I was in Champaign, IL on business last week and I decided to stop into The Blind Pig and have a pint or two (or three.) One of the first things that caught my eye on the list was that they had Avery’s Maharaja on draught. Which got me to thinking, where is our draught Avery?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to have Avery now available in St. Louis, but why are we limited just to bottles? Is it a supply issue from the brewery? Is the local distributor not interested in bringing in kegs? Is there not enough local interest? I don’t know the answers to these questions but I’d love to find out. Is anyone from Major Brands or Avery able to step up and answer some questions for us?

In case you missed it over at the BeerAdvocate forums, Bear Republic will be arriving in St. Louis in early July thanks to MoBev.  Bear Republic has been available in Illinois for quite some time, but you’ll finally be able to purchase it in both states which makes everyone’s shopping that much easier.  For those unfamiliar with Bear Republic, their most famous beer may be the Racer 5 IPA, here’s their description from their website:

This is a hoppy IPA. Did I say hops? Your brewer is a hop head! This is a full bodied beer using American grains. The goal was to create a base for showing off the unique floral qualities of two Pacific Northwest hops, Columbus and Cascade. Columbus is a new hybrid High Alpha Acid hop used mostly for bittering, but used heavily as an aromatic in this strong brew. Cascade is the balance that ties the malt and bittering hops together. It is a true specialty ale and is our brewer’s statement on this style. 2004 L.A. Commercial Brewing Competition, Silver Medal Winner; 2004 World Beer Cup, Silver Medal Winner; 2001 Real Ale Festival, San Diego, Gold Medal Winner; 2001 Real Ale Festival, Chicago, Gold Medal Winner; 1999 Great Amercian Beer Festival, Gold Medal Winner - og 1.070, ABV 7.0%, IBU 69. California State Fair Bronze Medal, 1997 Beerfest Invitational. 

Mmmmm, IPAs.

I’m pleased to announce that the winner for the two tickets to the Saturday afternoon session of the 2008 St. Louis Microfest is Jim Leabig! Congrats to Jim and thank you everyone for entering. If you didn’t win, don’t be too upset, I’m going to have a few more things to give away in the next few months.

I once again want to thank Paul Hayden from the Wine and Cheese Place for providing the tickets to this event.

For a long time the St. Louis area has had to endure a world without draught Bell’s beer.  It looks like out metro-wide nightmare is over.  Dave from Beer, Wine and Whiskey is reporting that Bell’s Oberon has been sighted at the Central West End location of Llywellyn’s Pub.  While Oberon may not be my favorite beer in the world, does this mean that beers such as Two Hearted (which may be one of my favorite beers in the world) will be far behind?  Let’s hope not.

This has been eagerly talked about in the STL Hops Forum, but it looks like the day has finally arrived. Friar Tuck located at 9053 Watson Road in Crestwood is now open just in time for your Memorial Day purchases. The website promotes over 900 beers in each store:

We’re serious about beer! Friar Tuck stocks virtually every beer we can get our grubby hands on. Domestics, imports, micro and craft brewed beers from all over the world. With over 900 different beers in every store, you’ll be serious about beer too.

It’s great to see another store in St. Louis committed to providing fantastic beer choices to us beer nerds. If you check out Friar Tuck, please send along your thoughts. I’m going to try and swing by today if possible.

_{^{Thanks to cubby_swans in the Forums for doing the leg work on this one.}}

Someone suggested this to me a few days ago and I finally put it into place, but STL Hops now has a place to trade beer!  Rather than try and trade beer via some of the other beer website, STL Hops allows you to trade with people in the area face to face for that instant gratification. Be sure to check out the new forum and trade to your heart’s desire.

Or should I call it the 2008 Brewers Heritage Messtival? Boy was it muddy. Still a lot of fun seeing everyone down at Forest Park enjoy the best beer St. Louis has to offer.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the 2nd Annual St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival takes place this weekend. This festival was started last year to not only honor the longstanding brewing traditions of St. Louis but to also gather together the area’s brewers and showcase all of the talent we have in the area.

• The kick-off to this Festival begins this evening with a 5-course VIP dinner co-hosted by The Food Network celebrity chef Dave Lieberman and festival brewmasters.
• Friday begins with a new session, the “Business Man’s Special” which runs from Noon-4PM. This $50 event will not only allow you first crack at all of the festival beers, but the price also includes food as well.
• The grounds re-open on Friday for a session that runs from 6 - 10 p.m. and again Saturday, May 10, from noon - 4 p.m. and 6 - 10 p.m. Tickets for the Friday evening session and Saturday events cost $30 per person ($35 day of the events, so get your tickets now).
• This year will see a slight change (for the better in my opinion) of three tasting tents, instead of last year’s two. The three tents will be devoted to Ales, Lagers and also Specialty Beers.
• Restaurants participating in this year’s Festival are all from the St. Louis Originals group. Companion Bakery, Harvest, LoRusso’s Cucina, SqWires and Vin de Set have all created dishes designed to compliment the more than 70 beer styles available at the event.
• Not only will you be able to taste beer from 8 local breweries, but this year you’ll also have the chance to sample beers from a number of area homebrewers.
• The Heritage Festival Dark Lager recipe is back again this year, but we’re also privy to try Augie Altenbaumer’s Rye American Pale Ale recipe this year as well. The Suburban Journal recently featured an article on Augie and his beer, be sure to check it out.

The weather is looking wonderful for the weekend (a change over the last few weekends) with clear skies and 70°. It’s seriously looking like this year will be even better than last year. I’ll be attending tonight’s dinner, the Saturday Afternoon Session and maybe be attending part of the Friday Afternoon and Evening Session as well. I promise to provide plenty of pictures and hopefully a few interviews as well.

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.