I am so proud.

Check out this great story (and an even better video segment) produced by the BBC about local brewers reclaiming our city's beer heritage. The BBC!!

Somewhat less amazing, but nonetheless cool, is me in the Sunday New York Times. The Royale was listed as one of two bars to hit if you have only 36 hours in Saint Louis (the other being Fred's Six Feet Under), and there's a picture of me pouring beer for a few of my favorite people.

The Schlafly "Sale"

Everybody take a deep breath. The Saint Louis Brewery, makers of Schlafly Beer, is not, repeat, not for sale. For some reason, the owners thought it would be a good idea to let the world in on their inner workings a bit, and the story got all crazified. The owners are planning ahead--years ahead--for their retirement, and to ensure that the brewery doesn't end up in the wrong hands, the very long process of eventually selling the biz to senior management has begun. That is it. I'm not buying it, ABInBev's not buying it, some faceless investment bogeyman isn't buying it--the biz is staying in the family. Period. Now go have a beer.

iTap Soulard

Hooray for the International Tap House guys! For bringing good beer to the Chesterfield Valley, for being successful enough to open a second location, and for having the wisdom to open that second location in the City near my house. Methinks I will be catching quite a few World Cup games there this month.

Opens Thursday June 17th.

Almost forgot

There's a new Dave Bailey joint opening up downtown, next door to Left Bank Books and down the street from Bailey's excellent spot Rooster. The Bridge will be opening sometime this month. The Post has this blurb about it (http://tinyurl.com/y9g8u7v) and that's all I know. Dave knows his beer, so this "tap house and wine bar" should have an excellent selection.

January

Hello again. The holidays are finally over--well, The Holidays are over. Personal celebrations continue unabated, filling up my schedule like a dance card.

Like Burns Night at the Tap Room on Jan. 25th. Scotch ale, Scotch whisky, scotch eggs, bagpipes and haggis. And my mother-in-law drumming in the pipe band! Best way to start the new year.

Then there's my buddy Joey Finn's 30th birthday at some dive bar on the Southside. Joe isn't really my buddy, though--he's family. He's the seventh Thenhaus. He's the only non-blood relative who can walk into my parents house, grab a sandwich and a beer, park it at the kitchen table and watch the game and no one bats an eye. Happy birthday, brother.

Two more occasions at the Tap Room follow. The Royale is having their "Xmas party" there next week, and then Schlafly holds their annual Employee Reunion party the week after. Good thing it's one of my favorite places.

This month of fun winds up with my old man's retirement party. Thirty-four years and two months of working for the Veteran's Administration and now he gets to put his feet up. Which of course he won't do. He'll still be running around his back yard chasing my two-year-old, helping me put my house back together, and climbing onto his roof every Christmas to put the damn huge star up. Saturday the 30th, we'll try to get to sit down and enjoy himself in his own home, surrounded by all of us ne'er-do-wells, raising a glass in his honor. Congratulations, Dad. You made it.

This past week and a half...

...has been sooooo great! I declared the beginning of The 12 Days of Halloween back on Oct 23rd and turns out I wasn't kidding. Two bonfires, two costumes, one street festival, one punk rock flea market, two pork bellies, two private tastings, one beer dinner, and one awesome little kid in a monkey costume saying "Me need more candy, Dada. Me got bellyache. More candy make me feel better." Halloween fucking rules.

A big glass of witch's brew raised to the following quality establishments.
The Amsterdam Tavern
The Schlafly Tap Room
Sandrina's
Binge & Purge
Duff's Restaurant
The Royale Food & Spirits
Foam
Buck's house
Whitey's house
Dylan's house
The Fortune Teller Bar ;)

Happy Halloween!

This month, I would just like to point out that this Saturday is the greatest of all holidays, Halloween. Grab some pumpkin ale or some mulled wine or some smoky whisk(e)y and Come As You Aren't!

Also, the day after All Hallow's Eve is pretty cool too. On Cherokee Street, there will be a Day of the Dead celebration all up and down the strip. This is a great opportunity to check out the amazing variety of shops and joints that are thriving on Cherokee now. I love watching this neighborhood come back to life. I'll be hitting the punk rock flea market at Binge & Purge, Sam Coffey's open house, La Vallesana for some lengua and Jarritos, and best of all, the long-awaited Foam at the corner of Jefferson. Foam is slated to open this Friday after teasing us for months (Foam's facebook page boasts "Opening since 2008!") and I'm super excited. Coffeehouse-slash-alehouse, this will be the first place on the strip to serve craft beer. Reason enough to come out and celebrate.

http://cherokeestreetnews.org/
http://www.myspace.com/foamstl