This Saturday, February 6th, is the official birthday party for the International Tap House.  To thank STL Hops for helping this past year, the let us pick 35 tap handles to be served on Saturday.

A couple of notes before I present the list.  One, we didn’t quite fill up the 35 tap handles.  That’s to be expected though.  People asked for a lot, but some of the stuff they asked for just wasn’t available at the time.  Brad promises to fill out the rest with some cool stuff.

Two, I don’t think anyone would be upset with this list though, it’s pretty awesome.  Three, one of the most requested beers for draught was Lagunitas Hop Stoopid and while they couldn’t get it in time for this party, they are bringing in a keg of this for a future party.  So stay tuned for that info.

Without further ado, here’s the list:

• Boulevard Orval Collaboration
• Rogue John John
• Rogue Imperial Porter
• Schlafly C-1
• Bourbon County Stout
• Bell’s Two Hearted
• Chimay Tripel
• Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine
• Pilgrims Dole
• Hop Rod Rye
• Lagunitas IPA
• Duchesse
• Avery Czar
• Hopslam
• Founders Dirty Bastard
• So Tier Choklat
• Old Rasputin
• So Tier Iniquity
• Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast
• Odell IPA
• Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti
• New Belgium Ranger
• New Belgium Dark Heather Saison
• Founders Breakfast
• O’Fallon Whiskey Barrel Smoked Porter
• Boulevard Tank 7
• Boulevard Single Wide

I know there are a lot of events happening this weeked, and I understand that not everyone can make it to every event.  But if you can make it out, I know Brad and Sean would be excited to see you.  Also, everyone needs to be careful this weekend.  Don’t drive if you shouldn’t be.

Lauren Salazar from the New Belgium Brewing Company is coming back into town and NB Beer Ranger Joel Winn has set up an exclusive meet and greet for STL Hops members!

This event is being held at Mattingly Brewing Company on Tuesday, February 9th from 6-8PM.  Joel and Lauren will be on hand to discuss New Belgium’s newest year-round beer Ranger IPA as well as giving out some swag.

If you have not had a chance to meet Lauren, this is the perfect opportunity to meet one of the nicest people I’ve met in the brewing industry.  As Lauren is responsible for the La Folie series, this is you chance to ask her all of the questions you’d ever want to about sour beers.

Joel is providing me with a whole list of events Lauren is particiapting in next week, so stay tuned for that.

Note: If you’re reading this post, then you’re a member of STL Hops. You don’t have to sign up or do anything special to attend this event. Just come on out.

Crown Valley Brewery will be hosting a Super Bowl Party this Sunday night, February 7th starting a 6PM.

Crown Valley will be offering up an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet that will include wings, nachos, burger sliders, bison meatballs, chips & dip, toasted ravioli, cheese & sausage, veggie tray and a bevy of desserts.

Not only will your ticket include all of those snacks, but draught beer will be available all day for $2 per glass.  If the game isn’t exciting enough for you, they’ll be having contests and prizes all game long.

All inclusive tickets for this event are $30 and you must RSVP by calling 573-756-9700.

Can you believe it’s almost been a year?  As of January 31st, the International Tap House will be a year old.  That’s a huge accomplishment for a new business.

The best part is they’re planning on putting on a ton of parties to celebrate their birthday. Maybe I’m just partial, but I think the best party of all is that they’re putting on an STL Hops Draft Party!

What’s an STL Hops Draft Party you ask?  Well, it’s a thank you from Brad and Sean to STL Hops for helping to make iTAP so successful.  The way they’re thanking us is pretty awesome.

You guys get to pick what beers are going on draft. They’re giving us 35 tap handles to put whatever beer we want on for the party. Basically, it’s your chance to own your own bar for a night.

What would you do if you had 30 different beers to pick for your own bar?  Wait, didn’t I just say 35?  I did, but we’re going to run a contest starting tomorrow which will allow one reader to pick any 5 beers they want. Stay tuned for that.

So, the best way for STL Hops to pick the beers is for each person to list 3 beers they’d like to see in the comment section below.  A couple of rules:

• Obviously you can’t pick beers from breweries that don’t distribute in Missouri. (Stone, Dogfish Head, etc.)
• Some beers aren’t available on draught. (La Fin Du Monde comes immediately to mind.)
• We can’t always get what we want. (They can try to get it in, but no promises.)

This party will be taking place on Saturday, February 6th from 4PM-7PM.  I’ll post more information as I get it.  Start suggesting away and we’ll all own the bar for one night.

I know how it is, the present are opened, the tinsel has lost its luster and you may be feeling the post X-Mas blues. Well, I know how to perk you up: cheap beer. Schlafly is celebrating it’s 18th Anniversary party on Saturday, December 26th by serving beer at 1991 prices all day long.

If that’s not enough to pique your interest how about a discounted SIP Club membership as well? The standard SIP Club price is $25 for an annual membership, but on Friday only, you can purchase a membership for $18. Here are just a few things a SIP Club membership gets you:

• A custom SIP Club stein for home
• A Schlafly discount card: present to server or bartender and receive a 20 oz. beer for the price of a 16 oz. (excluding beers over 8% alcohol)
• 10% discount in our retail shops
• Invitation to special in-house member-only tastings and events

That last one is well worth the price to me, because as long as Andy White is putting it on, there is no way you should miss the SIP Club Dinner.

Hammerstone’s. Schlafly Quad.  Party.  I think that about sums it up:

First of all, big thanks to Schlafly, Stephen Hale, Andy White and Brennan Greene for helping out with this event. It couldn’t have nearly as successful without their help.

Second, thanks to Clayton for selling raffle tickets, we raised a ton of money because of his help. Third, thanks to Sean Thompson for taking photos of the event, I wish I would have taken some myself, but honestly (and I say this with absolutely no hyperbole) I was having so much fun I forgot.

But if you didn’t attend this is a small gallery of what you missed:

[View with PicLens]

12►

I once again want to thank all of the breweries and distributors, O’Fallon, Schlafly, Morgan Street, Buffalo Brewing Company, Missouri Beverage, New Belgium Brewing and Boulevard, that participated in donating time and beer.

I also once again want to thank the following places for donating items for raffles and giveaways:

• Bigelo’s Bistro
• Bon Vivant Wines
• Boulevard Brewing
• Cicero’s
• City Gourmet
• DeVine Wines
• Pi Restaurant
• Major Brands
• Missouri Beverage
• New Belgium Brewing
• Randall’s Wines and Spirits
• Riddle’s Penultimate Café & Wine Bar
• Salon 231
• Wine and Cheese Place
• Whole Foods Galleria

After everything has been paid for, we raised an amazing $2141.65 for Stray Rescue of St. Louis. I was flabbergasted by the generosity of everyone involved and this money is going to a great cause. This is a huge gain over last year’s $800.

Thank you all, once again for a fantastic event and a fantastic year of beer in St. Louis. I’m looking forward to planning next year’s event already.