Goose Island Bourbon County - Coffee

Very rare, only 5 cases came to St. Louis.

Sold Out!
Again, you can pick it up at any store -- click here to order
(At Forsyth now, it will take a few days to get to the other store)





Goose Island Black Bourbon County Coffee Stout...$11.99 / 22oz
Brewmasters Notes:
Everyday Goose Island smells the wonderful coffee roasting next to our brewery at Chicago's Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea. They put the same passion and skill into their coffee as Goose Island does with its beer. This excellent stout is made with Black Cat Espresso beans from our friends next door. You'll like the combination.


Recipe Information:
Style: Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Coffee Stout
Alcohol by Volume: 13%
International Bitterness Units: 60
Color: Midnight
Hops: Willamette
Malt: 2-Row, Munich, Chocolate, Caramel, Roast Barley, Debittered Black
Coffee: Intelligentsia Black Cat Espresso


Serving Suggestions:
Preferred Glass: Snifter
Preferred Serving Temperature: 40º
Food Pairings: Flourless Chocolate Coffee Cake
Cheese Pairings: Capriole Bourbon Chocolate Torte
Cellaring Notes: Develops in the bottle up to 5 years

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Wheach in cans!!

O'Fallon Wheach in CANS
has arrived at Forsyth

O'Fallon Wheach....$13.99 / 12 pack CANS

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Boulevard Tasting Tonight!!

The Wine and Cheese Place
7435 Forsyth Blvd
Clayton, MO 63105
314-727-8788


Friday, April 30, 2010
4pm-6pm

Open House Format! Bring your friends! No reservations needed!
Boulevard Smokestack Series Tasting
Laura Dale from Boulevard will be on hand to taste the full Boulevard Smokestack Series.


We will taste:
Smokestack Tank 7
Smokestack Long Strange Tripel
Smokestack Double Wide IPA
Smokestack Sixth Glass Quad
Smokestack Dark Truth Stout
Smokestack Rye on Rye
Smokestack SeeYouLater Doppelbock
Smokestack Harvest Dance

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Years before whiskey comes out of the bottle as that amber-hued, caramel-scented object of desire, it goes into a barrel as something called white dog. This unruly spirit is unknown to most drinkers in its legal form, and its name summons images of Mason jars, rusted-out Chevys and revenuers creeping through the pines.

While you can still venture to a backwoods holler - or a seedy urban nip joint - and find coarse, homemade white lightning, now hobbyist distillers and an increasing number of professionals are cozying up to the unaged, unadorned character of clear whiskey.

"White whiskey is very dependent on the flavors of that with which it was made, as opposed to that in which it was stored," says Max Watman, whose new book, "Chasing the White Dog" (Simon & Schuster, $25), is being released this week. It chronicles his experiences with moonshiners and home distilling, and with legal distillers who honed their skills on white whiskey.

"In a barrel-aged whiskey like Maker's Mark, you've got all that vanillin and good, oaky round flavors that have become very much a part of the character of the spirit. In white dog, you've got nothing but the distiller's craft and the agriculture behind it," Watman says.

Until recently, the only unaged whiskeys on the market were coarse-tasting novelty products such as Georgia Moon. Increasingly, small distillers are seeing white dog as a way to introduce bartenders and consumers to a forthcoming aged whiskey while it's still in its infancy and to showcase their distilling skills with a spirit untouched by the mitigating effects of an oak barrel.

The naked, rustic aspect of white dog is finding fans among spirits aficionados.

Sampling the years
"Having visited a number of distilleries around the world and tasted spirits fresh off the still, it always perplexed me that nobody sold white dog," says H. Joseph Ehrmann, owner of the Mission District bar Elixir.

"Whiskey is one of the oldest and most well-known spirits categories, but unlike tequila, you couldn't taste it at its different stages of age."

While many Snuffy Smith-style rural moonshiners are still in operation, Watman says the liquor they produce is often of a gut-wrenching quality, made from white sugar with a sprinkling of chicken feed, such as the jar of whiskey he obtained in Virginia from a gentleman known as Skillet.

"It was the most profoundly disgusting - and hazardous-tasting - liquor I've ever put to my lips," Watman says. "I felt as if I was taking years of happy drinking off my internal organs with every swallow."

In comparison, the white whiskeys being bottled by small distilleries are typically made with an artisan's touch.

These whiskeys have a grappa-like ranginess but a clean, bold grain flavor. San Francisco bars such as Nopa and Elixir carry several styles, including Hudson New York Corn Whiskey from Tuthilltown Spirits, made in part from an heirloom corn variety; and Death's Door White Whiskey, made primarily from Wisconsin-grown hard red winter wheat.

Elixir also carries one of the newest white whiskeys, Doubled & Twisted Light Whiskey from St. Helena-based Marko K Spirits. Distilled from a hoppy India Pale Ale in 2004 by Marko Karakasevic, master distiller at Charbay, the whiskey was rested in an oak barrel for one day, then diluted and placed in a stainless steel tank - which allowed the whiskey to mature without the coloring and flavoring effects of oak, which could obscure the raw spirit's spicy, floral character - until it was bottled late last year.

Other white whiskeys that have recently premiered include a malted-barley white dog from Portland, Ore.-based House Spirits, released in late 2009. Two additional batches - one an unaged peated-barley malt, the other a rye whiskey - were bottled earlier this month. Also, Copper Fox Distillery in Virginia has released cask-strength, unaged versions of its Wasmund's malted barley and rye whiskeys, which may be purchased along with a barrel for custom aging.

Getting in on the act
Larger distilleries have taken interest in white dog, too. Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky, maker of several whiskeys including Buffalo Trace Bourbon, began selling uncut, unaged samples of the bourbon for what is described as educational purposes at its gift shop in 2009 (due to demand, the distillery is considering a wider release).

"We have 45,000 visitors per year, and many have no idea that bourbon is clear when it goes into the barrel," says Angela Traver, a distillery spokeswoman. "It's interesting to give them a taste of the white dog, so it emphasizes the importance of the barrel and the aging process."

Ehrmann uses white whiskey to educate his customers as well. "I have a couple of whiskey barrels in the bar, and I say, 'When the whiskey goes into that barrel, this is what it is. When it comes out, it's what you know it to be,' " Ehrmann says. "That's all aging. When they taste that, they get it."

Watman says that even among whiskey fans, white dog is an acquired taste, although Nopa's White Manhattan, made with Death's Door White Whiskey, is one of its best-selling drinks. Not surprisingly, all of these unaged whiskeys are taken from larger batches, the remainder of which went into oak barrels to age.

But for Brian Ellison of Death's Door Spirits, what started as a onetime release for collectors has become a notable element in his business.

"Every time we make a batch, we ask if we have to barrel it for aging or sell it as white whiskey," Ellison says.

Paul Clarke is a contributing editor at Imbibe magazine, a trade publication, and publisher of the blog the Cocktail Chronicles.

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Blind IPA Tasting results

The results are in from our Blind IPA Tasting!

We started out with a suprise Bells Two Hearted Ale flight. One bottled in January, one in February, one in March, and one in April. We wanted to see how the hops survive as an IPA ages. Bells showed fantastic, the two freshest came in at #2 and #3.

We had IPAs from Missouri, Colorado, California, Michigan, Idaho, and New York. I arranged the tasting from lowest ABV to the highest. Here are the results in order, starting with the winner. The beers were rated on a 10 point scale.

#1 - average score 6.95
Avery Maharaja #11
99 RateBeer
10.24% ABV
IBU: 102
Hops: Simcoe, Columbus, Centennial, Chinook

#2 - average score 6.89
Bells Two Hearted Ale -- bottled April 22
100 RateBeer
ABV: 7%
IBU: 56
Hops: Centennial

#3 - average score 6.47
Bells Two Hearted Ale -- bottled in March 22
100 RateBeer
ABV: 7%
IBU: 56
Hops: Centennial

#4 - average score 6.36
Bear Republic Racer 5
California
99 RateBeer
ABV: 7%
IBU: 69
Hops: Columbus, Cascade

#5 - average score 6.15
Founders Centennial IPA
Michigan
98 RateBeer
ABV: 7.2%
Hops: Centennial
IBU: 65


#6 - average score 6.00
Southern Tier Un*Earthly
99 RateBeer
11% ABV
IBU: 153

#7 - average score 5.63
Boulder Mojo IPA
Colorado
97 RateBeer
ABV: 6.8%
IBU: 89
Hops: Amarillo

#8 - average score 5.47
Bells Two Hearted Ale February 8
100 RateBeer
ABV: 7%
IBU: 56
Hops: Centennial

#9 - average score 5.36
O’Fallon 5-Day IPA
Missouri
90 RateBeer
ABV: 6.1%
IBU: 66
Hops: Summit, Cascade, Glacier


#10 - average score 5.10
New Belgium Ranger IPA
Colorado
94 RateBeer
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 70
Simcoe, Cascade, Chinook

#11 - average score 4.94
Bells Two Hearted Ale January 4
100 RateBeer
ABV: 7%
IBU: 56
Hops: Centennial

#12 - average score 4.89
Laughing Dog Devil Dog Imperial IPA
98 RateBeer
10% ABV
IBU: 98
Hops: Columbus, Northern Brewer, Ahtanum, Cascade, Simcoe

#13 - average score 4.84
Moylans Hopsickle Imperial IPA
100 RateBeer
9.2% ABV
Hops: Cascade, Simcoe, Columbus, Ahtanum,
Chinook


#14 - average score 4.78
Grand Teton Sweetgrass IPA
81 RateBeer
6.5% ABV
Hops: Columbus, Galena, Amarillo, Cascade, Simcoe

#15 - average score 4.47
Arcadia Hop Mouth Double IPA
Michigan
94 RateBeer
ABV: 8.1%
IBU: 76


#16 - average score 4.36
Weston Brewlabs No.1
Missouri
51 RateBeer
ABV: 7.6%
IBU: 89
Hops: Cascade, Chinook

　
order beer online now

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Weston from Missouri

Fresh load of Weston just arrived! All just days old.
Plus a new mixed pack

O'Malley's Pack-O-Craic....$6.99 / 6pk
2 bottles each
--- ISB Irish Style Bitter Ale
---Emerald Lager
---Festival Ale Irish Style Brown

In Old Ireland, people often come together to celebrate everyday life —fueled by good friends, and great beer. The resulting tradition of merriment and conviviality is called "craic" (pronounced "krak") — a quintessentially Irish form of fun.
Miles away in old Weston, Missouri, two strapping young lads decided to bring the tradition of craic to America. Their efforts to give craic a home in Weston have been welcomed by thirsty masses in search of merriment — and really great beer.
The O'Malley's Craic Pack includes a delightful trio of Irish-inspired beers perfect for every taste and every occasion:
O'Malley's Emerald, Irish Style Bitter (ISB) & Festival Ale
At O'Malley's, we dutifully carry on the Irish tradition of taking something great and making it better. We've taken beer and made it an essential part of every celebration. Crack open a Pack-O-Craic and bring this celebration home today!

A new brewery in Missouri is bottling now!
Weston Brewing Company!

(and available online now! - click here)



Weston Drop Kick Ale.....$6.99 / 6pk

The first year-round offering since O'Malley's Cream Ale is now in stores. Drop Kick Ale is the "The Beer that Kicks back". It was designed for sports fans of Kansas City. The beer is a joint effort between tehh Weston Brewing Company and The Kansas City Soccer Foundation. The Foundation is the charitable arm of the Kansas City Wizards Soccer team. The brewery will make a donation to the foundation with each Drop Kick sale. Proceeds benefit youth scholarships, health education, and athletic participation. The beer has a European flair. It is light brown in color with a smooth malty richness, but remains light enough to enjoy while cheering on your favorite team." -- brewery

The consider their Cream Ale to be their flagship brew...

Weston O'Malley's Cream Ale Irish Style...$6.99 / 6pk
O'Malley's Cream Ale -golden in color- is a smooth, sweet and creamy brew with a light floral hop nose, malty middle and smooth finish. Don't miss the brew that started it all.

Weston SunRye Ale.....$6.99 / 6pk
O'Malley's SunRye’s Ale is the perfect beer drinker’s summer brew. Not a watered down seasonal substitute, SunRye’s offers a complex combination of the ruddy malts and gives the smoothest finish yet. It’s about time summer had a real beer.










Weston Brew Labs #1 IPA....$3.69 / 22oz

89 IBUs.
7.6% ABV
"After several years in the session beer business it is time to spread our wings and throw some extra hops and alcohol into the bottle. As big IPA fans, this seemed like the right place to start. This beer started several years ago as our 10 gallon batch of "Cream Ale Reserve". We used pale, caramel, and roasted malt for the base then dumped a ton of Cascade and Chinook hops into the boil. In the end it turned out much smoother than we expected given the IBUs. It goes down easy and has become our favorite out of the tank. We hope you like it as much as we do!!!" -- brewery






History of Weston Brewing...
"The Weston Brewing Company was first established in 1842 by German immigrant John Georgian. Georgian brought the tradition of lager brewing with him when he settled in Weston. The brewery was designed to utilize ice from the river during winter and lagering cellars dug deep into the ground to create ideal conditions for his beer which needed to be stored below 60 degrees for more than six weeks. In creating the brewery, the Weston Brewing Company became one of the first lager breweries in the United States.
Upon Georgian’s death in 1857, the brewery was acquired by August Kunz. The Kunz family, Joseph and Charles, were active in the brewery business in Leavenworth, KS during the same time period.

Kunz rebuilt the brewery after it was destroyed by fire in 1860 and continued to operate it until 1872 when he closed it due to financial problems. The brewery remained in an inactive status until 1885 when another Leavenworth brewer, John Brandon, an English immigrant and engineer by trade, teamed with fellow Leavenworth resident, George Mack, to reopen, the brewery.

As respective Manager and Superintendent of the brewery, Brandon and Mack negotiated a deal with famous Lawrence, KS brewer, John Walruff. Walruff with his son August, acquired the brewery in 1887.

Walruff, a native of Cologne, Prussia and machinist by trade, dabbled in politics and banking in Ottawa, KS before opening a large brewery and beer garden in Lawrence, KS.

When the Kansas Legislature passed a prohibition law in 1880, Walruff spent six years and many thousands of dollars trying to circumvent the law by claiming his products were ‘medical beer’ that cured stomach and other intestinal ailments.

A United States Supreme Court decision in 1887 against Salina, KS brewer, Peter Mugler and the United States Brewers’ Association, concerning a States’ right to close down a brewery if the State felt it would prevent injurious use of its product was the final blow to Walruff. Walruff soon gave up his fight and relocated his brewery to Weston, MO.

Walruff and son August spent $50,000 to refurbish the Plant. August even took courses in Cincinnati to become a master brewer. The elder Walruff spent only one and a half years in Weston, moving to Kansas City in 1890. By 1894 it was rumored that he had piled up over $40,000 in debt. August stayed in Weston and was elected Mayor; a position he held for a good many years.

The brewery made 12,000 barrels of pale lager annually, had 20 employees, and was worth $80,000. Weston offices were located at 15th and Hickorv in Kansas City, MO and the Leavenworth Depot at 319 Shawnee. In 1901, a new corporation was formed called the Royal Brewing Co., of Kansas City with a net worth of $50,000. The incorporators were listed as Benjamin J. Joffee, Benjamin F. Wollman, Morton WolIman, August F. Walruff and John Walruff. A branch office was established at 1111-1114 Grand Avenue in Kansas City, MO. In 1904 it moved to 1912 Grand Avenue.

In 1907, the old corporation was replaced by a new one with capital stock listed at $200,000. The new incorporators were Dan Danciger, Jack Danciger and Abe Danciger. The Kansas City branch office was moved to 308 West 6th Street and later changed to 310 W. 6th Street,

A few years before prohibition, the brewery like many others in the country began producing a ‘near beer’.

Promoted as the "oldest brewery West of the Hudson River", the brewery sponsored the first Kansas City Royals baseball team in the early 1900’s.

The Weston Royal label was well known throughout the Midwest and even Europe in its heyday. In the early 1900’s, the brewery was the largest manufacturing plant in Platte County and was producing 20,000 barrels a year.

Five stone cellars that were dug in the 1840’s were used to lager and chill the beer in solid oaken tanks. Popular brands produced by the brewery were a Royal Pilsener advertised as "the beer that made Milwaukee jealous;" Rip Van Winkle, "the world’s richest bottle of beer;" and Vivatone, "a family beverage for all ailments."

The Weston Brewing Company of 1997 -1999 operated a 24 barrel traditional brewing operation located next to the original stone walls on the site of the Royal Brewery. Although short lived, the Weston Brewing Company produce an excellent Weston Pale Lager and Irish Ale produced in the original 19th century beer styles." -- brewery

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Italian Sours!

Order Baladin online now


"Our search for the world’s most unique beers has brought us to Piozzo, right outside of Torino, Italy. In this village of 1,000 inhabitants, directly across from the town hall, lies Le Baladin, an extremely unusual brewpub and microbrewery. “Baladin” is a French term referring to a “traveling minstrel.” The owner, Teo Musso, thought that this would be a fitting name for his brewery as the townspeople are known for moving around, especially between Italy and France. Upon visiting the brewery and meeting Teo, one finds that he is a very entertaining minstrel and has, thus, chosen the perfect name for his place. Teo studied at some of the best small breweries throughout Europe in order to learn his craft. He has worked most closely with another eccentric B. United International supplier, Jean-Louis Dits of Brasserie a Vapeur. Like Jean-Louis, Teo loves experimentation and never works by the books.

Baladin Nora Sour Edition 2006....$15.99 / 750ml
Description of the "non" sour edition.
"Teo’s wife, Nora, is the inspiration for this special beer, just released last year. Although she hails from the town of Lille, France, she also has Algerian heritage in her blood. So, this special brew has been concocted from an ancient Egyptian recipe. Unmalted kamut which was used in ancient Egyptian beers is employed. Hops, which would not have been used in Egypt, are employed in a tiny quantity, solely for their preservative power. Rather, ginger, myrrh, and orange peel are used to represent the balancing spices of ancient times. The myrrh provides the bittering that allows Teo to mostly forgo the use of hops." -- importer



Baladin Super Baladin Sour Edition 2004...$16.99 / 750ml
Descrition of the"non" sour edition
"The Super Baladin is the masterpiece of the brewery and is most often the favorite among the customers at Le Baladin. It originated from an old recipe created toward the end of the 9th century following the style of the Belgian abbey beers. It is similar to a Belgian triple. The twist with this beer is that an English yeast strain is used for primary fermentation. Afterwards, it is bottle-conditioned for two months using a Belgian strain." -- importer

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The new expedition

We just scored another 9 cases of 2009 Expedition at Forsyth!

Bell's Expedition Stout 2009

Last batch bottled 11/11/09!

"The vintage port of American stout. A good ale for the cellar. Well suited for November storms and trips across the Sahara. The darkest beer we make; this Imperial stout contains double the malt and five times the hops of our Kalamazoo stout and is perfect for cellaring as its complex character will evolve over time." -- brewery

Rated 100 percentile on RateBeer

(with over 1700 reviews)

Rated A- on BeerAdvocate

It was also the big winner at our blind stout tasting.

Available online now

Fresh Bells....

More fresh Bells...
Just a heads up....
Bell's Pale Ale came in today at Forsyth bottled 4/12/10
We do not usually see this one only a few weeks old.

More Oberon in today from 4/20/10

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Four Roses 100th Anniversary!

Available online also
Four Roses 100th Anniversary....$64.99
Limited Edition Single Barrel 2010 Distillery: Four Roses Distillery, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Age: 17 years
Proof: 110%; approx 55% ABV
Color: Deeply aged amber
Nose: Some cherry pipe tobacco and cloves.
Taste: Luscious candied fruits of peach and cherry with a delicate spiciness. Rich mouthfeel with vanilla and oak. Creamy with that Four Roses signature mellowness. Incredible Bourbon to celebrate 100 years, definitely a must have for fans of Four Roses Bourbons.
Finish: Lingering rich cherry and wet citrus with touches of banana cream pie.
info from Bourbon Blog.com

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Review Mikkeller 1000IBU

The Hopry (a Kansas City Beer Blog) reviews Mikkeller 1000IBU that he purchased from The Wine and Cheese Place
"Well here we are finally – a whole week dedicated to my love for hops. Why only a week Ginger Beard? I don’t know, either. I could easily do a month’s worth of hop sessions, but the truth is that you’d all get bored and I would be bloated beyond belief. LOL! So here are three hopped up monsters I’ve been excited to share with you for quite a whole now. First up is the Mikkeller 1000 IBU Imperial IPA. It’s created a bit of controversy on the Internets, and for good reason. WTF is with 1000 IBUs? Who cares? Bring it on is what’s up. Now…I’m not going to say I had an out-of-body experience drinking this gem, but I came damn close. As most of you hopheads can attest, we are constantly looking for the hoppiest beers on the market. Well my friends…I’ve found it. This bad boy is a hopocalypse if I’ve ever tasted one. You are immediately met with an mushroom cloud of hop aromas out of the glass (definitely some centennial and simcoe), and just behind that is a good amount of sweet caramel malt aroma. And then the flavor just pummels your mouth…DAMN DUDE! It’s crazy, but much more balanced than you would expect. After all, it’s only 9.6% ABV – yes only – this should be an 18% beer. Anyway just go get one and enjoy the mayhem…seriously!" -- The Hopry




Watch the video:

The Hopry Session # 67 Mikkeller 1000 IBU Beer Review from The Hopry on Vimeo.

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