I know I’ve told this story before, but why not tell it again:

I don’t typically fanboy out when meeting brewers because, they’re just that– brewers. They’re super cool people (for the most part) but they’re still dudes that brew beer.

Except this one time.

Way back in 2010 I got a chance to visit the Craft Brewers Conference in Chicago. I had a chance to visit this party put on by Lauren Salazar from New Belgium and that’s when my fanboy experience happened. Lauren introduced me to Matt Brynildson, brewmaster at Firestone Walker Brewing Company.

At the time I was obsessed with Union Jack (and frankly, I still am, that beer is off the chain) and I believe the first thing I said to Matt was, “HOLY SHIT, YOU’RE MATT BRYNILDSON!”  I’ve never done this before when meeting a brewer and haven’t done it since.

What does this story have to do with anything?  Well, other than making me look like an idiot, it’s your chance to geek out over some Firestone Walker beers this Saturday, July 8th starting at 3PM at Three Kings Public House in the Loop.

FW rep John Kellerman will be on hand with some super cool beers including XX Anniversary, Bravo, Parabola, Stickee Monkee and featuring for the first time in Missouri: Sloambic and PGW. So head out to Three Kings this Saturday and do some geeking out of your own.

I had someone ask me today, “What’s Criderfest?”  I had to explain that it’s our shorthand way of describing our annual beer festival properly known as the 2nd Shift and Friends Beerfest.  As this is our 777th annual beerfest and we’ve moved into our new digs in the city, we all wanted to throw a hell of a party.

We’ve invited some new friends and they’re bringing some awesome beer.  If you haven’t purchased your tickets, don’t wait, they’re going fast. Here’s a look at the (almost!) complete beer list:

18th St Brewery
Barrel Aged Hunter
Fox and the Goat
Mr. Bright

4 Hands Brewing Co.
Loose Particles
Passion Fruit Prussia

Against The Grain Brewery
Bloody Show
Pile of Face
Something Special

Augusta Brewing Co.
Blitzkrieg IPL
Pilsner
Hippopotamus Extra IPA

Bell’s Brewery
Traverse City Porter
Mango Habanero Oberon

Blackberry Farm Brewery
Classic Saison
Boundary Tree

Boulevard Brewing Co.
Saison Brett
Show Me Sour

Cathedral Square Brewery
Heavenly Honey Razz
White Ale
Hail Mary IPA

Charleville Microbrewery
Rye by Night
Ale Mucho Hoppo
Chouteau Common

Crane Brewing
Farmhouse IPA
Nostalgia

Crown Valley Brewery
2016 Barrel-aged Barleywine
Gunslinger 2xIPA
Pink Lemonade Cider

Desthil Brewery
Wild Sour Series Blueberry Gose
Amra Mango IPA

Dogfish Head Brewery
60 Minute IPA
Seaquench

Earthbound Beer
Thai Basil IPA
Ginger Yarrow Gruit

Exit 6 Brewery
Mango IPA
Citra Wheat

Friendship Brewing Co.
Bunny Love
Rasmanian Devil Ryenot
Laplander DIPA

Great Divide
Yeti
Nadia Kali
Samurai Denver Pale Ale

Heavy Riff Brewing Co.
Left Coast Envy
Prison Bound Pale Ale
Foeder Beer
Imperial Coffee Milk Stout
Vanilla Coffee Underbrown

Logboat Brewing Co.
Lei-A
Barrel-Aged Mamoot

Main & Mill Brewing Co.
Peach Berliner Weiss
Strisselspalt Bier
Missouri Brunch Stout

Mark Twain Brewing Co.
Orion’s Apprentice
Huck’s Habanero Apricot Wheat

Marz Community Brewing
Midway CHIpa
Jungle Boogie

Memphis Made Brewing
DubbelThink
Fireside
RockBone
Lucid

Mikerphone
Imperial Smells Like Bean Spirit
Thursty

Missouri Beer Co.
Berliner Weiss
English Dark Mild
Mango Hibiscus
Kolsch

Mother’s Brewing Co.
Snapback
Cucumber Saison

Modern Brewing
Odinson
LED

Narrow Gauge Brewing Co.
Nelson’s Galaxy
Hoppy Meal
Fallen Flag
Red Rye IPA

Odell Brewing Co.
Drumroll APA
St. Lupulin

O’Fallon Brewery
Grape Escape
Show Me IPA
STL Red
Daze of Summer

Old Bakery Beer Co.
Hibiscus Tart
Gentle Giant Double IPA

One Trick Pony Brewing
Nowhere Fast
The Wall

Oskar Blues Brewery
Dale’s Pale Ale
Pinner
Fugli

Penrose Brewing Co.
Wild 19
Cherry Vanilla Wild 10

Perennial Artisan Ales
Owen
Suburban Beverage
Funky Wit Raspberry
Funky Wit Melon

Pinckney Bend Distillery
Our World Famous Gin & Tonic
Rested American Whiskey Cask Finished Gin
Hibiscus Gin

Pollyanna Brewing
Ernest 1953
Norman 1943
Orenda Volume 02

Revolution Brewing
Rosa
Citra Hero

Rock Bridge Brewing Co.
Blood Spree
Option #2
Rye You Lil’ Punk Rye IPA
Friday Meeting

Rockwell Beer Co.
Faffin
Hold Up, Slow Down
Stay Gone

Schlafly
White Lager
Coconut Creme Ale
Farmhouse IPA
Apricot IPA

Schwerpunkt Brewing
NE Triple IPA
Watermelon Gose
Mango Ginger Berliner Weisse
Imperial PB&J Stout

Scratch Brewing Co
Tulsi Basil Dark Sour
Barrel-Aged Black Cherry

Side Project Brewing
Foedre Fermier
Blended 2017
Fancier Beer

Six Mile Bridge Beer
Blood Orange Wit
Galaxy IPA
Irish Red Ale with Honey

Southern Grist
Guava Upside Down Cake
Chambéry

Square One Brewery
Massachusetts Bay NEIPA
Lambic Blend

Stag

The Civil Life Brewing Co.
#Carlbock
Black Lager
German Pilsner

Toolbox Brewing Co.
Bramble on Rose
Nyssa with Peaches

Transient Artisan Ales
Juice is Loose
Rum Jumbie Buckley
Mutual Aberration

Two Plumbers Brewery
St. Porkins
Chinook-Man

Urban Chestnut Brewing Co.
Kudamm
Stammtisch

Windmill Brewing
Memes and Dreams
No Ma’am

Wellspent Brewing Co.
T-Rex Macarena
Praxis

Wiseacre Brewing
Tiny Bomb
Avast! Pirate Porter
Lord Skylark

Yazoo Brewing Co.
Maracuya Y Tradicional
Grisette
Yazoo Lovin’ on Peaches

Do you know what my favorite part of this particular contest is (other than giving away tickets to an awesome event)? It’s seeing how few people can pay attention to directions.

Without further ado, the winners to the 2017 Microfest are:

VIP Tickets (Good for any single session) – Dave McWilliams
Friday Night Tickets – Monica Metzger
Saturday Afternoon Tickets – Jonathan Kaiser
Saturday Evening Tickets – Robyn Althoff

Thanks to Lift for Life for putting on this event and giving us the tickets! Tickets are still available and it’s looking like a great weekend. Don’t miss out on the fun.

This weekend brings us the 22nd annual St. Louis Microfest. But let me guess, you haven’t bought your tickets yet, have you? Well fear not, because thanks to organizers from Lift for Life, I’m giving away two free passes for each session of this fantastic event along with one set of VIP tickets! I will be randomly giving away these tickets, so be certain to CAREFULLY follow the instructions below.

Send an email to [email protected] with the subject of 2017 Microfest – (Preferred Session), example: 2017 Microfest – Saturday Afternoon.  I’ll randomly pick four winners on Friday, May 5th at 9AM.  A couple of quick notes:

• If you’ve won something from STL Hops in the past 6 months, please be cool and let someone else enter.
• If you can’t attend, please don’t enter.
• You must be 21 or older to enter.
• No multiple entries.

Also be certain to check out the list of brewers that will be pouring beer this weekend.  Thanks to Lift for Life for putting on this event and giving us the tickets!

Yeah, I’m the worst.  I forgot to announce the winners for tonight’s Cellar Night at The Royale. Without further ado, the winners for tonight’s event are Kyle Cunningham and Jamie Michaels.

If you didn’t win, I’ll definitely have some cool contests lurking around the corner. Big thank you to The Royale for supplying the tickets for tonight’s event. It’ll be a hell of a time.

When you’ve been around as long as The Royale, you start building a pretty deep cellar of beer. What better way to use that cellar than to throw a party?

Tomorrow night The Royale is throwing one hell of a cellar party. Starting at 6pm, all of the big guns are being broke out.  Here’s the line-up:

Let’s get this out of the way. Yes, I work for 2nd Shift Brewing. But, I’ve always had a deep love for #Criderfest.  It’s always a great time with great breweries in attendance. Although we’ve moved from Cedar Creek, we’re trying to keep the spirit of the original 2nd Shift and Friends Beer Festival alive at our new location.

I’m happy to announce that the 777th Annual 2nd Shift and Friends Beer Festival will be taking place at our new home at 1601 Sublette Ave. this June 24th from 3pm-7pm. Here’s a look at the breweries and friends that are coming this year:

•  4 Hands Brewing Co.
•  18th St Brewery
•  Against The Grain Brewery
• Art Farm STL
•  Artisan Cellars
•  Augusta Brewing Co.
•  Bell’s Brewery
•  Blackberry Farm Brewery
•  Boulevard Brewing Co.
•  Brewminati
•  Cathedral Square Brewery
•  The Civil Life Brewing Co.
•  Crane Brewing
•  Crown Valley Brewery
•  Desthil Brewery
•  Dogfish Head Brewery
•  Earthbound Beer
•  Embrace The Funk
•  Exit 6 Brewery
•  Foeder Crafters of America
•  Friendship Brewing Co.
•  Heavy Riff Brewing Co.
•  Logboat Brewing Co.
•  Main & Mill Brewing Co.
•  Mark Twain Brewing Co.
•  Marz Community Brewing
•  Memphis Made Brewing
•  Mission Taco Joint
•  Missouri Beer Co.
•  Mother’s Brewing Co.
•  Narrow Gauge Brewing Co.
•  Odell Brewing Co.
•  O’Fallon Brewery
•  The OG Women’s Craft Collective
•  Old Bakery Beer Co.
•  One Trick Pony Brewing
•  Oskar Blues Brewery
•  Penrose Brewing Co.
•  Perennial Artisan Ales
•  Pinckney Bend Distillery
•  Pipeworks Brewing
•  Revolution Brewing
•  Rock Bridge Brewing Co.
•  Rockwell Beer Co.
•  Salt + Smoke BBQ
•  Scratch Brewing Co.
•  Schlafly
•  Schwerpunkt Brewing
•  Shelton Brothers Importers
•  Side Project Brewing
•  Six Mile Bridge Beer
•  Stag
•  Square One Brewery
•  STL Hops Homebrew Club
•  Tallgrass Brewing Co.
•  Toolbox Brewing Co.
•  Transient Artisan Ales
•  Two Plumbers Brewery
•  Urban Chestnut Brewing Co.
•  Wellspent Brewing Co.
•  Wiseacre Brewing
•  Yazoo Brewing Co.

Tickets for this year’s #Criderfest will be $40 in advance and $45 day of.  Stay tuned for more information about ticket sales (which will be announced very soon.)