As if you needed any excuse to drink this weekend, there's this...

The collective strength of the St. Louis brewing community will be on full display this weekend at Forest Park. On Friday through Saturday, June 14 and 15, the seventh annual St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival showcases some of the finest brews the region has to offer. The celebration brings together more than twenty local breweries, from the more familiar Anheuser-Busch and Schlafly, to less well known but very delicious 2nd Shift and Charleville.

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Gut Check recently received an e-mail from an inquisitive reader alerting us to a somewhat counterintuitive discovery made while using Budweiser's new Track Your Bud app.

The app is pretty straightforward: Plug in the "born on" date or QR code found on the can or bottle and the origins of your beer will pop up -- informing you when your beer began the aging process and which brewmaster oversaw its production.

While attending a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium, our tipster decided to test the app. To his surprise, he discovered that his $8.25 Bud Light bottle was "born" in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Wait, what?! Why would Budweiser from Virginia be sold in Busch Stadium when Anheuser-Busch's main brewery is just a home run's distance from the ballpark?

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Schalfly Pork Shop 2012 | Image via Schalfly

Saturday-morning garage-sale hunting is always great fun. Saturday-morning garage-sale hunting followed by a pig roast is awesome.

On Saturday, May 25, Schlafly Tap Room (2100 Locust Street; 314-241-2337) will host its annual Pork Shop: A Dowtown BBQ and Garage Sale. Also, there will be beer. A roast pig, beer and a multitude of obsolete VHS tapes and grandma's costume jewelry.

Get excited.

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Jennifer Silverberg

A selection of brews at Flying Saucer Draught Emporium in downtown St. Louis.

Yesterday, Gut Check's pals over at RFT Music counted down the eight bars with the best beer selections in St. Louis.

More than a little relevant to our interests, we recommend you give the list a look -- and let us know if we forgot any in the comments section. Cheers!

The Civil Life Brewery

Not much goes together better than beer and barbecue do, which is why Gut Check applauds the upcoming Pigs and Pints festival at the Civil Life Brewing Company (3714 Holt Avenue).

This Sunday, May 19, from noon to 6 p.m., the Tower Grove-based brewery will tap two new beers, strong bitter and an English-style IPA, which should go nicely with roasted pig.

See also:
- The Six Best Craft Beer makers in St. Louis
- The Block Opens New Location

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Kaitlin Steinberg

Joe Hoffmann faced Richard Haegele (lower left) on Saturday in an epic showdown at Flying Saucer St. Louis.

As Gut Check reported back in March, the opening of the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium (900 Spruce Street; 314-932-1456) was marred by an anti-Cardinals conspiracy launched by one Joe Hoffmann.

The plot: Be the first to drink 200 beers and claim the location's first "Ring of Honor" plate in the name of Don Denkinger, the first base umpire who "blew a call" that allowed the Royals to win against the Cardinals in the '85 World Series.

Cardinal Nation got wind of Hoffmann's dastardly scheme and three challengers stood between him and plate no. 1. After 66 days and 198 brews, it all came down to Saturday morning when the employees at Flying Saucer opened the doors.

Four men entered. One no. 1 plate emerged.

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Budweiser's new formal attire.

Let it be known that Gut Check is always on the cutting edge of technology. Especially when said technology involves beer.

Today, St. Louis' own classic American lager, Budweiser, is loosing upon humanity a new beer can -- not simply an updated label or artwork, but quite literally an entirely new can. The can takes the form of Budweiser's classic "bow tie" symbol, which is emblazoned on every Budweiser product: Yes, ladies and gentlemen, now even the cans themselves feature a cinched, bow-tie shape.

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It's freakin' beer mania here in St. Louis this week! Deschutes Brewery is in town from Portland, Oregon, and they're partnering with various bars and restaurants in town to bring you a plethora of beer-related activities and events.

The festivities, which Deschutes calls Base Camp for Fanatics, officially started on Friday, May 3 with St. Louis Microfest. There are events continuing throughout this week, so to help you decide how best to divide your time, we've created a handy list of all the Deschutes offerings. Of course, to make it simple, you could just go to everything. In fact, we recommend it.

See Also:
- Deschutes Brewery Brings Weeklong Craft-Beer Campaign to St. Louis Beginning Today
- Scenes from the 2013 St. Louis Microfest

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Pale Ale from Kirkwood Station

More than 100 breweries were on tap in Forest Park Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4. Despite wet weather on Friday night, the beer was flowing. Photos by Steve Truesdell for the RFT. See the full slideshow here: 2013 St. Louis Microfest photos.

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Samples of Deschutes Brewery's Chainbreaker White IPA.

Our beer mugs runneth over here in St. Louis. Bend, Oregon-based Deschutes Brewery, the nation's fifth-largest craft brewery, is set to commence Base Camp for Fanatics, its weeklong campaign to introduce new and specialty beers through tasting events, food pairings and a chance to engage with Woody, a "giant beer barrel on wheels." Base Camp, which began Friday, May 3, with an appearance at St. Louis Microfest

Eager to drink learn more, Gut Check called Erik Frank, Deschutes' regional events manager, to get the rundown on the brewery's first-ever St. Louis beer fest.

See also:
- St. Louis Microfest Brings 100 Breweries to Forest Park This Weekend

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