Six Row Turns Four Years Old

Six Row is just about to turn 4 years old! This means we're going to celebrate with a slew of brew.

We first opened up on December 5th, 2009, so we will start our pre-party on Thursday December 5th with one of our most popular cask styles, Bacon Porter! We'll tap this dry hogged lovely at 5pm, and keep it flowing over the course of the weekend until we empty two casks of it. As always, special thanks go to Baumann’s Fine Meats for the bacon in these casks.

On Friday the 6th, we'll be expanding upon our usual TGIPA festivities with all sorts of new IPAs, including:

• Red Snout KSHE IPA spiced with Arbol pepper
• Double IPA spiced with white peppercorn
• Sour IPA fresh-hopped with locally grown galena hops
• Double IPA also fresh-hopped with galena hops

In addition, we'll have our Honey Weizen spiced with cinnamon and our last keg of our famous Killer Whale of the year.

As the party reaches Saturday the 7th, we'll be in the home stout stretch, as a matter of fact, we have so much stout we have to open an hour early at 11am.

Our Saturday Sampler will be all stout, all the time, featuring a vertical tasting of 4 versions of our Russian Imperial Stout:

• The standard
• Knob Creek barrel-aged
• Orange Chocolate, with cocoa nibs furnished by Kakao, 
• Vanilla Maple Coffee  

All 10% abv, 100% delicious, and all pouring starting at 11am!

In addition to all the Imperial Stout, we'll also have some of our Export Stout as well.

To top that off, we will tap a cask of "Cascading Whale" at 5pm.  This is our flagship brew fresh-hopped with more locally grown Cascade hops.

Don’t think we forgot about an Anniversary Ale either. For our 4th year we are pleased to present the first offering in our Arch Nemesis Series: Midnight, which is an Imperial Black India Pale Ale. This dark and devouring ale will knock your socks off, and still keep you warm at 9% abv and 80 IBU’s. Deep rich colors compliment the Chinook and Cascade hops which will satisfy your every hoppy desire in a full bodied, potent reminder of the Pacific Northwest while saving on the airfare.

We are partying for three days on our fourth anniversary, come down and share our fun!

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!

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.”

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

Six Row to be Available in Bottles

Up until now, customers who wanted to enjoy our beer were limited to purchasing it on tap or in a growler for home consumption. Now we can an add a third option for those who would like to take our beer home.

Beginning tomorrow, Friday, November 12th, we will be bottling a limited amount of our Whale style beer in 22 oz. bombers for the first time.

At this point, the process is more manual than we would like it, so quantities will be limited at first, but the bottles of Whale will be sold at the Old Plant No. 1 Pub for $5 each as take-out only. We expect the first bottles to be available as soon as Friday evening.

The plans to bottle more quantity and more styles is going forward and we hope to start making styles like our Double IPA and Porter available in the near future.

We are very excited about this new step we are taking and we hope you enjoy taking a Whale home to enjoy on your own time. Cheers!

Semi-New Style Release: Vanilla Porter

Remember when you tasted the Vanilla Porter from one of our cask nights and wished that it was available more often? Well, you're in luck.

Or remember when you would get to Six Row to try the Vanilla Porter cask that everyone on Twitter was raving about, but you found it was gone already and you wished we had more of it? You are also in luck.

Or remember when you tasted the Vanilla Porter and you thought it was just OK, but you really preferred to go with a Double IPA or a Whale? Well, then this doesn't matter that much to you, but the good news is that we still have lots of DIPA and Whale for you!

We can't make EVERYONE happy with a single style release, but we think the large batch of our Vanilla Porter will please a lot of you, so that's exactly what we will be doing on Thursday, November 10th at 4pm.

After much success with adding vanilla beans to casks of our original Porter, we've produced a full tank of this wonderful beer. It's the Porter you already know and love, with a healthy dose of whole vanilla beans added to the fermenter. It's as simple and delicious as that, and starts pouring at 4PM.

This is just one of a number of releases we have coming up soon, so stay tuned here (or our Facebook page or on Twitter or on our homepage). Cheers!

Celebrating National IPA Day with Peppercorn DIPA Cask (and a free t-shirt)

Normally, hopheads can enjoy our Double IPA style whenever they pop into our Old Plant No. 1 Pub, but today is National IPA Day.  Plus it is the middle of St. Louis Craft Beer Week.  So we had to take it up a notch.

Tonight at 4pm, we'll be tapping a cask of peppercorn-infused Double IPA, which should provide a spicy and tasty celebration of the day.

Additionally our Hashtag of the Day contest rolls forward.  Yesterday, @rtodaizh took home the $20 gift certificate for his #ViennaLager tweet.

Today, we're going to give out another t-shirt, so get your Twitter on with the hashtag #PeppercornCask.

(How to enter)

Good luck!

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.