On a recent visit to Ste. Genevieve to scope out Charleville Winery's beer operation, my interview with brewmaster Tony Saballa was briefly paused when a local hog farmer came to pick up a wagon of spent grain.

"He feeds it to his pigs after we use it in the brewing process," Saballa explains. "It leaves here like that" — mushy brown stuff — "and comes back as bacon."

That's the kind of keep-it-local philosophy that has guided Saballa and Charleville's owners since they added a small brewery to their winery in late 2004. Charleville's lineup of beers is bottled and labeled one at a time, by hand, and is available in grocery stores, beer shops and restaurants from St. Louis to Cape Girardeau.

Saballa has plans to slowly expand distribution south and west through the state, but for now, his focus is on quality, not quantity.

"Last year, we made 500 barrels," he says. "We have capacity to make 1,500 barrels, but it's not like a do-or-die thing to get there. We take it one day at a time."

(For comparison, Schlafly last year produced 30,000 barrels of beer — a company record — and Anheuser-Busch InBev can make more than 300 million barrels each year.)

Saballa, who is also Charleville's winemaker, oversees the labor of beer love with assistant brewers Dave "Panda" Scarmana and Tait Russell, who is the son of Charleville's owners, Jack and Joal Russell. They've come up with a variety of interesting yet easy-to-drink beers, including the red-hued, slightly sweet Tornado Alley Amber Ale and a floral, hop-forward American IPA called Hoptimistic.

This year, they're experimenting with some higher-alcohol beers in small batches.

"We'll call it the Big-Small Series, or the Small-Big Series, we're not sure yet," Saballa says with a laugh.

First up in the new series is an experimental brew Scarmana made, which he's calling Double Chocolate Belgian Quad. It's a beautifully opaque beer with a nose of chocolate-covered bananas. I could have smelled it all day without ever taking a sip, but I'm glad I tasted it, too. At 11 percent alcohol by volume, it's a massive, complex beer with low bitterness and sweet flavor from chocolate malts.

Double Chocolate Belgian Quad is available only on tap at Charleville's tasting room, like some of Charleville's other small-batch beers that don't get bottled in brown, 22-ounce bombers.

On my visit, the brewers were getting ready to put labels on their Barleywine, a strong, lively and hoppy beer. Charleville is hosting a vertical tasting event next month with samples of its '07, '08, '09 and '10 Barleywine vintages. For information, go to charlevillevineyard.com.

As we looked out over Charleville's 14-acre vineyard with a silky, nitrogen-carbonated Oatmeal Stout in hand, Saballa told me he never forgets how fortunate he is to have the freedom to make beer and wine in such a beautiful setting. He's the type of brewer who still cares enough about his product to cringe when he reads a negative review on a site like Beer Advocate.

"Some people see the words 'Winery and Microbrewery' on our labels and say, 'I wish the wine guys would stick to wine,'" says Saballa, who started as a homebrewer in California and perfected the craft at Chicago's world-renowned Siebel Institute. "It's frustrating because this is who I am. It's what I love to do."

Evan's Pick • Charleville Tripel Wit

Lowdown • A Belgian-style ale brewed with coriander and orange, this weighs in at 9 percent ABV but maintains a light, spicy zip that pairs well with tangy cheeses and shellfish.

Price • About $5 for a 22-ounce bottle.

Where to find it • Schnucks, Whole Foods, Dierbergs and other area locations. For a full list of where to find it, visit charlevillevineyard.com and click on "Microbrews."