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Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Michael Ballard's Full Throttle S'loonshine






Michael Ballard's Full Throttle S'loonshine Platinum Batch...$25.99


Michael grew up and went to school in the little town of Trimble, TN. It was a great place to raise kids--so his mom says. Michael was...well let's just say...full of life. The chief of police and Trimble judge called Michael: little Al Capone. At the age of 12 Michael was sneaking into the back of the Silver Dollar Cafe. This is where his interest for liquor started. The owner of the bar, Lewis Drummond, sometimes would want to throw Michael out because he was so young but Michael's uncle, Ralph Alford, was the bars number one customer and would tell Lewis to, "leave that boy alone."

Everybody within four counties used to come to Trimble to visit the Silver Dollar and that's where Michael's fascination with alcohol started. He would hang out and watch older people come into the bar, (I should hope so he was only 12) sit down with friends, and start drinking.
It was amazing what drinking did to them from Michael's point of view. They would go from being normal to getting real happy then loud to dancing. Michael still remembers family members going from drinking together to fighting each other back to drinking together. "It's all in a good time," is what Ralph would tell Michael. So from that point Michael wanted to be in the liquor business.
His first step, which was a huge one, was building the world's largest biker bar the Full Throttle Saloon. Now the Full Throttle Saloon is a house hold name (as seen on TruTV) and he plans to do the same with his Full Throttle S'loonshine (an authentic Tennessee Moonshine)
Michael, like a lot of people, had to leave Trimble to make his living but it's great that he is returning back to his hometown to build his moonshine distillery. It's also great how all the people of Trimble have welcomed him back. This will bring lots of tourists to Trimble and put some of the small town people to work. The distillery is set to open for business in the Fall of 2013 but the moonshine will hit the stores this June (2012). If you do not see it in your liquor stores or bars, ask for it!

Label Image: Brand (front)

Monday, January 6, 2014

Cold Outside!!

Not many people shopping today.  
We are just going to stay open until 3pm
Monday January 6
At Rock Hill, New Ballas, and Forsyth
(Ballwin never opened today)

All stores will open at 9am tomorrow

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Chinook Single Hop IPA

In stock and online

Hermitage Brewing Single Hop Chinook IPA...$5.99
We are very excited about the latest installment in our Single Hop IPA series, made with delicious Chinook hops. Chinook has been a staple hop in west coast style IPAs since the development of the style. At about 13% alpha acid, Chinook imparts a solid bitterness, but also comes packing lots of beautiful aromas. Known for its distinctive grapefruit character, Chinook hops also impart notes of resinous pine and a slight “cattiness”, similar to but not as pronounced as you would find in the Simcoe variety. The finished beer is a well-rounded west coast style IPA bursting with all of the wonderful flavors that we generally use a blend of flowers to try to produce. The wonderful flavors and aromas develop and change as your palate adjusts to the copper-colored brew, and at about 7% ABV, it’s drinkable enough to have a few. Cheers. ~Head Brewer Greg Filippi


Beer Tasting Today!

Beer Tasting TODAY - Satruday
January 4 from 11-1pm

The Wine and Cheese Place - Forsyth
7435 Forsyth Blvd, Clayton MO 63105
314.727.8788




Odells Runoff Red IPA
Humboldt 500 BC Imperial IPA
Left Hand Sawtooth NITRO


Plus will open 1 bottle of this one until it is gone
Nøgne Ø India Saison


Wanted to taste some of the new beers myself -- thought we would open a few today!

Friday, January 3, 2014

Saison brewed with apples


Saison brewed with apples!


LaTentationFront

Brasserie Trois Dames La Tentation....$18.99 / 750ml
La Tentation blends three different kinds of fermentation. It’s a saison recipe that is first fermented with Dupont yeast, followed by a second fermentation with a Belgian witbier yeast which has spent one year maturing in oak barrels. The final part of the fermentation comes from wild yeasts from an orchard at the foot of the Jura Mountains. The yeasts and bacteria found naturally on the skin of native Reinette Blanche apples, coupled with months of barrel aging gives La Tentation a very refreshing acidity. This acidity is balanced by apple fruitiness and hop bitterness, which is characteristic of old-style saisons.
Let yourself be tempted



Nøgne Ø back in stock








2012 Morlet La Prooportion Doree White Blend...$69.99 / 750ml
(a blend of 66% semillon, 32% sauvignon blanc and 2% muscadelle): Light-medium straw-tinged yellow. Aromas of orange blossom, waxy semillon, apricot pit, minerals and nutty vanillin oak reminded me of a dry white Bordeaux wine. Dense, spicy and rich; viscous and voluptuous without being heavy, offering terrific chewy depth to its fruit and mineral flavors. Boasts the texture of a much sweeter blend of these two grapes yet retains a juicy freshness. Lovely combination of richness and acidity here. This reminded me of a top Pessac-Leognan white wine but with more early texture and thickness.
Rated 93/100 Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

2012 Morlet Chardonnay Ma Douce....$79.99
The 2012 Chardonnay Ma Douce reveals more tropical fruits (pineapple) along with lots of honey, a great texture and a full-bodied richness. The good news in 2012 is that there are 650 cases of Ma Douce. 
Rated 94-96/100 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate


2012 Morlet Chardonnay Ma Princesse...$85.99
The 2012 Chardonnay Ma Princesse is slightly more structured and mineral-dominated with crisp acids. The good news in 2012 is that there are 550 of Ma Princesse .
Rated 93-96+/100 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate


2012 Morlet Pinot Noir En Famille...$106.99
Softer and darker with lots of strawberry and black cherry fruit, the 2012 Pinot Noir En Famille possesses slightly more texture and substance as well as a long finish. All three of these 2012s are best consumed during their first decade of life.
Rated 91-94/100 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate


2011 Morlet Coeur de Vallee Red....$164.99
Even better is the 2011 Coeur de Vallee, a 225-case blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Cabernet Franc, all from the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard. This sexy 2011 is a candidate for the wine of the vintage. Its deep ruby/purple color is followed by notes of forest floor, violets, bouquet garni, black currant and blueberry fruit, stunning richness and no herbaceousness or astringency, and a long, lush finish. A terrific effort in this challenging vintage, it can be enjoyed over the next 10-12 years.
Rated 94/100 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate

2011 Morlet Mon Chevalier Red...$144.99
More chocolaty notes intertwined with hints of blueberries, damp earth and burning embers jump from the glass of the structured, medium to full-bodied 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Mon Chevalier. A blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest mostly Cabernet Franc from Knights Valley, it reveals firmer tannins and more structure than the offerings from Napa. Give it several years of bottle age and consume it over the following decade.
Rated 91+/100 The Wine Advocate





This is one of the up-and-coming superstar producers in Northern California. Owned by Luc Morlet, who comes from a French family that has long been making wines in Champagne, and who cut his Napa Valley teeth first for Newton and later Peter Michael. His American wife, Jodie, assists Luc Morlet, who still does consulting work at Peter Michael, although it is brother Nick who runs the show at Peter Michael from a winemaking perspective. The debut vintage for the Morlet Family Vineyards was 2006, and they have hardly missed a beat since then in turning out sumptuous Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, Bordeaux-based blends, smaller proportions of a killer Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc blend, and a Cote Rotie-like Syrah. All of the following wines represent striking examples or Morlet-s talents. As for the 2012 Chardonnays, all will be bottled over the next four or five months. It is another great vintage for Morlet. All the wines come from the same sources, are 100% Chardonnay, see full malolactic fermentation, and are bottled unfined and unfiltered. Fermentations are all done by indigenous yeasts and the wines are aged sur lie with lots of lees stirring. The 2012s are slightly more intense. The Pinot Noirs come from a vineyard on the second ridge of the Sonoma Coast appellation, all planted between 1,000 to 1,250 feet with a field selection brought in from one of the great grand cru vineyards in Vosne-Romanee. The 2011 production ranged from 150 cases of the Joli Coeur to nearly 200 cases each of the Coteaux Nobles and En Famille. Readers should not forget about the Morlet Family Vineyards- remarkable Syrah, which is a dead-ringer for a top-notch Cote Rotie given its floral character. I was sure some Viognier was included in the blend, but that-s not the case. The wines from this small boutique winery are not to be missed.

New NITRO Sawtooth

A few years back, Left Hand introduce Nitro Milk Stout in the bottle without a widget.  Now they have added their flagship Sawtooth NITRO!!!

Left Hand Sawtooth NITRO...$9.99 / 6pk
"Two guitars, bass and drums.It's all you'll ever need. Sessionable. Unpretentious. Our original flagship. Proof that a beer can be both complex and balanced. Malty chewiness slowly transitioning over to herbal, earthy hops with a dry finish. Brewed to be enjoyed with friends and to stimulate serendipity." - Left Hand on their Sawtooth Ale

TWCP / Schlafly BBQ Volume II

Just got word that the Schlafly / TWCP Bourbon Barrel Aged Quad Volume II is ready to go and we should see it in the next 7-10 days.  
Stay tuned for the release party details!





This batch is a 2 barrel batch aged in Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage Bourbon and an Eagle Rare 10 Year Old Bourbon.  We should see 400+ bottles of this one!

Thanks again to Schlafly for doing this for us.


Schlafly filling the Quad Volume II on July 15, 2013.



Alpha Brewing - Missouri - 2nd bottle release

Alpha Brewing's second bottle release....



Alpha Brewing Bruer Barleywine...$10.99 / 22oz
Bruer Barleywine - This American barleywine is a malty dream balanced with a hoppy finish. It will not leave you wanting. Only available for a limited time in 22oz bottles.
90IBU, 10%ABV

Firestone Walker 17th Anniversary Ale





Forsyth Sold out!
In stock at Rock Hill, Ballwin
(New Ballas is still waiting)

I took it off line.  Each store has a little extra.  
The rest is for in store pick up only.  
If you come to the store to pick up while it still lasts, you can get up to 2 bottles.



You have 7 days to pick up or it will go back out for sale!

Firestone Walker 17th Anniversary Ale...$17.99 / 22oz
Since founding our brewery in 1996, we have specialized in the rare art of brewing beer in oak barrels. in the fall of 2006, we released a limited-edition, oak-aged strong ale called 10 to commemorate our 10th anniversary. the experience was greater than any one of us could have ever imagined. we now present xvii, our eighth release in what has become an annual autumn rite at our brewery. 




XVII - The Components: To create XVII, we blended together 220 oak barrels and 7 different beers creating something truly complex and exceptional. 

Following are descriptions of key components with their original code names: Final Blend %

Bravo (13.6% ABV) - Aged in Bourbon and Brandy barrels

-Imperial Brown Ale (30% of the final blend)

OG=26.5 FG=7.7 IBU=35 Color=32 / Hopped with 100% US grown Fuggles



Stickee Monkee (15.3% ABV) - Aged in Bourbon and Whiskey barrels

-English Barley Wine (25% of the final blend)

OG=27P FG=5.4P IBU=45 Color=28 / Brewed with Mexican Turbinado (brown) sugar



Velvet Merkin (8.7% ABV) - Aged in Bourbon barrels 

-Traditional Oatmeal Stout (15% of the final blend)

OG= 15P FG=5.5 IBU=32.5 Color= Black / 15% Oats / Hopped with 100% US grown Fuggles



Parabola (12.8% ABV) - Aged in Bourbon barrels

-Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout (15% of the final blend) 

OG=31P FG=8.5P IBU=80 Color=Black / Hopped with Magnum, Styrian Golding and East Kent Golding



Double Double Barrel Ale (12.0% ABV)- Aged in retired Firestone Union barrels

-Double strength English Pale Ale (8.0% of the final blend)

OG=25.0P FG=5.1P IBU=30 Color=16 / A double version of our flagship beer created by Ali Razi



Helldorado (11.5% ABV)- Aged in Bourbon and Brandy barrels 

-Blonde Barley Wine (4.0% of the final blend)

OG=24.7P FG=4.5P IBU=24 Color = 8 / Brewed with Buckwheat honey and 100% El Dorado hops



Wookey Jack (8.3% ABV)- 100% Fresh, dank and hoppy, stainless steel fermentation

-Black Rye India Pale Ale (3.0% of the final blend)

OG= 18P FG = 3.0P IBU = 80 Color =black / Extremely hoppy double dry-hopped BIPA – Citra & Amarillo blend

a note from brewmaster matt brynildson

our 17th year – looking back – looking forward – coming full circle

Our brewery began its journey into oak-infused flavors back in 1996 when two exceptionally bright, adventurous vineyard owners and beer lovers, Adam Firestone (the Bear) and David Walker (the Lion) decided to start a tiny brewery in a small outbuilding on the back forty of the Firestone Vineyard Estate. Their cocktail napkin business plan centered on utilizing some old Chardonnay barrels from the family winery as fermentation vessels to create a unique old world riff on the English Pale Ale. The beer wouldn’t have to travel far since its intended purpose was to refresh the local winemaker community and pour on local taps. Fermenting in barrels would create interesting and familiar flavors and avoid the extra cost of stainless steel fermenters. After some not-so-successful experimentation, where they likely created some of California’s first American Wild Ales purely by accident, they brought in a trained brewer, Jeffers Richardson, who further researched the subject and helped to define and refine the program that is still used in the brewery today. His research led him to Burton-on-Trent, home of Bass; Marston’s and the famousBurton Union oak barrel fermentation system. This old world method of making clean, straight ahead beers started long before beer was commercially brewed. It was a simple method developed by monks who made ale for their guests. They realized that fermenting in barrels resulted in bright, clean beers (less prone to sourness) and that the resulting yeast was viable and strong for subsequent fermentations. Later the great pale ale brewers of Burton-on-Trent utilized this same style of barrel fermentation on a larger scale, harnessing hundreds of barrels together, creating the very best pale ales and IPAs the world had ever seen while defining a new genre of beer. Rolling the clocks ahead, back in California, Adam, David and Jeffers’ persistence in using oak barrels resulted in our beloved flagship Double Barrel Ale, the beer that started it all. Every week we brew DBA in the Paso Robles kettles, and after cooling the wort we inoculate it with our proprietary British Ale yeast. After about 12 hours, the yeast grows to a full ferment, able to protect the wort for the rest of its journey to becoming a finished beer. It is at this very particular moment that we completely change what is known as normal modern brewing practice. We carefully move the active fermentation from the stainless steel fermenter into a series of oak barrels to finish out the primary fermentation process. An oak barrel is a very different environment relative to a stainless steel vessel. The barrels provide a perfect place for flavor development and at the same time add a 5th element to the brew. Many flavors come directly from the wood and are infused into the beer: vanilla, cinnamon spice, molasses and coconut flavors. It’s no wonder that oak barrels are considered a food product! There are also flavors and textures that science has yet to explain that come to life when ale yeast and wort are introduced to a fresh oak barrel. Soft stone fruit tones start to peak through the malt and hops. Barrels trim away the sharp edges with their mellowing affect, adding unique textures and creating an integration of flavors that just doesn’t happen in stainless steel. We learned early that we were on to something special and we have continued it to this day. Even as our brewery has grown and our beers are shipped further away, DBA is still fermented in the “Firestone Union” oak barrel system every week! It is a non-negotiable part of making beer here. As the rest of the craft brewing world slowly woke up to the incredible flavors that barrels possess and started to experiment with aging beers in oak, we stood by our methods and resisted the urge to become distracted from our unique process… That is, until our 10th anniversary. Yes it took our brewery 10 years of barrel fermentation to finally experiment with barrel aging! Those initial experiments lead us to the beer you have in your hands today. Seventeen years after our first barrel fermentation and seven years after our first barrel-aged release we are still completely obsessed by barrels, so much so that we have gone back to where it all started and opened a new facility in the Santa Ynez Valley that we call Barrelworks. This facility is dedicated to a 3rd method of utilizing barrels to create flavors through secondary barrel fermentation known as American Wild Ale. Under the close eye of Jim Crooks, our quality manager of 12 years, we are now releasing a whole new world of flavors created through the use of wine barrels, wine country microflora and wine country terrior. Yes, after 17 years, we have come full circle to replicate something that is quite similar to the Lion and the Bear’s original experimentations on the back forty of the Firestone Vineyard Estate. It’s amazing how beer always leads you back to the basics. Water + Malt + Hops + Yeast + Oak = Firestone Walker



The Blending and The Winemakers

Back to the beer in hand…We had our most exciting blending session ever this year, proving that winemakers are every bit as competitive as brewers. Each year we present our beers to the winemakers to create something unique and something outside of a brewer’s normal sensibilities. Winemakers are master blenders by nature and work with barrels daily. We have an incredible amount of talent here on the Central Coast and once again the very best showed up to help the cause. The winemakers were paired up into teams, each team made their best blend, then we recreated those blends behind closed doors and re-presented the blends blind for the winemakers to vote on. The winning blend is XVII! This year’s blenders included: Neil Collins andChelsea Magnusson of Tablas Creek who created the winning blend; Matt Trevisan of Linne Calodo; Steve Martell of Kaleidos and Sextant; Eric Jensen andConnor McMahon of Booker; Ted Osborne of Olabisi; Justin Smith of Saxum; Kevin Sass of Halter Ranch; Sherman Thacher of Thacher Winery; Russell From andGiovanni Grandinetti of Herman Story; Mark Adams of Saxum / Ledge; and Terry Hoage of Hoage Cellars. I strongly suggest that you seek out these wines and try them. Also joining us was beer writer John Verive as well as our good friends Pete Slosberg and Arie Litman.



The Finished Piece

As a finished beer, XVII is dark, rich and complex. The lead beers of the blend are Bravo, a lean and oak-forward imperial brown ale and Stickee Monkee, a huge brown sugar infused barley wine. These beers are beautiful on their own but together they bring rich molasses drenched oak flavors and cinnamon glazed almond aromas lifted by high alcohol. In the middle of the blend are our two favorite stouts, Parabola andVelvet Merkin, working in concert to provide a dusty cocoa mocha aroma and bitter dark chocolate flavors. Somehow together in this blend I am reminded of Bourbon-soaked chocolate chip cookie dough!Double DBA makes the blend again this year, bringing its signature vanilla-infused crème brulée flavor.Helldorado, our blonde barley wine, helps to bring balance with its honey notes and light leather nuances. Like last year, a dash of Wookey Jack made the cut bringing with it some fresh hop notes derived from bold Citra and Amarillo creating even more interesting complexity. All together I find XVII to be full of soft chocolate and warm spice perfectly balanced by toasted coconut, bourbon barrel notes and smooth creamy malt mellowness. The finished blend is unfiltered and unfined, so there will be a small amount of sediment in the bottom of the bottle. XVII is best enjoyed poured carefully into a half-filled brandy snifter or red wine glass. Allow it to warm to 55F to fully enjoy the pleasing and complex aromas. It takes a while, but as this beer sits and breathes in the glass, more rich chocolate and spice character is revealed as the ethereal spirit characters dissipate - so take your time. If you wait to open your bottle later, store it in a cool dark place. I suspect that this beer will age well and change favorably for years to come. It was an absolute pleasure in the making and I truly hope you enjoy our eighth oak-aged blend. The journey continues and it’s just as fun and exciting now as it was back in 1996. Thank you so much for spending a little time with us!



All the very best

Matt

Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye Seasonal

Order online

Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye Seasonal is back!
Rustic grains, refined flavor, ruthless character.


Rugged and resilient, rye has been a staple grain for ages and its spicy black pepper-like flavor has been prized by distillers and brewers for centuries. Rye thrives in the harshest conditions and comes to life in Ruthless, a spicy and rugged IPA with fruity, citrus and herbal hop notes balanced with the dry spiciness of the rye, making the beer aggressive yet comforting to bolster against whatever the winter winds may bring.