Champagne typically rules the roost on Valentine’s Day, but beer should find a place in your heart this holiday. The right beer is just as effervescent as champagne and provides more options for pairing with your Valentine’s Day dinner. Here are six options you should check out, least expensive to most. All are available at The Wine & Cheese Place on Forsyth Ave in Clayton.
Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza – While wood-aging beer has become all of the rage among up and coming craft breweries, Jolly Pumpkin, out of Dexter, Michigan, has been aging all of their beer in oak barrels for over ten years. Oro de Calabaza is a strong Belgian-style golden ale featuring a light amount of hop character along with a funky farmhouse aroma. A fantastic pairing for that cheese course; especially for cutting through some fatty blue cheese.
Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza (375ml) - $5.49
Perennial Artisan Ales Saison de Lis – I don’t think there is ever a silver bullet beer style when it comes to pairing food and beer, but a saison is about as close as you’re going to get. It can pair well lighter dishes like salad or fish or can work really well with creamy pastas. The bubbles can even lighten up roasted pork or chicken. We’re very lucky that we have a world-class saison being prepared right in our own backyard by Perennial with the Saison de Lis. What sets it apart is the addition of chamomile which adds a distinct floral note but never overwhelms.
Perennial Artisan Ales Saison de Lis (750ml) - $7.49
2nd Shift Brewing Katy – If there has been a trend among the beers on this list, it’s definitely been the use of oak barrels in the brewing process. While 2nd Shift’s Steve Crider is known for his hoppy creations, his Katy may be the finest example of his genius. This beer falls outside of a true style, it’s straw in color with a dry, almost white wine character. And thanks to the barrel-aging process (not unlike wine), each batch is slightly different providing something unique every time. It’s a farmhouse beer truly produced next to a farm.
2nd Shift Brewing Katy (750ml) - $8.49
Anchorage Brewing Whiteout Wit Bier – A typical Belgian witbier usually features a strong coriander and citrusy aroma, but Anchorage Brewing rarely does anything that’s typical. The recipe contains the requisite coriander, but deviates by using lemon peel and black pepper. To help boost that lemon flavor, the beer uses Sorachi Ace hops, known for their lemony qualities. And to make the style truly their own, they add a unique yeast called Brettanomyces that not only lends an earthy aroma and flavor but helps lend some dryness to the beer.
Anchorage Brewing Whiteout Wit Bier (750ml) - $12.99
De Cam Oude Lambiek – For many craft beer aficionados, “blending” can be a dirty word. The macro breweries blend their massive tanks of beers to achieve a consistent product from batch to batch. But long before the days of stainless steel fermenters, brewers in Europe were blending their beers to take advantage of the different qualities present in each barrel. Oude Lambiek translates to “old lambic” meaning that the beer is aged a minimum of three years in oak barrels before Master Blender Karel Goddeau tastes each barrel to craft this tart, slightly herbal, oaky treasure.
De Cam Oude Lambiek (750ml) - $31.99
Bosteels DeuS Brut des Flandres – If you’re really desperate for champagne, the DeuS is the best of both worlds. This 11.5% ABV bière de Champagne is fermented with two yeasts (one of which is a champagne yeast) and then left to age for nine months. The use of a champagne yeast helps to really dry the beer out and provide an ample amount of carbonation. After it’s been aged, in a method identical to champagne, the yeast is removed and the beer is recorked. This beer is golden and bubbly with just enough malt to remind you that it’s a beer.
Bosteels DeuS Brut des Flandres (750ml) - $31.99
Mike Sweeney is the creator of STLHops.com and Craft Beer Manager at Lohr Distributing Co.
