SEMO Craft Beer Lists, Events, & News Aug 27th

Here are this weeks updates to the SEMO Craft Beer Lists, Events, & News.  Enjoy!
Cheers!

SEMO Craft Beer Lists
Charleville's Hop Harvest Ale "Big Red" is on tap at the Brewery and will be ON CASK this weekend.  Very Cool!
I have been talking to Schnucks in Cape Girardeau.  Look to see some updates on Schnuck's Craft Beer Selections coming soon!

SEMO Breweries Craft Beer List

SEMO Retailers Craft Beer List
SEMO Restaurants Craft Beer List
SEMO Wineries Craft Beer List

SEMO Craft Beer Events
Every Friday night Crown Valley Brewery has draft specials, a take home beer special, and some free appetizers out for customers from 4-7pm. This weeks specials are $2.00 Drafts of Antique Amber Lager and the Worktruck Wheat and 10% discounts on take home six packs of Antique Amber Lager. Sounds like the place to be after work tonight up in the Farmington-Ste Gen Area!

Tickets go on sale for Crown Valley's 2nd Brewmaster's Dinner Sept 1st. If you purchase tickets by Sept 15th and use code "10810BREW" you get a 20% discount.

Homebrew Competition this weekend at the Cape Jaycees BBQ Fest sponsored by Homebrew Supply of Southeast Missouri.

Buckners Brewing is also pouring at the Cape Jaycess BBQ Fest.  Stop by have a pint and tell Mike how much you like his beer.

Primo Vino!'s next Craft Beer tasting will be Tuesday October 5th focusing on Octoberfest beers along with some other offerings. Expect Primo Vino! to be getting in some new beers in the weeks to come. I attended the last tasting and it was great. I can't wait for this one. These tasting are a great opportunity to try a dozen new beers without spending $100 on six packs or bombers. I will keep you posted on the upcoming tasting details.

Craft Beer News
Schnucks will be getting in the Schnucks/Culnaria Special Release Schlafly Raspberry Coffee Stout next week.
O'Fallon v. Schlafly: Pumpkin beer showdown and Mobile apps can steer you to beer at Hip Hops with Evan Benn
Boulevard has a new website and has brewed up a 21st Anniversary Fresh Hop Pale Ale.
Goose Island considering contracting with Redhook Brewery.

Crown Valley 2nd Annual Brewmaster's Dinner Oct 8th

Tickets go on sale for Crown Valley 2nd Brewmaster's Dinner Sept 1st.  If you purchase tickets by Sept 15th and use code "10810BREW" you get a 20% discount.  Make sure and tell them you read about the Dinner at SEMO Craft Beer!
Cheers!

From Shannon at Crown Valley Brewery:

Crown Valley Brewery will be hosting our second annual Brewmaster's Dinner Friday October 8, 2010. We will have a happy hour between 6-7 PM and dinner will be served at 7:30 PM. Dine with our Brewmaster Carl Wiersma over four delicious courses, three courses will be paired with one of Crown Valley's Beers and then the other course will be paired with the winning beer from our July Homebrewer's Contest. Tickets go on sale September 1, 2010 and tickets are $50.00 per person. If you book before September 15, 2010 and mention the code 10810BREW and this website you will receive a 20% discount. For more details about the Brewmaster's dinner go to http://www.crownvalleybrewery.com/ . If you have questions please feel free to contact Suzane Shannon at sshannon@crownvalleywinery.com .

Here are the four courses and the beer pairings as of right now, though these are subject to change.

Appetizer

Red wine marinated beef strip steak topped with porter sautéed mushrooms, and Big Bison marinated bison strip steak layered with caramelized mushrooms garnished with a mushroom cap stuffed with the caramelized onions.

Plowboy Porter

Salad

Iceberg Wedge with beer (bleu) cheese dressing and bacon

BrokenTreaty Wheat**(craft beer winner)

Entrée

Pan seared pork chops with apples & cider Served with celery root mash and asparagus

Hard Cider & Farmhouse Lager

Dessert

Raspberry and Chocolate mousse rosettes with black sesame butter crunch cookies

Sweet Raspberry Wheat

New Belgium Lips of Faith "Le Fleur Misseur"

Okay, I am going to try something new.  When I have a new Craft Beer I enjoy I will share it with you.  I am not going to rate the beer, as this sort of critique is very subjective and my palate is still in its infancy, but I will tell you that is worth tasting for yourself and give you information on the beer.  So, here we go....

Last night I tried New Belgium's Lips of Faith Series "Le Fleur Misseur" that I picked up at Schnucks in Cape.  I definately recommend giving it a try.  I have just recently started exploring Belgian-style ales and I found this one to be a really enjoyable, easy drinking craft beer for my palate.   Below I have included the beer description and professional reviews found on New Belgium's website as well as the links to the the reviews at BeerAdvocate and RateBeer.  Enjoy!

Cheers!

New Belgium's Website

LE FLEUR MISSEUR

Deep burnished gold with a slight haze, Le Fleur Misseur opens with pineapple, clove and honey notes. Dry-hopping produces a flower leaf aroma supported by tones of fresh bread and honey. Bottle conditioned with our special house strain of Brettanomyces (wild ale) yeast, Le Fleur finishes dry and slightly herbal.

Produced for New Belgium coworkers to celebrate our 15th anniversary, Le Fleur has roots in the earliest days of our history. In 1988 founder Jeff Lebesch sat weary on the side of a Belgian road when a young lad passing by picked a delicate yellow flower and offered it to Jeff.

“Le Fleur, Misseur?” Jeff misspelled the boy’s comment in his journal as he accepted the offering. A treasured memory, a beer to treasure.

New Belgium Website Reviews

Scott Neuman, Executive Chef of ¡Oba! Restaurant and Hall Street Grill

Ancho Chile seasoned Buttermilk Fried Chicken drizzled with honey and served on top of Blue Corn Waffles

I chose the chicken and waffle pairing with Le Fleur Misseur? for a few reasons. First, I thought that the ancho chilies and the blue corn would give the dish an earthy dynamic that would pair well with the spicy, herbal flavors from Hallertau dry hopping technique and rustic wild yeast bottle conditioning character. Secondly, the lovely acidity in the beer would cut right through the richness of the buttermilk fried chicken. I’ve always enjoyed a little honey drizzled on my fried chicken, and I thought that it would moisten the waffle at the same time accentuate the honey malt notes in the beer.

Learn more about Scott and his tasty creations at http://www.hallstreetgrill.com and http://www.obarestaurant.com

Suzanne Wolcott, Cheese Consultant, Chicago, Illinois

Cheese: A creamy Robiola (with part goat milk) or an earthy, classic (meaning slightly funky) French brie or Tomme.

Food: Pasta with wild mushroom ragu

*The brett spicyness in Le Fleur has a white pepper quality that is earthy and slightly funky. Therefore I chose earthy and sublty funky foods which both mirror and highlight the beer. I think it is a mistake to take the beers fruity (pineapple) and clove esters and pair them literally with sweet flavors and baking spices in food.

Chef John Leonardis of the GourmandGuruGroup

LE FLEUR MISSEUR? is a very sophisticated beer with its fresh honeycomb notes and herbal/floral characteristics. Even clove, cinnamon, and a little tropical fruit ~ it's wild and I guess that's the brett (brettanomyces- wild yeast) working. So, even if you are having a night in, wear a tie to dinner, because, like I said, it's sophisticated. I am thinking basil crusted pork loin with candied pears and pickled fennel and spiced goat cheese barley because all these things ingredients in my course would make the perfect bite, just like all the aromas and tastes in Le Fleur Missuer make the perfect sip.

Erin Hughes, one of our fine Liquid Center Representatives, recommends:

I love to grill out. So I would skewer up some mahi mahi, orange bell peppers, pineapple and costoluto heirloom tomatoes. The fish is meaty, but not salty so it won’t overpower the beer and the pineapple will bring out the bretta contribution in Le Fleur. The peppers and tomatoes balance the sweetness with acidity.

Salad as a side with fresh greens and edible flowers (like spicy nasturtiums) accentuate the floral aroma, subtle sweet honey taste and spicy Hallertau dry-hopping.

For dessert, grilled pears stuffed with a soft cheese like chevre or capricho de cabra. (There both softer cheeses, more silky to go with the LeF’s creamy mouthfeel). Drizzle vanilla honey and dust some cinnamon on top to highlight the wild yeast’s (Brettanomyces) clove.

If just looking to snack, put out a plate of Spanish Marcona almonds. They’re a little sweet, but you still get the salty fix and they go great on a plate next to chevre on artisan crackers with fig spread to complete the sweet and salty fusion.

BeerAdvocate Review - Overall Rating B+

RateBeer Review - Overall 93 Style 97

REMINDER Homebrew Competition at the Cape Jaycees BBQ Fest!

Don't forget to get those entries in this week!
Cheers!

Original Post July 25th:

Attention Homebrewers! We have another SEMO homebrew contest coming up August 27th.

Per John Huber of Homebrew Supply of Southeast Missouri:

Greetings,
Homebrew Supply of Southeast Missouri will be sponsoring a Homebrew Competition on location at the Cape Jaycees Bbqfest Friday and Saturday August 27th & 28th, 2010. This will be a non-sanctioned event; Gift certificates will be awarded to the top 3 brewers. You may drop off your entries at Homebrew Supply anytime before Friday August 27th or you may drop them off at the event on Friday August 27th from 2 PM til 6 PM. Entry fee is $5 per entry and we need 2-12 ounce bottles for each entry. You may enter as many entries as you wish. If you will be dropping off your entries at the event Friday, please let me know so I may plan accordingly.
If you have any questions or coments, feel free to contact me for details. Hope to see you all there and good luck!

Homebrew Supply of Southeast Missouri, LLC
John A. Huber
Address: 357 Oakhill Road, Jackson, Mo. 63755
Phone: 573-243-0397
Cell: 573-579-9398
Hours: M-F 5-7PM; Saturdays 8AM to 4PM
Please call ahead on my cell!
Email: homebrewsupply@gmail.com
www.homebrewsupply.biz

Charleville's "Big Red" Hop Harvest Ale On Tap Now

Charleville's Hop Havest Ale "Big Red" is "on tap and delicious" according to Brewmaster/Winemaker Tony Saballa!  Big Red is a 7.5% ABV amped up version of Tornando Alley Amber Ale brewed with a portion of Charleville Cascade Estate Hops and hopped at a rate of 3lbs per barrel!  This is only available on tap at the brewery so get on up to Ste Gen!

Cheers!

SEMO Craft Beer T-Shirts

I am considering getting SEMO Craft Beer T-shirts made up. If I did would anyone be interested?

SEMO Craft Beer List, Events, & News Aug 20th

SEMO Craft Beer List Updates
This week we welcome the additions of CAIN , Bella Italia Ristorante, River Ridge Winery, and Twin Oaks Winery to our SEMO Craft Beer Lists.

Saffron Bistro also updated their featured beer to Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA. Below are the links to the individual Craft Beer List pages at the SEMO Craft Beer Webpage. Our SEMO Craft Beer Lists are growing!

SEMO Craft Breweries Beer List
SEMO Retailers Craft Beer List
SEMO Restaurants Craft Beer List
SEMO Wineries Craft Beer List

SEMO Craft Beer Events Updates
Yesterday I posted that every Friday night Crown Valley Brewery will have draft specials, a take home beer special, and some free appetizers out for customers from 4-7pm. This weeks specials are $2.00 Drafts of Antique Amber Lager and Worktruck Wheat and 10% discounts on take home six packs of Wooden Nickel IPA. Sounds like the place to be after work tonight up in the Farmington-Ste Gen Area!

Primo Vino!'s next Craft Beer tasting will be Tuesday October 5th focusing on Octoberfest beers along with some other offerings. Expect Primo Vino! to be getting in some new beers in the weeks to come. I attended the last tasting and it was great. I can't wait for this one. These tasting are a great opportunity to try a dozen new beers without spending $100 on six packs or bombers. I will keep you posted on the upcoming tasting details.

SEMO Craft Beer News
This week I found out Tractor's American Classic American Grill has dropped Schlafly Pale Ale from their beer list.

Celebrations posted on Facebook yesterday that they have new beers coming in for both of their locations today (I can't wait to get the list!).

Cape Girardeau's resident About Beer writer Bryce Eddings posted three blogs this week. Check them out:

• Let's Name the World's Greatest Beer City
• New Beer Book - Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation
• Gypsy Brewer - New Name For an Old Practice

In St Louis Craft Beer News, STL Hops just posted that Hill Brewing Company in Ferguson, MO, will be putting on their first ever beer dinner on Thursday, September 2nd from 6:30-9PM and that iTap in Chesterfield will be hosting a special Goose Island Tasting Event that will feature Goose Island Beers that have never made their way to the STL Area .

In National News, NPR ran a story on Craft Brewing, 'Gypsy Brewer' Spreads Craft Beer Gospel.

And, I was excited to read on a Beernews.org post, that in January 2011 Sierra Nevada will be bottling and kegging a new Double IPA, Hoptimum. I have no idea if this will make it to SEMO or not. Fingers Crossed! Hoptimum Double IPA was originally a Sierra Nevada Beer Camp creation that was made for SF Beer Week 2010. (Did I mention I think the logo for SF Beer Week is one of the coolest logo's I have ever seen!)

Have a great weekend everyone and keep spreading the word about better beer!
Cheers!