Happy 4th of July to you all. I hope the the start of your three-day weekend is going well. Looks like we’re going to have almost perfect weather for fireworks, friends, food and beer (I lost my alliteration). Hope everyone has a great time and remembers to be safe. Here’s the Round-Up:

Stuff from around the web

• A couple of reviews about Schlafly’s latest offerings.
• The Post-Dispatch has been all up in the beer business lately.
• William at Year of Beer reviews Boulevard’s Double-Wide IPA.
• The Suburban Journal takes a look at The Stable.
• Java Journal looks at microbrewing in St. Louis…
• …and Bill Burge gets rant-y over the phrase “craft beer.“

Beer Releases and News

• Andrew from Bon Vivant Wines informs me to some beers he has in his stock:
  • Capital Brewing Company - Special Pilsner
  • Capital Brewing Company - Bavarian Lager
  • Capital Brewing Company - Wisconsin Amber
  • Capital Brewing Company - Munich Dark
  • Dark Horse Brewing Co. - Black Bier
  • Dark Horse Brewing Co. - Crooked Tree IPA
  • Moylan’s Brewing Co. - Pale Ale
  • Moylan’s Brewing Co. - IPA
  • Moylan’s Brewing Co. - Kiltlifter
  • Two Brothers Brewing Co. - Oh Brother Tripel
  • Lagunitas - Lucky 13
  • Lagunitas - Maximus IPA
• Andy from Whole Foods let’s us know about some new beers he has in his stock (and remember if you don’t see it on the shelf, be sure to ask for it):
  • Avery - Karma
  • Avery - 14′er ESB
  • Avery - Red Point
  • Avery - White Rascal
  • Shmaltz Brewing Company (He’Brew) - Sword Swallower
  • Shmaltz Brewing Company (He’Brew) - Albino Python
  • Hitachino XH, Espresso Stout 330ml
  • Gouden Carlus 2008 Red and Blue 750ml
  • Mendocino - Spring Bock
  • Mendocino - Summer White
  • New Belgium Folly Pack w/ Old Cherry
  • Ommegang Witte 750ml
  • Bison Brewing - Reunion Beer 2008
• Paul at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton alerts me to some new beers he has in stock:
  • McAuslan St. Ambroise Apricot Wheat
  • McAuslan St. Ambroise Plae Ale
  • McAuslan St. Amborise Oatmeal Stout
  • Avery Karma
  • Avery 14er ESB
  • Avery Redpoint Amber
  • Mikkeller Stateside IPA
  • Nils Oscar IPA
  • Nils Oscar Kalasol
  • Nils Oscar Imperial Stout
  • Nils Oscar Barley Wine
  • Eisenbahn Lust
  • Eisenbahn Defumada Smoke
  • Haandbryggeriet Dark Force
  • Haandbryggeriet Norwegian Wood
  • Brasserie de la Senne Taras Boulba
  • Gavroche French Red
  • Nogne IPA
  • Nogne Saison
• Joe Billhartz of Specialty Import Distributing Co. let me know of some beer over in Illinois. Contact your favorite beer store to see if these are available:
  • Harviestoun Ola Dubh 12, 16 & 30
  • Anderson Valley Summer
  • Shipyard Summer
  • Lagunitas Maximus
  • Lagunitas Lucky 13
• Mike Cherre, Beer Consultant at Lukas Liquor posts on their blog some of the new and special selections they have in stock:
  • Maredsous Dubbel and Trippel (750ml)
  • Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van de Keizer 2008 (750ml)
  • St. Ambroise Apricot Wheat (4pk)
  • St. Ambroise Pale Ale (4pk)
  • St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout (4pk)
  • Berghoff Red Bock Winter Ale
  • Shiner Bohemian
  • New Grist Sorghum Beer
  • Bell’s Oberon 5L mini kegs & 6pks
  • Buffalo Bill’s Orange Blossom
  • Aventinus Wheat Doppelbock vintage 2003 & 2004
  • New Belgium La Folie

Here’s a list of upcoming beer events:

• July 16 - Newstead Tower Public House Boulevard Beer Dinner
• July 17 - Starr’s July Beer Dinner

July 17th marks the date of yet another dinner being put on by Starr’s Market. As always, you have five courses and 10 beers to sample during the dinner. Here’s the menu:

Summer Vegetable Salad
Sierra Nevada Summer Fest
Reisdorf Kolsch

Fried Green Tomatoes with Fried Oysters and a Light Blue Crab Sauce
Fried Green Tomatoes with imperial sauce (no crab) - Vegetarian
Tomos Watkin OSB Bitter
Buffalo Belgium Stout

Tender Fried Rabbit Pieces and homemade Fettuccine with a sherry cream sauce
House made Fettuccine with Wild Mushrooms - Vegetarian
Thirez Blond dry Hopped Farmhouse Ale
Karmeliet triple

Pittsburg Style NY Strip Steak with New Potato Hash
Tofu, Hicama, and Vegetable Stir Fry - Vegetarian
Jolly Pumpkin La Roja Amber ale
LaChoulette Amber

Normandy Apple Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream
Unibrou Ephemere Apple
Black Dog Kristal Weiss

Dinner starts at 6:45PM. The cost of the event is $36.95 (plus tax and tip) for the carnivores and $26.95 (plus tax and tip) for you veggies. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 314-781-2345. If you’re concerned about missing the Tour de France, do fret. Bud informs me that it’ll be on the TV so you won’t miss a moment.

With the 4th of July Holiday fast approaching I’ve begun deliberating about what beer I want to take to our annual event.  While this year it looks like we’re going to have mild (and maybe rainy) weather, you always need to consider the fact you’re going to be outside in the sun.  So usually things like stouts, porters and a lot of imperial beers are out of the running for me.

For the most part I’m not a big fan of American-style wheat beers like Schlafly “Hefe” and Boulevard Wheat.  Sure they make a fine lawnmower beer for some folks, but I still want a bit more flavor.   I think Dave and I are the same wavelength about wheat beers.  If I’m going for something cloudy and yellow, I want something with another depth of flavor, be it the spice of a Wit or clove/banana of a Weiss.

Fruit beers are another option.  I think too many beer nerds are too quick to dismiss fruit beers. Sure when they’re bad, they’re usually really bad.  But when they’re good, they can hold their own with some of the best beers out there.   The one concern about some fruit beers is that they can fall into the upper tier of the alcohol range sometimes.  Just something to consider.

What about the old stand-by beers, like Pale Ales, APAs or IPAs? Those are always decent choices, but I’ve never been a huge fan of bitter beers in the hot sun.  Beer should be refreshing in that environment and shouldn’t weigh you down too much with flavor.  That being said, I’ve become much more of a hophead in the past year so I may have to give them another go this year.

Well, enough babbling, what have I decided on?   Well, I’m still trying to decide and maybe some of you can throw out some things I may have forgotten about.  But at this point:

• Bell’s Two Hearte
• O’Fallon Wheach?  (I love it with a hot dog)
• Unibroue Apple Éphémère
• Hitachino Nest White Ale

What are your choices for celebrating this holiday?

If you’re anything like me, you have too much glassware. Far, far too much. But what if you wanted to narrow it down to just 2 or 3 glasses, do you think you could? Dave emailed me in hopes of trying to find the perfect glassware for his new bar:

I’m currently building a home bar with an intention of having the minimum of glassware type.

I have recently narrowed down my wine glasses to buy to 2. That apparently can serve and enhance all wines. I would like to find a beer glass or 2 or fit the same purpose. At present, I find I need to have about 5 to 10 ‘different’ types of glasses for different beer. Heck, Riedel has about 200 glasses for their wine. WAY TOO MUCH. I think 10 different beer glasses is likewise too much. I presently use a pint glass but want to enjoy and enhance my beer drinking.

If I was forced down to just two glasses, a deserted-island selection, these would be my two choices:

The first would be the tulip glass from New Belgium Brewery. I find that it provides just about the most perfect beer drinking vessel for almost any style. Enough room to swirl the beer for aroma without spilling any. Enough volume to hold a full beer with a lot of head, which is perfect for your Belgian style beers. Also enough surface area to allow for easy warming if the beer is served too cold. It’s my go-to glass for beers I really want to take time to enjoy. My only issue is that I wish I could find it without a NB logo.

My second choice is just a standard Imperial Pint Glass. With having two homebrews on tap at any time, it’s nice to walk downstairs and pour off 20oz of beer whenever I like. It also makes drinking things like Pale Ales and Stouts just seem more authentic.

One other thing to possibly consider Dave, since you’re doing a bar with wine as well look at getting some large Champagne flutes. They’re just about the same shape as a pilsner glass and would allow you to do double duty. I’d be curious what everyone else thinks about possible glass choices.

You may remember me mentioning talking about La Fleur Misseur a while back, but it looks like the day has finally arrived and La Fleur Misseur is available in St. Louis. This beer is part of New Beligum’s new Lips of Faith series of sour/funky beers. Each couple of months will bring about a new beer for our tasting pleasure. For instance, La Fleur will give way to a Grand Cru by early August.

The catch to these beers is that they’re limited release small batches, which means you’re going to have to seek them out. Luckily for you they’re easy to find at Bailey’s Chocolate Bar and Cicero’s.

(As a completely separate, yet related side note, during my visit to The Flying Saucer in KC this weekend I noticed that La Fleur was available so I immediately ordered up a glass. Imagine my surprise when the beer arrived and after one whiff I knew I had the wrong thing. A manager walked by and noticed a puzzled look on my face and I explained that I didn’t think that they gave me La Fleur because I didn’t smell or taste any Brett. He told me that it wasn’t a sour ale and that it was made with Wormwood. I didn’t feel like fighting it so I just drank what I was given.

This same manager told me that Schlafly had a sour ale.)

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?

Sorry about the late Round-Up, I’m currently in Kansas City for the Cards/Royals series. I plan on making a trip over to Boulevard and the Flying Saucer while I’m out here. Should be a blast. I’ll take lots of pictures. On to the Round-Up:

Stuff from around the web

• Some thoughts on last weekend’s Rhythm and Brews Festival.
• Q&A With Dan Kopman about Schlafly’s greeness.
• Bill comes back from Kentucky with quite a haul.
• You may have heard, but AB said “no thanks” to InBev.

Beer Releases and News

• Paul at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton alerts me to some new beers he has in stock at the Clayton and Rock Hill locations:
  • Mikkeller Jackie Brown
  • Coney Island Albino Python
  • Coney Island Sword Swallower
  • Unibroue 8 pack Sampler
  • Mendocino Cast of Hawks 12pk sampler
  • Duchesse de Bourgogne 25oz

Here’s a list of upcoming beer events:

• June 28 - Westport Beer and Brat Festival
• July 16 - Newstead Tower Public House Boulevard Beer Dinner

If you were paying close attention to some of the comments yesterday you may have noticed that a new beer has made it’s way to St. Louis. If you don’t know much about Mikkeller brewery, don’t feel bad, I don’t know much either. But I know that their Beer Geek Breakfast is pretty sought after and pretty highly rated on Beer Advocate.

Dylan told me he didn’t have very much of this or the other Mikkeller beer, Jackie Brown, they received so if you want to get your hands on this get down to 33 as quickly as possible. I know I will.

Some of you may already know Joe Billhartz, but if you don’t he’s almost singularly responsible for the craft beer scene in Southern Illinois.  He previously worked for Corral Liquor as their beer buyer, so for may years he worked diligently to bring some awesome beers to our area.  Joe is now working for Specialty Distributors helping to do his part to bring even more to us.  Why all of this info on Joe?  Well first, he’s awesome, but secondly he’s helping host a beer dinner at Neruda in Edwardsville, IL.

Course 1
Gaffel Kolsch, Germany
Green Bean and Sweet Red Pepper Salad

Course 2
Erdinger Hefe-Weizen, Germany
Scallop Ceviche
Scallops, Citrus, Avocado

Course 3
Duvel Golden Ale, Belgium
Steamed Mussels
In a Dry Sherry Thyme Butter Broth

Course 4
Lion Stout, Sri Lanka
Orange Glazed ‘Pork Wings’
With Baby Bok Choy

Course 5
Kasteel Rouge, Belgium
Chocolate Nut Torte With Blueberry Marscapone

The only catch about attending this beer dinner is that it’s tonight.  (Sorry for the late notice, I just found out about this one myself.) There is a reception at 6:30 p.m. and dinner begins at 7:00 p.m. The cost of the dinner is $60 per person plus tax and gratuity. You can make reservations by calling Neruda at 618-659-9866.

I made a decision before attending Monday night’s beer tasting at Growler’s, this was probably going to be my last tasting.  Growler’s recent beer menus have left a bit to be desired.  It seems like the same beers over and over again mixed with a few light lagers to really spice things up.  But if the this most recent tasting is a sign of things to come, I may have to change my mind.  Just a few beers I remember from the tasting:

• Avery Hog Heaven
• Arcadia Coco Loco
• Het Anker Gouden Carolus Carolus D’Or - Cuvée Van De Keizer
• Great Divide Yeti
• De Proefbrouwerij - Reinaert Flemish Wild Ale
• O’Fallon Smoke
• Great Divide Hercules
• Left Hand Milk Stout
• Arcadia Hopmouth

Imperial IPAs?  Imperial Stouts?  Wild Ales?  Was this the same Growler’s I’ve been going to for the past 5 years?  And sure, that Wild Ale isn’t the more funky wild beer you’ll ever find, but it’s a step in the right direction!  Let’s just hope some of these beers make it onto the final beer list.  We’ll have to wait until September to find out for sure.