High gravity beers not to be served in pints, but in proper glassware.)

Luckily, a good beer can be enjoyed in either hand.  No special equipment is required.

You have to give it to The Stable’s beverage manager Jerad Gardner, he’s not one to rest upon the 2008 Best Beer Selection award from the Riverfront Times, he’s always trying to push the envelope.

When someone from the STL Hops Forums is looking for Capt. Sig’s Deadliest Ale from Rogue Brewing, Jerad finds a way to bring a keg in.  So it should be no surprise that his newest creation tugs at the beer geek’s heart.

Starting this Friday, Jerad begins a series of events he calls “Firkin Fridays.”  Over a number of different Fridays, Jerad will be bringing in different cask ales from different breweries around the nation.  This Friday, May 15th, beginning at 7PM, you’ll have a chance to purchase pints of Left Hand Brewing’s Sawtooth cask ale.

Many of us have been begging for more cask ale in the St. Louis area and Jerad, as always, has been listening.

Newstead Tower Public House is hosting another in their line of monthly beer dinners with this dinner featuring selections from Left Hand Brewing Company. The date of the dinner is January 21st at 7PM. The cost of this event is $40 and reservations are required. You can make reservations by calling 314-535-7771.

First of all, let me just say that I hate holiday traffic. What’s normally a 15-20 minute trip from my house to the Loop took almost 40 minutes.  Not cool.  So when I arrived to my first class at Cicero’s Beer School I was shocked to see a completely packed house.  Where are you people and why aren’t you on STL Hops?  You obviously love beer!

But I digress, the class was pretty much what I expected, with the exception of the size of the class.   It was a brewery representative discussing information about their beer.  It’s like a unique combination of advertising and education.  For those of you that are pretty hardcore into beer, it may be a bit of a let down.  But if you’re just getting your feet wet, it’s a good opportunity to learn a bit about beer.

The one very interesting thing I gleaned out of the whole class was the fact that according to Mike Walters of Left Hand Brewery mentioned that we will soon be seeing some of their Big Mo’ series Imperial beers on draught around St. Louis. So we’ll hopefully see those in early 2009.

Cicero’s Italian Restaurant finishes their Fall Beer School semester this Wednesday from 5:30-6:30PM. Cicero’s Beer School provides background about beers and beer styles usually directly from people directly in the beer industry. It’s perfect opportunity to learn more about a style you’re unfamiliar with or to just brush up on a style you haven’t enjoyed in a while.  Also, you can’t participate in next week’s graduation ceremony unless you’ve attended one class, so tonight is your last shot.

This week’s school is being taught by Mike Walters of Left Hand Brewery out of Longmont, Colorado. Mike will be on hand to discussand provide samples of Ju Ju Ginger, Sawtooth ESB, Milk Stout and Twin Sisters Double IPA.. Go out and take advantage of one of the few places where you can drink and learn!

If you can’t make it out to the Beer School, you can check out all of the classes via podcast at Cicerosbeerschool.com.

Way back on February 4th, I mentioned that Left Hand Brewing Company would be making it’s way to the St. Louis market. Well, that day has arrived. No longer will you have to drive over to the East Side to get your Left Hand fix (though you should still visit your favorite Illinois beer stores whenever you can) you can now find it at your favorite beer store in Missouri.

A few quick calls tells me that a few of the stores with Left Hand in their possession are: Whole Foods, Wine and Cheese Place (in Clayton and Rock Hill) and Lukas Liquor. Give your favorite beer store a call to find out the availability at their location.

Remember everyone, the more we buy these new beers in the market the more likely they are to keep adding new breweries. It helps everyone in the long run.