Beer and Food

We have significantly expanded our beer departments in all of our stores. West County and Provisions Gourmet Market are still in progress, but I wanted to highlight a few of the favorite new beers. These are beers that you need to try if you have not yet. Beers that will change your view of what good beer can taste like. Our beer department is getting rave reviews, we now have people driving from 3 hours away to get some of these very hard to get beers. Many of these beers you do not find anywhere else.

Nogne from Norway

Nogne, which means "naked island", was started by two home brewers in Norway and they have started a brewing revolution in Norway. They started brewing in 2002, but their first shipment to the U.S. was not until 2006. We are proud to help introduce the beers to St. Louis and the midwest. I have really enjoyed everything from this brewery. All they make are bottle-conditioned ales. These are ales where more yeast is added to the bottle just before sealing. This starts the second fermentation in the bottle which gives it natural carbonation and also adds an extra layer of complexity and increases the shelf life considerably. Many bottle-conditioned ales can last for 10 years or more--don't try that with your "macro" lager.

Try their great Saison, IPA, Porter, and Imperial Stout
More info on Nogne

Haandbryggeriet "Hand Brewery"

This is a tiny brewer in Denmark that is run by only 4 people that hand bottle (hence the name) their whole production. As I mentioned, they are very small, they only bottle less than 300 cases per week! Their beers are very limited, very hard to get and well worth the search because they create some of the more original brews you can find. A new favorite with our customers is their Dark Force, they claim it is the ONLY stout made from wheat-Dark Force Double Extreme Imperial Wheat Stout. They also brew a great smoked beer that is worth a try called Norwegian Wood Smoked.

more info on these two Haandbryggeriet Beers

Beer and Food

Some people have made comments that some of these beers are more expensive ($6-$10/pint), but you need to look at beer more like wine. These beers are not brewed to drink a 12 pack while cutting the grass or at the baseball game. These beers are produced to be served at the dinner table, or to be shared with your friends to discuss them like wine. Beer is the new wine! Many craft brewers promote their beers with food, Jim Koch with Sam Adams, Garrett Oliver with Brooklyn Brewery, Nogne, Haandbryggeriet, and Mikkeller. In fact, I am reading a great book by Garrett Oliver that tells the history of beer and focuses on matching food and beer--The Brewmaster's Table.

Beer is not just for cutting the grass or with hamburgers and hot dogs anymore. Here are some recommendations on the brewers websites:

Haandbryggeriet Norwegian Wood:

Goes well with smoked or cured meat / serrano ham, cured sausage, roasted pork etc
Haandbryggeriet Dark Force:

Goes very well with sweet deserts and bitter chocolate or just nipping to it in front of the fireplace.

Nogne Saison:
Goes well with seafood, particularly oysters

Nogne Porter:

Try with dark chocolate, cheese, or red meat dishes

Nogne Imperial Stout:
Great with vanilla ice cream or dark chocolate.

Nogne IPA

Ideal with barbequed or smoked meat dishes.