Beer Week in St. Louis

It's taken a few days to find the time, but thanks to the St. Louis craft brewing industry for a wonderful ten days. I was able to take in several of the events and am glad I did. It started the last weekend of July with the Midwest Belgian Beer Festival hosted by Perennial Artisan Ales in South Saint Louis near where the River Des Peres flows into the Mississippi. (Well, the River Des Peres isn't exactly flowing these days as it has been dried up by the intense heat of the last six weeks. Let's just say it's trickling into the Mississippi). Perennial does a great job with everything it touches so it came as no surprise to me that there were so many Belgian's available for tasting. I had the opportunity for the first time to taste several Sour beers. Perennial's was done by brewer Phil Wymore, and ran out quickly. Goose Island from Chicago had both of its breweries represented, and one of them brought a big sour beer, and New Belgium from Colorado brought a very nice Kriek. The Kriek, with sour Cherries, changed as the room warmed. Long story short, it was a great afternoon that passed by very quickly.

Last weekend, iTap in Soulard, hosted a Firkin Festival. For the un-educated a firkin, or cask, is pumped by hand and served at room temperature. I had time to try 4 Hands Red Rye out of the cask, Stone's Arrogant Bastard Cask Style and finally New Holland Brewing's Dragon Milk aged over Bourbon Barrels. Oh, it was all good. I would have had a second Dragon Milk, but the fact I was driving prohibited that, even after several glasses of water back. Another amazing day for beer lovers in St. Louis.
Thanks to all the men and women in St. Louis who brew these wonderful products!

A Great Visit to Perennial Ales

I had some free time last night so I took a trip to one of my favorite craft breweries in Saint Louis; Perennial Artisan Ales. Brew master Phil Wymore who sure can brew it, had two new selections on his menu.

The first I tried was his IPA#2. It's a Belgium Style IPA and is tasty. It's labelled #2 because the first IPA created by Perennial was created by brewer Corey King. It is a traditional English IPA and very good. Personally I prefer the English style to the Belgium style, but IPA#2 is something I could drink regularly.

The second beer I had was Barrel Aged Mint Stout. It's like drinking a glass of the Girl Scout's thin mint cookie. And to top it off it's aged in what the brewery website calls Rittenhouse Rye barrels. I only had one because it is over nine percent Alcohol by Volume. Oh my was it fine! Perennial keep up the good work!

In Praise of Cask Beer

So here it is the end of February and I'm wondering what happened to the New Year. We're eight weeks into it and it seems as if we were just watching Bowl Games. Don't get me wrong, the older I get the less I like Winter. And if we are one day closer to Spring than that makes me happy.

You know what else makes me happy; good beer. I had the chance last weekend to go to a Cask Beer Festival in New Haven, Mo. It was hosted by 2nd Shift Brewing. Its brewer Steve Crider was joined by brewers from seven other St. Louis area micro-breweries. Each brought a keg of cask ale. For the uninitiated cask beer is hand pumped and served at cellar temperature. To me it becomes more flavorful and takes on a slightly different personality than when it's cold.

Joining the festival were Charleville Brewing in St. Genevieve, Exit 6 Brewery in St. Charles County and Urban Chestnut, Schlafly, Four Hands, Perennial Artisan Ales, and The Civil Life from St. Louis. Each of the brewers are experienced and know exactly what they are doing. So, it was a joy to sample all of the casks and meet some interesting people who share a love for craft beer. If I had to pick a favorite (and this is really tough because they were all good) I would pick Crider's hoppy offering named "Brew Cocky" and the two casks brought by Charleville; German Chocolate Cake Stout and a Dozen Roses. Right there with them is Urban Chestnut's Old Tjiko. It tasted like a Christmas Tree in a glass. If I were to try all of these again, I am sure I would have a different favorite. so please, don't get me wrong the rest of the breweries participating had very good beer too.

Bottom line is this was one fun time and very relaxed with no need to worry about driving home after the festival because the ticket included a room for the night and a BBQ for dinner and hearty breakfast the next morning. 2nd Shift when you do this again later this year I will be there. You knocked it out of the park!