Though there will be a few Kentucky posts to come I thought I’d slap this one out first because it’s the easy one.

There is a lot of beer that is distributed in Kentucky that is not in Missouri. Some of it is in Illinois but not as widely and as easy to get as I found it to be in Kentucky. Most important of those is Stone brewery. I’d had a few Stone beers at Mike’s but this was my first opportunity to pick some up for my own stock. They make big beers that freak out non-big beer drinkers (the ones I bought anyway).

The second most important was Brooklyn Brewery. I’ve never had any of the Brooklyn brewery beers. I really like their brew master Garrett Oliver though so I’m hoping they’re okay. In Michael Jackson’s passing last year he is one of the people most poised to take his place as king of the beer geeks. More importantly, unlike many beer nerds, he likes wine a great deal as well. You’ll see him do beer vs wine pairing type stuff from time to time.

Bell’s also seemed to be more widely distributed, and I was able to grab a couple old sixes of Winter White and Double Cream Stout. They’re two of my favorite beers so they won’t be around long enough to really get skunky. I’m always sad to see them disappear from the shelves at the end of winter.

Rounding it out I saw a Dogfish Head beer I’d never seen: Burton Baton. Dogfish Head says it’s a blend of oak-aged English strong ale and our 90 Minute I.P.A.. Citrus notes from Northwestern hops meld with vanilla notes from the oak; 120min was only $7.99 as apposed to the $9.99 I paid in Illinois; and New Holland was also better distributed from what I saw.

The bounty is as follows…

• 2 Avery Maharaja as I hadn’t seen it in St. Louis in a while (though Mike says it’s coming back soon).
• 1 Stone Smoked Porter
• 5 Stone Arrogant Bastard
• 4 Stone Ruination
• 1 12oz Stone Ruination
• 2 New Holland Night Tripper
• 2 New Holland Dragon’s Milk
• 2 New Holland Blue Goat
• 1 Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca
• 4 Brooklyn Lager
• 4 Brooklyn East India Pale Ale
• 2 Brooklyn Nut Brown
• 2 Brooklyn Pennant Ale ‘55
• 2 Dogfish Head 120min IPA
• 2 Dogfish Head Burton Baton
• 6 Bell’s Winter White
• 6 Bell’s Double Cream Stout

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Beer Availability in Kentucky

I took a bunch of pics of Schlafly’s Repeal of Beer Prohibition Festival and I forgot to mention that fact when it was, you know, topical.

Never the less, you can see them

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Repeal Festival Pictures

I may not have the St. Louisian affinity for provel but I have embraced the pork steak.

Though when they’re cooked the way they’re supposed to be, or at least my understanding of it, and they’ve simmered in bbq sauce (and beer) for a while after grilling, they’re just pretty good.

When I cook them up, instead of simmering them and ruining the char, I like to omit that step to let the fat — the great heaping lot of it — get a little burnt and crispy so that the juicy charred hog butt just melts in your mouth.

So I might just be a little excited for the Brew & Q event Schlafly is hosting.

• What: BREW & Q 2008 – Amateur BBQ Competition with winners for Best Pork Steak, Best Appetizer with Matching Schlafly Beer, and Best Booth
• When: Friday, May 23 • 5:00-10:00 p.m. & Competition on Saturday, May 24 • Noon-10:00 p.m.
• Where: Schlafly Bottleworks

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Mmm…Pork Butt

When I go to your restaurant, even though I’m not the beer snob some people are, sometimes I want beer instead of wine; and by beer I mean good beer; and by good beer I do not mean Stella Artois.

I mention this because even if you’re not super interested in researching the beers on your menu, or even carrying an extensive list, after listening to Mike rant more than a few times about restaurants and beer menus, he has convinced me there is a disparity between restaurants with good wine lists and that same restaurant’s beer selections.

Rather than simply complaining, however, Mike has come up with a solution by putting together sample beer lists that not only recognize the need for profit and the demand for certain brands, but also of better than average beer that while maybe not the ultimate showing of love to the beer snob would at least tread a middle ground where the Bud Select drinkers of the world can clink their ice cold bottles with the same joy that those of us with a Two Hearted Ale or O’Fallon 5 Day IPA obsession could experience as we poor it perfectly into appropriate glassware.

Which is another point by the way — if you care about service ware enough to not serve white and red wine in the same glass, than is it to much to ask that you might also not serve something like pale ale in a hefeweizen glass?

In all seriousness though, please look at Mike’s lists as he suggests several options to spruce up your beer list. In doing so I think you will find that you might just drum up a little more business because there really is a segment of diners that won’t frequent a place where they can’t get good beer.

Bill

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Better Restaurant Beer

The Washington Post’s Beer Madness is upon us once again (apparently).

Modeled after the NCAA’s March Madness, with 32 beers the tournament represents four divisions (lagers, ales, specialty & fruit, dark beers) as they go head to head to see who will remain.

At casa Burge we’ll be pulling for Avery Brewing Companies Ellie’s Brown Ale and not just for the obvious reason. It really is Ellie’s favorite beer and one of the Final Four last year.

The winner was the King of the Beer Dudes, Garrett Oliver brewmastered, Brooklyn Brewery brewed, Brooklyn Lager.

Unfortunately that’s not available in our area, but we can get the Brooklyn Brewery joint brewed Schering & Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse which I’ve picked up at Lukas Liquor in the past.

Bring it home with the St. Louis connection, Anheuser-Busch will have a hard time eeking out some wins with their player, Michelob Lager…but not as hard as poor Miller with their cede: Miller Chill — Light American Lager “chelada style.” Yikes!

Visit the Beer Madness site, print out your bracket, and get bettin’.

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Beer Madness