Six Row is Coming to Chicago (for one day)

When the Chicago bar, The Green Lady and guys from Guysdrinkingbeer.com planned their Chicago Craft Beer Week event, they had a unique vision and they dubbed it "South of 80":

Of the beers to be made available, head organizer Ryan Hermes says “We’re excited to showcase some very unique beers from some passionate downstate brewers including; a top selling beer in all of the Quad Cities, ales and lagers brewed with locally grown ingredients from a farm near the state capitol, creative cask offerings from an up-and-coming St. Louis brewery and the brewery that became the face of last year’s fight over a small brewer’s right to self-distribute..”

Who is this "up-and-coming St. Louis brewery?" Little old us. We're pretty freakin' psyched about it too.

Other breweries that will be pouring at the event are: Bent River Brewing Company, Big Muddy Brewing, and Rolling Meadows Brewery.

Here's the details if you also happen to be in the Chicago area or if you want to get your half pack of cigarettes and sunglasses for the drive up:

What: GuysDrinkingBeer.com and The Green Lady Present “South of 80″: A Celebration of Downstate Craft Beer
 When: May 22, 2012, 7 pm – 10 pm
 Where: The Green Lady, 3328 N. Lincoln, just steps from the Paulina Brown Line stop

 Hit it.

Your Guide to Six Row's 2012 American Craft Beer Week

American Craft Beer Week is approaching fast and we've got a full slate of great stuff planned.  It would be a shame if you had to miss any of it, so get your calendars out and start saving the dates!  All events begin at 5pm unless otherwise noted.

Monday, May 14 
Small Batch Release of Fresh Strawberry Honey Weizen

Our Honey Weizen is an easy-drinking wheat beer made with a generous portion of honey from Missouri Honey in Florissant, Missouri! With a combination of white wheat malt, honey malt, and locally produced honey, the unfiltered Honey Weizen is a great example of a traditional wheat beer with a twist. It was delicious on its own, and now we've added fresh strawberries.

Tuesday, May 15
Cask of Peppercorn DIPA

The Peppercorn DIPA lost our Cask Beer Election by one measly vote back in March. It ran such a strong campaign, we had to reward it with a spot during American Craft Beer Week.

Wednesday, May 16
Cask of Liquorice Porter

You've tried our Porter flavored with Vanilla, Bacon, and Whiskey.  Now we have aged a cask with liquorice root to tantalize your taste buds.

Thursday, May 17
Large Batch Release of Bailene & Beer Pairing Special

The Bailene is our signature Whale style fermented with French Saison yeast. We released a small batch of Bailene last year that went over really well, so it is back and there is more for everyone!

We are still solidifying the menu for the Beer Pairing Special, but it will include a sample of four beers: Plant No. 1 Pilsner, Centennial Rye, Bailene, and Killer Whale. Instead of a formal dinner with a specific start time, it will be a special you can order off the menu while supplies last. It will be a more informal tapas style with all the courses coming out at once to be paired with the beers. We will post the menu and pricing as soon as those details are solidified.

Friday, May 18
Cask of Fresh Ginger Centennial Rye

Our Ginger Kolsch went over so well, we decided to similarly spruce up our Centennial Rye using fresh ginger.

--- UPDATE ---

Due to some unforeseen scheduling issues, Our Whale of a Time Festival has been postponed until a later date, which is still TBD.  Please watch for updates as we reschedule the date.

However, we still have lots planned for...

Saturday, May 19 (opening at 10am)
Cellar Saturday & Beer Brunch

After our very popular Anniversary Pancake Breakfast, we realize that beer for breakfast/brunch is a good thing. The brunch menu includes:

• Beer Batter Buttermilk Pancakes (PANCAKES!!!)
• Whale Rarebit over English Muffins
• Beer Biscuits & Gravy

We'll open at 10am and serve our brunch items while supplies last.

Then all day long we'll be bringing out some special holdovers from our reserves and serving them for $3 a pint until we run out. At any given time, we'll have four of our special styles on tap in addition to our normal lineup. Including, but not limited to:

• Vanilla Porter
• Export Stout
• Kolsch
• Belgian Double IPA
• And special surprises!!!

It should be a great capper to a great American Craft Beer Week. Hope to see you all there! Cheers!

Six Row Cask Vote 2012

Are you tired of beer companies telling you which beers you like to drink? Do you hate hearing about how the coldness of a beer has a direct correlation to how delicious it is?

Who are these ad executives to tell you what qualities you like about a beer? Are our palates not unique? Are we not able to choose for ourselves if we desire a hoppier flavor, rather than one that is maltier? Perhaps we prefer dark and roasty instead of light and crisp. We believe there is no Divine Right when it comes to choosing beer for the people.

In this spirit, Six Row is putting the power of choice back into beer lovers’ hands. Help us elect the best choice for the April Cask Beer of the Month by voting in Six Row’s Cask Vote 2012 election.

We have nominated four strong candidates from which to choose that represent a wide range of qualities that people look for in a great cask beer:

Peppercorn Double IPA

This experienced candidate returns with an insider’s knowledge of what makes a successful cask beer

Raspberry Honey Weizen

This local candidate supports Missouri business through its use of Missouri honey and knows what St. Louis expects from a beer

Ginger Kölsch

It has a light touch, but don’t dismiss the spicy side of this candidate that can bring the heat when it counts

Chocolate Stout

It’s smooth, it’s dark, it’s sweet, but it is a serious candidate that knows what beer lovers want

Voting will begin on our next Cask Night of March 1st. We will open the voting on our web ballot at 4:00pm Central time. We'll also re-post the link on our homepage, on our Facebook page, and via Twitter at that time. Voting will end on Super Tuesday, March 6th at 8:00pm Central time.

In the meantime, those candidates need your help to get elected. If you have a cask beer you REALLY want to see us tap in April, get out and rock the vote! That means doing some heavy duty campaigning!

Spread the word via Twitter & Facebook and convince your friends that your choice is the right choice.

If you submit a slogan, a campaign poster, flyer, or banner, or even a YouTube video, we’ll choose the best one to win a $50 gift certificate good in our St. Louis Brewpub location. You can even create physical posters or banners to display in the brewpub while the campaign goes on.

You can submit material a number of ways:

• Message our Facebook page.
• Tweet us links or photos to @sixrowbrewco with the hashtag #CaskVote2012
• E-mail submissions to timmcginnis (at) sixrowbrewco (dot) com (submitting via e-mail gives us permission to post material on our website or any of our social media outlets)
• Bring a physical poster, banner or flyer to our Old Plant No. 1 Pub (AKA Election HQ) and we'll display it throughout the duration of the campaign

As we receive submissions we'll post them in our Cask Vote 2012 HQ album on our Facebook page as well as give regular unofficial polling numbers after the voting begins.

Submissions for campaign material that is eligible to win the prize will close at 11:59pm on Monday, March 5th. We'll announce the winner of the $50 prize as well as declare a winner of the election shortly after polling closes on March 6th.

So get those creative and persuasive juices flowing!

Every vote counts and we need you to choose which beer is most worthy of a place in Six Row Cask Night history. See you on the campaign trail!

Quench Your Thirst For Knowledge and Beer at Cicero's Six Row Beer School

Throughout the course of time, humanity has strived to increase its knowledge, whether it has been exploring the outer reaches of space or focusing in on subatomic particles, our thirst for knowledge has known no bounds.  And now that thirst for knowledge has translated into actual thirst and we want to know more about beer.

Cicero's in the Loop has tried to meet that need by hosting a series of Beer Schools taught by professionals within the industry.

These experts will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about beer, the brewery, and how they got where they are today. Take notes because there is a review at the end of each class. You could walk away with great beer prizes; t-shirts, glassware, signs, bottle openers and all kinds of other beer collectibles will be given out as prizes. Graduation is based on attendance….and you want to graduate. If you graduate you will receive great discounts on the beer you purchase at Cicero’s until the following graduation.

On Wednesday, February 15th, we are thrilled to participate in the first Six Row Beer School sessions, taught by our head brewer, Evan Hiatt.

There won't actually be any paddling.  However, there WILL be samples of our Whale, Double IPA, Porter, and Pre-Prohibition Pilsner for attendees while Evan lectures about Six Row and our beers.

There are two sessions that last about an hour, one at 5:30 pm and one at 7:00 pm.  Cicero's is located at 6691 Delmar Blvd., University City, MO 63130.  The sessions are free of charge to attend.

Hope to see you there to expand your beer knowledge!

Six Row Goes to Kansas City and Points In Between

We are thrilled to announce that by mid-January of 2012, our craft beers will now be distributed in the Kansas City, Columbia, and Jefferson City areas of Missouri.

We have signed distribution contracts with North Kansas City Beverage Company in the west part of the state, and N. H. Scheppers Distributing Company in central Missouri. Both companies are distributors of Anheuser Busch products in their areas.

Until recently, Six Row products have been available only on-tap at numerous locations in St. Louis and the surrounding area, and at the brewpub in mid-town St. Louis. We began bottling in November, 2011, and several of our craft beers are now available at a growing number of retail outlets in Missouri and Illinois.

Initially, North Kansas City Beverage Company and N. H. Scheppers Distributing Company will carry Six Row’s distinctive “Whale”, Double IPA, and Porter styles in 1/2 barrels, 1/6 barrels, and 22 oz. bottles.

N. H. Scheppers Distributing Company serves Boone, Cole, Osage, Moniteau, Callaway, Montgomery, Gasconade, Warren, Franklin, Crawford, and Washington counties in Missouri. North Kansas City Beverage Company distributes to Jackson, Clay, Platte, Ray, and Cass counties.

Six Row President, Mike Rami, said, “Our new relationship with these two distributors is a very big step for our company. We are now working with five prominent distributors in Illinois and Missouri, and our reach will soon stretch from Effingham, Illinois to Kansas City, Missouri. It’s exciting to see the enthusiasm craft beer lovers are showing for our products. We will continue brewing quality beers that will help us stand out in today’s competitive craft beer market.”

Now Dogs Can Like Six Row Too

After we brew a batch of delicious Double IPA or Porter or any of our other styles, we always have spent grain left over in the mash-kettle that we need to get rid of.

Soon after we opened for business, we partnered with a local farmer who comes and picks up the grain and uses it as a supplement to feed his livestock as the grains are high in protein and vitamins for animals. But since we've expanded and we are brewing a lot more than we have in the past, we have more spent grain than the farmer needs, so we needed another solution that would ideally be environmentally friendly.

Our head brewer, Evan, had an idea that maybe we could make the grain into dog biscuits for our pooches.  So our Special Events Manager, Julie Rami, took a shot at it.  Her concoction is basically the grain plus flour, peanut butter, and eggs.  She baked them for a few hours to dry them up and then they were ready for our very discerning food critic, Buddy, to try out.

"The flavor profiles were spot-on."

He. Loved. Them.

He may have even liked them more than when someone spills gravy on the floor.  On a scale of one to ten Tail Wags, Buddy gave the Beer Biscuits a 47, which is very high praise.  Seeing a squirrel usually only rates a 35 on the Tail Wag scale.

The problem is that we don't want Buddy to explode from eating so many Beer Biscuits, so we've decided to make these tasty treats available to our customers and their four-legged best friends.

We now have them on sale at the brewpub for the bargain price of 60 cents each.

So as you are enjoying your Six Row brew, think about spreading some cheer to your pooch.  They should be able to enjoy Six Row too.

Where You Can Buy Bottles of Six Row Beer

As you may have heard, we are bottling now and some local establishments are carrying our bottles on their shelves. Most of the distributed bottles are Whale, but we also have Double IPA and Porter available.

We'll update the list as we add accounts:

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

The Wine and Cheese Place
14748 Clayton Rd.
Ballwin, MO 63011
636.227.9001

Schnucks - Dorsett

2030 Dorsett Rd
St. Louis, MO 63043
314.434.3147

Friar Tuck -Fenton, MO
792 Gravois Buffs Boulevard
Fenton, MO 63026
636.326.2359

Friar Tuck - Crestwood, MO
9053 Watson Road
St. Louis, MO 63126
314.918.9230

Friar Tuck - O'Fallon, MO
4635 Highway K
O'Fallon, MO 63366
636.300.4300

Lucas Liquor Superstore

15921 Manchester Rd.

Ellisville, MO 63011

636.227.4543

Fred's Cheapo Depot

4334 Telegraph Road
St. Louis, MO 63129
314.845.7777

FarmHaus

3257 Ivanhoe Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63139
314.647.3800

Randall's - South City

1910 S. Jefferson

St. Louis, MO 63104
314.865.0199