The Beer Thread

[cards2468]

in my opinion, some of the small breweries in St. Louis that get put down by respectable opinions are highly overlooked

for instance, some have claimed that Square One Brewery makes terrible beer... but I don't mind it, and as a matter of fact they have a couple different beers that I especially like

In terms of stores, yea, it's tough to find craft beers. I love going to Whole Foods, but obviously their craft beers come from all over the place, but if you go to some bars, you'll find a large regional selection. Chocolate bar, also in Lafayette Square, has a gigantic great selection of local brews.

[jim]

in my opinion, some of the small breweries in St. Louis that get put down by respectable opinions are highly overlooked

for instance, some have claimed that Square One Brewery makes terrible beer... but I don't mind it, and as a matter of fact they have a couple different beers that I especially like

In terms of stores, yea, it's tough to find craft beers. I love going to Whole Foods, but obviously their craft beers come from all over the place, but if you go to some bars, you'll find a large regional selection. Chocolate bar, also in Lafayette Square, has a gigantic great selection of local brews.

I like Schlafly.

Pair it with a pregame hotdog at Hrabosky's place.

[JL21]

Regional = Boulevard + Schlafly? Maybe the O'Fallon Brewery, which is nothing special at all? Not trying to be a smartass. I'm just curious what other brewers there are in the state. If I go to, say, the Macklind Deli (which has a fantastic selection), those are the only three regionals I'm going to find.

It's pathetic that STL only has the one craft brewer (and I guess two if you want to count O'Fallon, which IMO should count).

And yeesh, Boulevard is regional but KC is like 4 hours away. It's almost as "regional" as Goose Island.

EDIT: and when I say brewers, I mean places that bottle their product and sell it in stores.

Pair it with a pregame hotdog at Hrabosky's place.

This is cracking me up.

[cards2468]

I like Schlafly.

Pair it with a pregame hotdog at Hrabosky's place.

I always thought their beer tastes like water, but it's also been a good 2 years since the last time I've had any of their stuff, so tonight I'm going to give them another try during happy hour before my Ethics class.

[cards2468]

Regional = Boulevard + Schlafly? Maybe the O'Fallon Brewery, which is nothing special at all? Not trying to be a smartass. I'm just curious what other brewers there are in the state. If I go to, say, the Macklind Deli (which has a fantastic selection), those are the only three regionals I'm going to find.

It's pathetic that STL only has the one craft brewer (and I guess two if you want to count O'Fallon, which IMO should count).

And yeesh, Boulevard is regional but KC is like 4 hours away. It's almost as "regional" as Goose Island.

Pair it with a pregame hotdog at Hrabosky's place.

This is cracking me up.

look harder, not all brewers ship their stuff all over the state and stock it in stores

behind my apartment building a little micro brewery just opened called 6 Row I plan on trying this week

Sure, St. Louis might not be able to stack up to Millwuakee, but it's [expletive] cold up there, what else do they have to do? I think St. Louis has many more craft brew/regional brew options than most cities.

[JL21]

Meh. Places that don't bottle are nice and all and I know there are a handful (that [expletive] one in St. Charles, Square One, Mattingly's, I guess that place you're talking about) but if the product was that good, they'd bottle it and make money off of it.

My big hope is that the InBev backlash will prompt St. Louis to re-direct their beer energy into something the city can be proud of.

[Freed Roger]

in my opinion, some of the small breweries in St. Louis that get put down by respectable opinions are highly overlooked


In terms of stores, yea, it's tough to find craft beers. I love going to Whole Foods, but obviously their craft beers come from all over the place, but if you go to some bars, you'll find a large regional selection. Chocolate bar, also in Lafayette Square, has a gigantic great selection of local brews.

I think the grocers are seeing the trend in #s and the larger craft beer selection (and even aisle placement) at our Dierbergs/Schnucks (Dierbergs more than schnucks) has expanded enough that I only go to Whole Foods or a liquor store like Randalls on special occassion. I try to keep my 6 pack under $10 so it limits my range.

for instance, some have claimed that Square One Brewery makes terrible beer... but I don't mind it, and as a matter of fact they have a couple different beers that I especially like

You describe the Square One conundrum pretty well. Some of the beer makes me wince - tastes like my mouth is getting washed out by soap. But we've had fun there and at their Augusta place, drinking down the blond ale. Its for a good cause. I've heard they are improving though.

This spring, I am going to get to Charleville down near St. Gen. Their products have been interesting, and making some shelves in STL. On tap at Pi.

[cards2468]

Meh. Places that don't bottle are nice and all and I know there are a handful (that [expletive] one in St. Charles, Square One, Mattingly's, I guess that place you're talking about) but if the product was that good, they'd bottle it and make money off of it.

My big hope is that the InBev backlash will prompt St. Louis to re-direct their beer energy into something the city can be proud of.

So only breweries that bottle their stuff are good? Perhaps they don't want to be sell outs, or perhaps they just want to make good beer that brings people to their bar/restaurant.

[JL21]

Meh. Places that don't bottle are nice and all and I know there are a handful (that [expletive] one in St. Charles, Square One, Mattingly's, I guess that place you're talking about) but if the product was that good, they'd bottle it and make money off of it.

My big hope is that the InBev backlash will prompt St. Louis to re-direct their beer energy into something the city can be proud of.

So only breweries that bottle their stuff are good? Perhaps they don't want to be sell outs, or perhaps they just want to make good beer that brings people to their bar/restaurant.

I was afraid you'd interpret what I said that way.

I'm not saying they can't be good. Not at all. I've been to a billion places like that and they have very good beer. What I am saying, however, is if it's really really good, then they need to bottle it and sell it somewhere besides their location.

I think the notion that they're only making good beer to get people into their restaurant is kind of silly. Using one of the places I referenced earlier as an example- The Great Dane Brewery in Madison... If they sold their product in a store where I could buy it, it wouldn't prevent me from going into their bar/restaurant. It would just give me another opportunity to consume more of their very, very good product.

And even in the case of the Dane, they sell taps to other local bars. So their specific locations in Madison aren't the only places you can get their beers.

[cards2468]

Meh. Places that don't bottle are nice and all and I know there are a handful (that [expletive] one in St. Charles, Square One, Mattingly's, I guess that place you're talking about) but if the product was that good, they'd bottle it and make money off of it.

My big hope is that the InBev backlash will prompt St. Louis to re-direct their beer energy into something the city can be proud of.

So only breweries that bottle their stuff are good? Perhaps they don't want to be sell outs, or perhaps they just want to make good beer that brings people to their bar/restaurant.

I was afraid you'd interpret what I said that way.

I'm not saying they can't be good. Not at all. I've been to a billion places like that and they have very good beer. What I am saying, however, is if it's really really good, then they need to bottle it and sell it somewhere besides their location.

I think the notion that they're only making good beer to get people into their restaurant is kind of silly. Using one of the places I referenced earlier as an example- The Great Dane Brewery in Madison... If they sold their product in a store where I could buy it, it wouldn't prevent me from going into their bar/restaurant. It would just give me another opportunity to consume more of their very, very good product.

At the same time, those micro breweries would also be forced to expand if they wanted to have their product on shelves. I was talking with with somebody at Square One and he said they really struggle to brew beer fast enough just to supply their restaurant. Perhaps it's just a business venture they're not ready to take on yet, and in today's market I'd imagine it would be tough to get a loan to open a brewery in hopes that they could sell their beer in grocery stores.