Where the Buffalo Roam

Sorry for the temporary hiatus- grad school seems to get in the way of beer drinking, especially this time in the semester. As upset as I am that my boyfriend is in the Virgin Islands right now without me, being apart for nine days gave me an excuse to go out and get beer with him on the eve of his departure. As per his suggestion, we went to Buffalo Brewing Company.

There was an event at the Chaifetz Arena, so the place was packed, and a little understaffed.  The owner's wife, who was busing tables and seating people, also ended up being our waitress.  She did a fine job considering the circumstances.

Buffalo Brewing Company is within walking distance of Urban Chestnut Brewing Company and the Schlafly Tap Room- perfect for a microbrewery pub crawl.  This place is a slice of the Old West in Mid Town St. Louis, taxidermy armadillo and all.  They serve up real buffalo burgers, buffalo sausage, and a host of traditional pub dishes.  The bar usually rotates six different freshly brewed beers, though when I went there were only five. The brewmaster is Dave Johnson, who is also the brewmaster at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company, which is interesting because I find Buffalo's beers to be much better than Kirkwood Station's. 

Without further ado, here's what I had:

Gold: I honestly wasn't expecting much, but this beer was surprisingly flavorful for such a light lager.  There was an unexpected hop bite to it going down. It was very drinkable-- I had another.  I think I would drink lagers more often if they all had as much flavor as this one.

Pumpkin Ale: I like pumpkin beers, but usually not in March.  This pumpkin ale, though, was quite unlike any other I've tasted.  It had the strongest pumpkin flavor of any pumpkin beer I have tried.  It was also overwhelmingly sweet, like pumpkin pie.  I would rename it to "Pumpkin Pie Ale."  I like sweeter, maltier beers, but the boyfriend thought it was excessively sweet.  I waited until I finished my dinner and drank it for dessert.

American Red Ale: This one was bitter right off the bat, but the bitterness did not linger.  I'm no expert in beer-food pairings, but I thought it went nicely with my pizza.

Chili: I have heard so much talk about this beer from other craft beer enthusiasts, so I was most excited to try this one.  It's definitely unique, but I was not a fan.  I didn't think it had any flavor other than the spiciness.  I hear other people love it, though, so don't be afraid to try it if you are looking for something different.

Belgian Black IPA:  As I mentioned above, I like sweeter, maltier beers, so I wouldn't typically choose an IPA.  Black IPA is not technically a style (it's just a porter amped up on hops), but it is becoming pretty popular.  Traditional IPAs are not very balanced because they are so heavy on the hops, but a black IPA has the best of both worlds.  It has the malt of a porter and the hops of a pale ale, so it is strong and balanced.  I dig it.

Oddly enough, Buffalo also serves macros.  I caught someone in the corner booth drinking a Budweiser.

Valentine's Brew

Valentine's day, for couples, often includes romantic, candle-lit, expensive dinners.  My wonderful and supportive boyfriend, however, made a much more practical and delicious suggestion- let's get beer. He hasn't accompanied me on a brewery adventure yet since I decided to take on this project, so this was a good suggestion. 

People must like Ferguson Brewing Company, because it was crowded even at 4:30 in the afternoon.  From what I've heard, it's usually like this, and one should not expect to be able to get in and out during lunch break. 

North County is not exactly my favorite part of St. Louis, but I liked Ferguson's atmosphere.  The owners are dedicated to local businesses and redevelopment, and much of the building's character comes from creative use of recycled materials.  Hopefully this trend will catch on elsewhere in the area as it has in much of St. Louis.  I think I would like North County a lot more if the rest of it was like this brewery.

I had my typical flight, which consisted of four beers.  And, yes, that is my boyfriend's torso in the picture. Cute, isn't he?

Belgian Wit: I liked this.  It was not as heavy as some unfiltered wits, which is good if you are planning on drinking several, because it won't fill you up as much as a more full-bodied beer.  The orange peel flavor was much more prominent than in most Belgian Wits I've had; I could taste the orange easily just from the beer itself, without squeezing an orange slice into it.

Munich Dunkel:  I have not had many Dunkels before, so this is a relatively new style to me.  It was surprisingly red in color, and had a bready, toasty malt flavor.  I don't think I can be a fair judge to the style because I am so unfamiliar with it, and it didn't really suit my tastes. 

UMSL 50th Anniversary Jubilee Irish Red Ale: For a special celebration beer, I expected a little more flavor.  It was typical to an red ale, being malt-forward rather than focused on the hops.  It was a good beer, but I don't think the style was a good choice for a 50th anniversary.  Personally, I would have gone with something more exciting, which, for most craft beer lovers right now, would be a style that is a lot more hop-forward.

American Brown Ale with Orange: This was the featured limited release bear, so of course I had to try it.  I expected it to taste mostly like a brown ale with an orange flavor similar to that of the Belgian Wit.  I was in for a surprise, because this beer was orange.  It almost tasted like a mixture of half beer, half OJ.  In fact, I was burping orange juice-flavor for hours afterward.  I'm really not sure if this was a good thing.  Maybe I would like it with breakfast.  If Ferguson was going for something unique and unforgettable, they hit the nail right on the head.

My boyfriend had the Oatmeal Stout, which he graciously let me sample.  We both really liked it.  The food was also good.  Almost everything on the menu had a suggested beer pairing, which I like to see at a craft brewery.  Boyfriend liked his fish and chips, and I really enjoyed my margherita flat bread.  I even enjoyed it again for lunch the next day.  The fresh mozzarella on it was delicious.   

With the exception of the strange orange beer, all of the beers that I sampled, and everything else on the regular menu, seemed to be session beers.  They were all low in bitterness, and average in alcohol content.  The Imperial IPA is 8% ABV, but all the other regular beers are 4.5-5.5%.  It is good that Ferguson does the special release beers to mix it up a little- just tone down the orange a little, please.

All Aboard

Tonight I visited Kirkwood Station Brewing, whose website appears to be broken at the moment, so I have to write this entirely from memory and a few chicken-scratched notes.  At least my notes aren't on a used napkin.

While I was tasting beers I listened to the Theology on Tap presentation, sponsored by the Archdiocese of St. Louis' Office of Young Adult Ministry, which is cool if you're into that sort of thing.  There might have been close to one hundred people there, and half of the place was dedicated to this event.  I think it is great that K-Station offers their space to this group every month.  They also have live music and other events, which I would tell you more about if I could access the website.

As is usual for my first time at a brewery, I ordered a flight in order to taste a variety of what K-Station has to offer. 

 Aren't they so pretty all lined up like that?

Blackberry Wheat: From my experience, fruit beers are always hit-or-miss.  I'm not sure this one was either, but I'm leaning towards "miss."  It wasn't awful... just boring.  I was surprised at how light and clear it looked in the glass, though I saw other people with full pints where it looked cloudy and a little darker.  (This is why a flight isn't the best way to rate beer, but since I am looking at the brewery as a whole and not judging the beers individually, I think sampling a variety of beers at once is the way to go.)  My first impression of the beer was that it really didn't taste like much, though as I moved on and went back to it I could get more of the blackberry flavor.  

Brown Ale: Seemed pretty typical for a brown ale.  Distinctive malt flavor with a mild smoky finish.  No surprises, and nothing particularly unique.

English Pale Ale: I prefer an EPA or ESB to an IPA, so I thought this wasn't bad.  It was a very balanced beer, with a caramel malt sweetness typical of the style, though I did not think hop flavor was as strong as it should be for an EPA. 

Scottish Ale: I didn't write much in my notes for this beer, except that it felt over-carbonated.  It was nowhere near as delicious as Square One's Single Malt Scotch Ale.  Overall, I wasn't impressed. 

Belgian Tripel:  I thought this was the most flavorful of all of the beers I tried.  That being said, it had virtually no bitterness, and tripels should have medium to high hop bitterness and a bitter aftertaste.  It was good, but definitely no Trappist beer.

Every one of the beers I had tasted better the second time around, and I'm guessing this is because they are served too cold and over-carbonated, so the flavor comes out much more after they've sat a while.  

I should say something about the food as well.  K-Station has a pretty good menu of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers, and pizzas.  I had the turkey club-- the turkey was essentially flavorless, but the bacon was literally the most perfect bacon slice I have ever had.  I wish I could have had a bacon sandwich with a slice of turkey instead of the other way around. 

I would recommend K-Station beers to people who are used to macro-brewed American lagers, but want to transition into drinking more craft beers.  The most sophisticated of beer snobs will probably not find anything special here.  At the end of the day, though, for me it's really just about drinking local.  I love Kirkwood and the neighborhood around K-Station, and Kirkwood has a lot of neat small local businesses, so make a day out of visiting the area and shop, eat, and drink local. 

"Like" Kirkwood Station Brewing on Facebook!

Homebrewing

Some time last fall my dad came to me with the "brilliant" idea that we should try to brew our own beer.  "It will be a father-daughter project," he says.  And I just sort of look at him like he's crazy, because he has a lot of crazy ideas.  Like when he wanted to take me to Tanzania and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro-- that was never going to happen.

Not too long after my dad expressed this idea, however, his birthday was approaching.  What would make a better gift for dad than helping him realize one of his dreams?  I headed over to St. Louis Wine & Beermaking to see what all we would need. 

This place looked like a chemistry lab, which scared me because neither my dad nor I are chemists.  As the lovely people there were trying to describe everything to me, I thought it was going to be a little too complicated for us.  They assured me of how easy the process is, but I was skeptical.  My dad and I aren't very patient, or good at following directions.  I went the simple route and got a starter kit and a mix (Pilsner was the only one they had), figuring we could always upgrade if we were any good at it.

This was all back in November, and we started the brewing process in early January.  Bottling and capping was a lot of fun:

  

This is me.

 

These are my dad's hands.

 

This is our beer!

Then, of course, we waited.  We joked about making my boyfriend try it first, to make sure it was safe.  And then it was time to drink it.  And it tasted.......(drum roll).......... not bad! Holy cow.  It wasn't bad.  I mean, it's not that good either, but it's not undrinkable.  It looks like a pilsner, it tastes like a pilsner-- Success! I think we will probably try it again, once we get rid of 46 more bottles of mediocre pilsner.

Starting from Square One

Starting a new blog is pretty overwhelming.  I mean, where do I even begin? How do I choose which one of St. Louis' plethora of microbreweries and brew pubs to go to first? And then it hit me--

Why not start from Square One?

Actually, "starting from Square One" was a complete coincidence. Ha. I went to dinner with my parents at Ricardo's Italian Cafe in Lafayette Square, just two blocks away from Square One Brewery and Distillery, so it would have been counter-intuitive not to check out Sq1 while we were there.

Though I have been to a handful of local breweries already, I had not tried Square One before tonight. When I got there the bar area was packed, but the crowd thinned out after a little while.  There is also a good-sized dining room in the back, but I had just come from dinner so I just squeezed myself in at the bar. Not only does Square One's bar serve up their unique artisan beers, but the place is a distillery as well.  I didn't get a chance to try any of the award-winning Spirits of St. Louis (the brand name for Sq1's liquors) tonight, but I will definitely be going back.

If awesome craft beers and liquors aren't enough of an excuse for you to get yourself over to Square One, how about Sunday brunch, available from 10a-2p?  Who doesn't love brunch? Or, check out Macaroni Monday from 5p-9p, where you personalize your bowl of Mac & Cheese with a selection of sauces, cheeses, and toppings of your choice. 

I got the sampler of four 6-oz beers:

From left to right, they are:

• Bavarian Weizen- one of Sq1's best sellers, according to the bar tender. A classic German-style unfiltered wheat beer with notes of banana and clove.  My first beer-loves were wheat beers, so Bavarian weizens always bring me to a happy place.
• Double Pilsner- brewed with twice the amount of malt and hops as the original pilsner, resulting in a very full-bodied beer with 85 IBU and over 9% ABV! I learned something about my palate with this beer- I did not like how bitter it tasted at first, but after I finished the other beers, I was accustomed to the strong flavor and was able to go back and enjoy this one.  Anyone who likes a rich, hoppy beer will have no problem with this one.
• Maple Stout- oh my goodness, it smells just like maple syrup. It tastes a lot like maple syrup, too, with a bit of a smokey finish. It's really interesting and unique, and I enjoyed it a lot.  I bet this one's popular at Sunday brunch.
• Single Malt Scotch Ale- my favorite by far.  I am not normally a scotch drinker, so I was nervous about trying a beer called "scotch," but it was incredible.  Smooth and aromatic, it has sweet caramel and toffee flavors balanced by just the right amount of hoppyness.  Dad and I considered getting a growler of it right then and there.

Overall, I was very pleased with my first brewery visit for this blog.  I'll definitely be going back to check out the food and house-made liquors.  Check out Square One Brewery and Distillery on their website, Twitter, and Facebook:

www.squareonebrewery.com
@SquareOneBrews on Twitter
Square One on Facebook

Thanks for reading! If you've been to Square One, leave a comment and let me know which beer(s) you've tried and which is your favorite.  And, of course, let me know where you think I should go next.

Inaugural Posting

Welcome to the first post for Drink Local STL!

This is a project I have wanted to do for a while (a year?) now, but have been afraid of committing. My original idea was to try to find the *best* beer in St. Louis, but I realize I am under-qualified for that task at the moment.  While I am definitely a craft beer enthusiast, I am no expert.  Yet.  So, that is one thing I will be working on-- becoming a beer tasting expert.  A few books and Cicero's Beer School should help with that.

What am I going to do while working my way to Expert Beer Connoisseur status?  I thought I would start with trying every local microbrewery in the St. Louis area-- and there are quite a few!  I will sample a few beers from each brewery, try the food, check out the atmosphere, chat with folks, and report back to you.  I hope this blog will encourage St. Louisans to try new beers and grow in appreciation for local brew, as well as promote local business. 

I would also love to check out some great bars serving a selection of local beers.  This is where I need your help-- if you have a suggestion of a place you think I should try, leave a comment!

I will post where I am going on Twitter, so follow and tweet me @DrinkLocalSTL to recommend what beer I should have.

Which microbrewery should I try first?  Do you have any other suggestions for things I should do?