If you’re anything like me, you have too much glassware. Far, far too much. But what if you wanted to narrow it down to just 2 or 3 glasses, do you think you could? Dave emailed me in hopes of trying to find the perfect glassware for his new bar:

I’m currently building a home bar with an intention of having the minimum of glassware type.

I have recently narrowed down my wine glasses to buy to 2. That apparently can serve and enhance all wines. I would like to find a beer glass or 2 or fit the same purpose. At present, I find I need to have about 5 to 10 ‘different’ types of glasses for different beer. Heck, Riedel has about 200 glasses for their wine. WAY TOO MUCH. I think 10 different beer glasses is likewise too much. I presently use a pint glass but want to enjoy and enhance my beer drinking.

If I was forced down to just two glasses, a deserted-island selection, these would be my two choices:

The first would be the tulip glass from New Belgium Brewery. I find that it provides just about the most perfect beer drinking vessel for almost any style. Enough room to swirl the beer for aroma without spilling any. Enough volume to hold a full beer with a lot of head, which is perfect for your Belgian style beers. Also enough surface area to allow for easy warming if the beer is served too cold. It’s my go-to glass for beers I really want to take time to enjoy. My only issue is that I wish I could find it without a NB logo.

My second choice is just a standard Imperial Pint Glass. With having two homebrews on tap at any time, it’s nice to walk downstairs and pour off 20oz of beer whenever I like. It also makes drinking things like Pale Ales and Stouts just seem more authentic.

One other thing to possibly consider Dave, since you’re doing a bar with wine as well look at getting some large Champagne flutes. They’re just about the same shape as a pilsner glass and would allow you to do double duty. I’d be curious what everyone else thinks about possible glass choices.

Mark Gustafson from Wisconsin (and with a name like that, you just knew he’d be from Wisconsin!) wrote in to ask:

Mike, I am hoping you can help me out in locating a decent liquor store that carries New Belgium beers on the east side of St. Louis. I am going to be in the O’Fallon area in a few weeks, and am hoping to stock up (no, not just Fat Tire, but all the other goodies that we can’t get up here in Wisconsin). I appreciate any help you can give me, as I have some friends back here in Milwaukee that I would like to treat to some beers as well.

After talking to Ryan Beach from New Belgium Brewery, he confirmed to me that Fat Tire, 1554 and Mothership Wit are now available in Southern Illinois.  But I’m not very familiar with O’Fallon, IL.  I realize he could take a short trip over to Corral Liquor in Granite City, but maybe someone knows of some place in O’Fallon?

Well, I can sort of answer this question:

I was wondering if you knew of anybody in the St. Louis area that carried Tennants? Lukas Liquors only has it in 1/2 barrel quantities and I haven’t found anybody else that has it. I figured that you are the man that would know where I can turn. Thanks for any info!

I know that the Scottish Arms carries this on draught but anyone else know where you can get it?

Jon Billman emailed me to ask:

I’m doing some beer research for a book project. Do you know someone I should talk with regarding ale brewers in St. Louis in the 1830s? I’m interested in where they got their hops and yeast from, what kinds and what forms. Also, what styles of ales were predominant in STL at that time. Appreciate it.

I’m sure some of STL Hops readers can either provide Jon with this information or point him in the right direction.

Received an email recently from someone looking for a beer called Lion Stout:

I live in St. Louis, but I used to tend bar at a place in Wisconsin that housed a selection of over 450 beers. While there, I developed a love of a Sri Lankan beer called Lion Stout. I am desperately trying to locate some of this beer in St. Louis, but so far with no luck. I was hoping maybe you knew of a place that carries Lion stout, or at least knew of a place that might. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. 

Any help for this reader?

Nate emailed me to ask:

I wanted to ask you, is there any place in Saint Louis to take homebrewing classes?  

As a matter of a fact there is.  Dan George of the St. Louis Brews is holding a homebrewing class on March 1st from 9AM - 12:30PM at Forest Park Community College.  He’s an excellent brewer and an all around nice guy.  I’d also suggest that you attend some of the local homebrew club meetings.  You’ll get a chance to meet other homebrewers, many of whom would be happy to help you out with your first brewing session.

A reader of STL Hops sent me an email, but it seemed like the kind of question that may help a lot of people in the area, so I decided to answer it here. If I get enough of these questions, maybe we can make this a regular feature. We can call it Uncle Mike’s Mailbag! OK, maybe not. Anyway, on to the question.

Nate writes in: “Just curious if you know where in Saint Louis I can go and get some specialty beers (such as Sam Adams, Killian’s, etc.) in kegs? I just bought a kegerator, and am dying to fill it with something. If you know of any places, please let me know. Thanks!”

First of all, thank you for providing me content on a Monday morning, it makes my day just that much easier. To answer your question, just about any liquor/beer store will order kegs for you from their distributor. I know for a fact Lukas Liquor will help you to order the keg of your choice. If you’re on the eastern side of the river (or you’re looking for beer that isn’t distributed in Missouri) Corral Liquors in Granite City will order some for you as well. If you’re looking for something a bit more local, you can also rent kegs of Schlafly beer at either the Tap Room or the Bottleworks.

I would check with any of the Beer Stores that I’ve featured on the round-up and see what they can do for you.

The Wine and Cheese Place
Lukas Liquor
Corral Liquors
Bon Vivant Wines
Randall’s Wine & Spirits

Let me also add that even if you don’t have a kegerator the Holidays are the perfect time of year to rent a keg of beer. Why serve your friends and family cans and bottles if you can give them the gift of draught beer? (It’s also usually cheaper in the long run.)

If you have any other questions or comments feel free to email me at mike@stlhops.com.