Where There's Smoke, There's Good Beer (in this case)

We had a lot of fun this summer during the national and St. Louis versions of Craft Beer Week as we rolled out some small batches where we took some risks with flavors and methods to enhance our growing style portfolio. Some of them, like the Cream Ale and the Black IPA have returned as full batches for even more people to enjoy.

So, will our new Smoke Ale one day join the ranks of our regular rotation? Time will tell, but for now we'll just be releasing a small batch on this Thursday, September 22nd. We'll tap the batch at 4pm.

We brewed it with peat and apple-wood smoked malt, so it has a nice smoky/malty character. The English noble hops take a bit of a backseat for the malt profile, but our head brewer, Evan, likens it to a smoked English Pale Ale/Amber.

Come let us know what you think of it!

Tuesday's Six Row Hashtag of the Day

Thanks to everyone who participated in our Hashtag of the Day contest yesterday. The Sour Mild release was a great success and we were tapped out after about three hours. In a way, we are all winners, but in a more accurate way, @tlbarsh was the winner of the Whale of a Time t-shirt.

For our St. Louis Craft Beer Week event today, we will be serving a flight of three different Black IPA versions.

The Black IPA is actually based off the beer we made for the Schlafly Fresh Hops Festival last year. We will be releasing a large batch in the Autumn, but Evan has been debating which hops work best. So we are going to let our customers help us decide.

He's brewed three versions: one with Gelena hops, one with Summit hops, and one with Nugget hops. We'll serve all three in a flight and you can tell us which one you like best to help us decide which version will be available in the Fall. So come on in and make your choice known!

So let's get started with trying to win that growler. Be sure to tag @SixRowBrewCo and include the hashtag, #BIPAflight to enter!

Good luck, everyone!

Note:

We discovered yesterday that people with protected accounts that we don't already follow might not turn up in our Hashtag search. So if you are worried we might not see your tweet, you can comment here or on our Facebook page with your Twitter handle. Let us know you tweeted & we'll request to follow so you can enter more this week and we'll be sure to see your tweets.

Your Guide to Six Row's St. Louis Craft Beer Week Events

If you follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook, chances are you already know about some of the exciting St. Louis Craft Beer Week events that we've been planning. But we wanted to put together a full list of our plans for your convenience.  We try to be helpful.

Saturday, July 30 - Release large batch of our Cream Ale style

You may remember this from such Craft Beer Weeks as American Craft Beer Week, when we released a small batch. Well, folks seemed to really enjoy it so we are going to kick off St. Louis Craft Beer Week in style by bringing it back. Plus, there is more of it. If you didn't have a chance to taste it before, come on down and give the Cream Ale a try:

Brewed in the same manner as an American Lager or a Kölsch, this ale style is light, dry, and perfect for hot summer weather. Our namesake “six row barley” is the primary influence in this brew, giving it the characteristic “grainy” aromas and light straw color. A long, cool, fermentation, followed by cold aging helps to create the clean, dry finish. A small amount of hops at the end of the boil lends slight herbal and grassy notes to finish off this perfect “lawnmower” beer.

(ABV: 4.70%, Bitterness Units: 17 IBUs, Color: 3.3 SRM, Original Gravity: 10.43 degrees Plato)

Monday, August 1 - Release small batch of Sour Mild style

Our head brewer, Evan, likes to describe the Sour Mild as a bit of a wild card. Imagine a traditional Mild Ale (which is kind of like a Brown Ale) that is a malty and mild "session" beer, but with some added sour and tart notes. We brewed it in the traditional manner with Fuggle hops, but with a sour twist.  We're not entirely sure how sour it will be yet, but we are sure it will be different and interesting.  We only did a small batch, so get it while it lasts.

Tuesday, August 2 - Black IPA Flight

The Black IPA is actually based off the beer we made for the Schlafly Fresh Hops Festival last year. We will be releasing a large batch in the Autumn, but Evan has been debating which hops work best. So we are going to let our customers help us decide.

He's brewed three versions: one with Gelena hops, one with Summit hops, and one with Nugget hops.  We'll serve all three in a flight and you can tell us which one you like best to help us decide which version will be available in the Fall. So come on in and make your choice known!

Wednesday, August 3 - Release small batch of Vienna Lager style

Akin to a German Oktoberfest/Marzen style, the Vienna Lager is a somewhat "unknown" Austrian amber lager style. It will have lots of nice toasted and biscuit-y notes to complement the clean and refreshing lager.  It should also have a hint of noble hop character from the Hallertauer Mittelfrüher hops that we used.

Thursday, August 4 - Cask tapping of Peppercorn DIPA

Our August cask tapping will feature our famous Double IPA infused with peppercorns for a unique take on our classic style.

Friday, August 5 - Release small batch of Belgian Trippel

Many people like the malty goodness of our Belgian Dubbel style, but the funny thing about Belgian Trippels is that it isn't just an intensified Dubbel as the name might suggest.  The Trippel will indeed have a higher ABV than the Dubbel, but it will be more yellow to gold colored and have a more spicy character than the darker malted Dubbel.

Saturday, August 6 - Cask tapping of Bacon Porter

We had such a great response to the Bacon infused Porter back in June that we got some more bacon from the good people at Baumann's and did it again to cap off St. Louis Craft Beer Week in style.