Someone (I think it was Brad) mentioned the idea a few weeks back about having monthly STL Hops events. Nothing out of the ordinary, just maybe a monthly dinner where we head out to some of our local brewpubs and beer restaurants and sit down to have some dinner and talk some beer. So the first question is anyone else interested in this?

The next question is, if you are interested, where would you like to eat? Just fair warning, I haven’t actually talked to any of these places about us showing up, but if we have a clear winner, I’ll get the ball rolling. We’d probably have these meet-ups on Mondays or Tuesdays as they’re going to be the less hectic days of the week for restaurants.

Charles Bamforth, the chairman of the department of food science and technology at University of California, Davis as well as Anheuser-Busch Professor of Malting and Brewing Sciences, recently put out a book called “Grape vs Grain.” The description from the publisher’s website:

Why is wine considered more sophisticated even though the production of beer is much more technologically complex? Why is wine touted for its health benefits when beer has more nutritive value? Why does wine conjure up images of staid dinner parties while beer denotes screaming young partiers? Charles Bamforth explores several paradoxes involving these beverages, paying special attention to the culture surrounding each. He argues that beer can be just as grown-up and worldly as wine and be part of a healthy, mature lifestyle. Both beer and wine have histories spanning thousands of years. This is the first book to compare them from the perspectives of history, technology, nature of the market for each, quality attributes, types and styles, and the effect that they have on human health and nutrition.

If learning more about the battle between wine and beer is up your alley, then send and email with the subject of “Grape vs Grain” to contest@stlhops.com. I’ll choose the random winner from the entries on Monday at 9AM.

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.

Brad Mock suggested this idea over in the forums, so I’m trying to gauge interest in it.  Would anyone here be interested in taking some Saturday in June, renting a bus and doing a beer tour around the St. Louis area?  I’m thinking we could visit a few breweries, a few excellent beer bars, talk and drink beer.

It looks like a few of us are interested, anyone else?  Also, do you have any suggestions for places we could visit?  Feel free to post a comment or email me with ideas or if you’re interested in attending.

Someone suggested this idea a while back and I thought it was a great idea. So thanks to Bill we’ve now got our own forums to discuss beer matters and whatnot in St. Louis. If you have any suggestions or things you’d like to see just give me a heads up. So what are you waiting for? Sign up!

Edit: Let me quickly add that I’m not going to start posting information or news in the forum that I wouldn’t post on the blog.  I realize some people aren’t interested in posting on a forum and are only interested in the news I post.  So that’s not going to change.  I just thought people would like a relaxed atmosphere to discussed beer related stuff going on in St. Louis.  Like I said in the comments here, if the forum doesn’t fly and people aren’t interested that’s not a big deal.  I didn’t put that much time into it.

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