Brandt’s Cafe, in the University City Loop, will be putting on a Beer Festival every Saturday this March.  Brandt’s will be offering up over 80 different beers from around the globe to try each Saturday including 25 different Belgian beers.

This will be taking place on March 13th, 20th, and 27th of this month from 12-5PM.  Don’t currently have a list of what beers they’ll be trying, but I’ll see if I can get one soon.

Each session will cost $30 per person with a pre-paid reservation or  $35 at the door.  This entitles you to unlimited 3oz samples during the 12-5PM tasting. Call 314-954-2326 for more details.

For those of you that weren’t able to attend, you missed quite a tasting.  Not only were we able to inbibe some great commercial beers, but also some great homebrew as well.  Oh, you also missed me singing James Brown’s “Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine”.  It was quite an evening.  Here are some photos, including a shot of the lone fallen soldier of the evening, a bottle of 2009 Dark Lord.

Not pictured, me singing Sex Machine.

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You’re invited!  Schlafly is putting on the Brew & Q World Pork Steak Championships this weekend and has invited beer-writer Lucy Saunders in to judge the competition.  Well, to celebrate Lucy’s visit, Dan Kopman has decided to put on a semi-private “Pre-Brew & Q BBQ tasting” on Thursday, May 21st from 5PM to 8PM at Vlasis Park in Ballwin.

Dan is supplying some meat and some beer for the tasting, but if you want to bring some more meat (or fish or tofu) for the grill or more beer for tasting, feel free to bring it along. According to Dan, “the St. Louis BBQ Society is providing grills and expert grillers (big thanks to those folks) and Lucy will be on hand to make sure we all behave!”

If you want to attend, just please email Dan an RSVP to let him know you’re attending.

I’m sure that on many trip to The Stable, you’ve seen the copper kettles and have wondered, “Are those just for show?”  The restaurant is decorated with many features of antique kitsch, that the kettles wouldn’t have seemed at all out of place.

Well, they’re not just for show, they’re for making beer and on Thursday May 14th at 6PM, you’ll have your first opporunity to sample the test batch of The Stable’s Helles Lager in this soft opening celebration. They will crack the first keg at 6PM and the cost will be $4.25 a pint. This will be your first opportunity to try some of the beer from the newest brewery in St. Louis.

Also, Redstone Meadery will be hosting a tasting that night from 7-9PM if you’re looking to sample some mead.  See the Forum thread for more information about that event.

A couple of quick beer tastings to tell you about.

Provisions Market in Creve Coeur will be sampling a variety of these beers: Samuel Adams Imperial Stout, Samuel Adams Imperial White, Samuel Adams Imperial Double Bock, New Holland Full Circle Kolsch, De Molen SSS London Triple Stout. This tasting will be today and will run from 5PM-7PM.

Chris at the Wine and Cheese Place in Rock Hill will also be holding a tasting tomorrow, the 24th, from 1PM to 4PM. He’ll be sampling these beers: Ølfabrikken Porter, Dieu du Ciel Route des Epices, and Avery Maharaja. Once again, more information can be found at their blog.

If you’re a retail shop and want me to list your tasting, make sure to email me at mike@stlhops.com.

It was an amazing sight. It was awesome to see about 30 or 40 beer nerds descend on 33 Wine Shop and Tasting Bar last Friday night, kill a cask in about an hour and a half and then move on to their next beer adventure. At one point while pouring a Two Hearted, Jake, the owner of 33, looked at me and said, “You know, this is all your fault!” I can’t say I wasn’t a little proud.

As for the beer itself, my girlfriend and some people in the forum picked up a metallic taste and a bit of oxidation in the first few beers. I’m lucky to say my palate didn’t pick this up, but I will say that as the night progressed the beer got better. I don’t know if that’s because I had 3 or 4 beers or if the beer actually did get better, but it was pretty fulfilling. It was very cool to see everyone show up and have a great time.

Thanks again to Dylan, Jake and Mike at 33 for putting this on. Hopefully this becomes a more regular thing.

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One of the things I was most excited about when I was invited to join the Schlafly crew at the Great Taste of the Midwest was the opportunity to taste one of my all-time favorite beers in an entirely new way, cask Bell’s Brewery Two Hearted Ale. But let’s be honest, a little 2 or 3 ounce pour just doesn’t really cut it. Sure it’s a nice little sample, but cask beer deserves to be in a pint glass.

Well, I’m happy to announce that on Friday, November 21 at 5PM, 33 Wine Shop and Tasting Bar will be cracking into a cask of Bell’s finest beer, Two Hearted Ale. This will be available until the cask blows, so I wouldn’t dawdle getting down to 33, because I know I’m going to have my fair share of this beer. I want to thank Jake, Dylan and Jim O’Connor of Bell’s for making this event happen, this is very exciting stuff for the St. Louis beer community.