Looks like we’re going to have another competitor for our beer dollars coming in the next few weeks.  The Brick House Tavern and Tap, opening in Chesterfield, claims to be “Man Cave Meets Temple to Beer”  and is offering up what looks to be an extremely boring beer list. (Note, this is a chain, so everything you see on this list won’t necessarily be available in Missouri.)

But this is the part that caught my attention:

We’re not here for a long time we’re here for a good time and with table side micro-kegs, 40 ounce bottled beers, 100 oz beer bongs, hand pulled cask beer and affordable wines we’re sure ‘a good time’ is what you’ll have. Hang out in the bar with us or grab a seat anywhere you want. We’re here to dispense happiness.

Call me an elitist if you want, but beer bongs and hand pulled cask (which I hear is going to be Schlafly) beer?  Really? And, oh look, you can even get a bong full of cask beer!  Oh joy!  Judging by the photo below, maybe “bong” is just a clever marketing term for what amounts to nothing more than a modern day pitcher.

I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I’m going to hold off judgment untilI visit the place for myself.  But all of the accoutrements of a great bar don’t mean jack if the beer selection sucks.

An out-of-state friend of mine IMed me the other day asking about some suggestions as he was about to go beer shopping.  Unfortunately, I had to tell him that since I didn’t know what his state did and did not get, it makes it a bit difficult to make suggestions.  I found out later that he went to the store and picked up Buffalo Bill’s Orange Blossom Cream Ale.  Ouch.

I’m sure we’ve all made this mistake in our early beer days.  We walk into a store, overwhelmed by the choices presented to us, and so we begin to just look over the labels and box art to determine our choice.  I made this same mistake with Buffalo Bill’s about 4 years ago in Chicago.  So, how can you keep from making this mistakes in the future while also expandaing your beer horizon?  Here are a couple of hints I’ve picked up over my short beer drinking career:

Know Your Favorite Styles

Big fan of Bocks? Love Lambics?  Enjoy English Bitters?  Then I’m sure you have specific go-to beers that you always reach for, but maybe there is another brewery putting out a similar style that you may also enjoy?  This will help you not only try new breweries, but also to become familiar with the differences from one beer to another even if they’re the same style.  This may be one of the easiest options if you run into a store for a quick beer pick-up.

Know Your Breweries

If you have a go-to beer that you pick up over and over again, try some of the other beers available from that brewery.  Sure not every beer from every brewery will always beer an A+ beer, but if they’re making one beer consistently well, it’s a good chance they make they make a couple of really solid beers.

Learn About New Styles

This option will probably require more research.  Let’s say you’re interested in learning about Russian Imperial Stouts, well how are you going to know which ones are good and which ones are bad?  This is where the internet really helps, using sites like RateBeer or BeerAdvocate will help you see some of the top rated and most popular beers in each style.  Now, just because they’re highly rated or very popular doesn’t mean they’re available in Missouri.  So make sure to have a list of 4 or 5 beers from the style available when you visit your local store.

Ask For Help!

Us beer nerds get a bad rap (though sometimes deserved) for being snobby.  But I honestly think that for the most part, beer enthusiasts are some of the most infectious and excitable people when it comes to talking about beer.  If you need help or advice for getting into new beer, ask for help.  We have a lot of people here and on the forums that are always willing to lend out plenty of advice.  If you’re in a store selling great beer, it’s an excellent possibility that the person picking it out knows a thing or two about beer, be certain to chat them up for advice.

Do you have any advice for the new beer drinker?  What would you suggest?

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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Dear Dierbergs,

You may not know me, but my name is Michael Sweeney and believe it or not, we go way back. I worked for you during high school, tending the produce department on many an early Saturday morning. I’ve shopped at your stores for my entire adult life. I’ve always appreciated your efforts to strive to not only be the friendliest store in town, but to also offer a wide selections of premium products (even if they are at premium prices sometimes).

One of the first things instilled in me during my first few days of employment was that Dierbergs Markets went out of their way to try and offer the best products and the best service one could find in St. Louis, which is why I don’t understand the disconnect when viewing your beer selection. I don’t think it always this way. In fact I can remember a time when you offer mix-a-six selections, but they are no more.

I understand that shelf space is always in huge demand, but why is it that you can offer such a large and diverse wine selection (even at case pricing) but still not have the same sort of love for beer. Sure if I want to find all of Sam Adams, Leinenkugel, Schlafly, and O’Fallon’s offerings, they’re always on the shelves waiting for me. But sometimes I want something more, sometimes I want an impulse buy.

I just can’t quite understand why a store that emphasizes itself as offering some of the best products in St. Louis fails to offer things like Bear Republic, Unibroue, Avery, or even Bell’s. It seems like you attract the perfect clientèle to offer some of these “unusual” beers from around the globe. Perhaps you could even have beer samples on the weekends sort of like you sample many of your other products.

With more and more breweries making their way into St. Louis, this is your chance to step out in front and say, “We’re your beer store in St. Louis.” Seize this opportunity and make us believe that you really do provide some of the best products in town.

Sincerely,

Michael Sweeney

P.S. Thanks for helping instill some great customer service instincts that have helped me my entire professional career.

A few weeks ago I had to travel to Champaign, IL for business. I’m not a huge fan of traveling for business, but I can usually make the best of it by finding some of the interesting beer stuff in other cities. While in Champaign I made sure to stop and try The Blind Pig as it was rated as one of the top 50 beer bars in the world by RateBeer in 2007. I was not let down. One of the first things I spied was New Holland Existential Hopwine on cask, which got me to wondering, “when do we see a bar in St. Louis that has a rotating cask selection?”

Don’t get me wrong, the addition of Dressel’s Pub to the cask beer scene is extremely welcome and I’d almost kick over my own brother to get a pint of cask 5 Day, but maybe I’m getting a bit greedy. I’d love to see a bar in St. Louis that not only serves cask beer, but serves a rotating selection of it. Now, I realize that this dream may not be as easy to attain as I’d like, because I’m sure there are plenty of logistical challenges. But a man can dream, can’t he?

A few weeks ago Irene and I traveled to Kansas City to see the Cardinals take on the Royals. Not unlike any other city I travel to, I thought I’d take in some of the KC beer culture. The Flying Saucer is a chain of restaurants that specializes in beer, and a lot of it. This location carries over 220 beer selections and I believe almost 100 draught choices.

Even though there are obviously a lot of chain aspects to the place, it’s actually a really nice location. There is a lot of wood fixtures giving the location a very warm feeling. They also provide couches and lounge area to help provide a very relaxed atmosphere.

When we arrived on Friday evening after the ball game, the place was hopping, but it was still easy to find a place to sit. The rain came through a few minutes before we arrived and really cooled off the warm summer air. The wide open windows were a lovely touch as they provided a nice breeze throughout the location.

We tried the food when we returned on Saturday night and it was good, but not great. Good enough for a quick snack or an excuse just to visit. If I have one complaint is that it’s previous obvious that the people working at the place aren’t really “beer people.” Sure they’re friendly, but I had one person (who may have been a manager) tell me that Schlafly had a sour beer. Now, in all fairness this place has only been open since May 5th, but that still isn’t much of an excuse for getting the wrong beer.

As a member of Slow Food it’s really difficult saying what I’m about to say, but even though it’s a chain I really liked this place. Sure the food wasn’t that great and the service was sub-par, but the beer selection and the ambiance more than made up for it. It’s a really nice spot to sit back with some friends and enjoy some quality beer. If the Flying Saucer landed in St. Louis, I think I’d board the ship.

I was over at the Rock Hill Wine and Cheese Place on Friday and was pleasantly surprised to see a whole new expanded beer selection now available. I emailed Paul to find out the details and he informed me that they added about 150 beers at Rock Hill to bring the total up to around 460. Not too shabby for a friendly neighborhood wine store. (Paul also let me know Clayton W&C is up to 720 beers in stock!)