13 of the past year's biggest beer stories
The craft-beer industry in our region is growing bigger and stronger every day. New breweries are opening with increasing frequency, while well-established ones, both big and small, are expanding production and distribution at home and across the country.
Brewers themselves are also pushing the industry forward with new approaches to modern, trendy and old-world beers, introducing consumers to a range of classic and creative styles and flavors. In this, our annual The Year in Beer feature, we present an overview of the expansion and innovation in our regional craft-beer community.
Here, you’ll read about happenings in the beer scene from October 2016 to October 2017, including inspiring stories about growth and expansion. Please join us in raising a pint to all of the brewers who are moving our local beer industry forward and making our region a national destination for stellar suds.
Alpha Brewing Co. Opening in Tower Grove South
Alpha Brewing Co. owner and brewer Derrick Langeneckert announced in April that his Downtown St. Louis brewery would be opening a production brewery in Tower Grove South in January. The new 13,000-square-foot location spans three buildings at the intersection of Morganford Road and Fyler Avenue and will serve Alpha favorites including Delphian, a sour blonde conditioned in Chardonnay barrels, and Muscoby, a Russian imperial stout. The new space will allow the brewery to increase its production from 200 barrels to around 1,000. Other perks include additional parking, a 100-seat tasting room, a 200-seat outdoor beer garden, food service and the capacity for two 1,000-gallon foeders for aging new brews. Alpha beers are currently served on draft in St. Louis at Mangia Italiano, Foam, The Heavy Anchor and West End Pub, with hopes to expand to 15 accounts in the near future. (Photo courtesy of Alpha Brewing Co.)
314.621.2337, alphabrewingcompany.com
Boulevard Brewing Co. Invests $10 Million in Further Expansion
Boulevard Brewing Co. announced its next major phase of growth in June 2017: A $10 million expansion of its brewery complex and facilities in Kansas City’s Westside neighborhood. Boulevard will add a 24,000-square-foot building next to the brewery to house a canning line designed to fill 350 12-ounce cans per minute. The brewery first began canning in 2014 and outsourced the work to Cold Spring Brewing Co. in Minnesota, as well as to its sister company, Firestone Walker Brewing Co. in Paso Robles, California. The new Kansas City facility will allow Boulevard to consolidate its canning operations while also expanding its offerings. Current best-selling canned beers include Unfiltered Wheat, Heavy Lifting IPA, Ginger-Lemon Radler, American Kölsch and Frequent Flier session IPA. The expansion follows two other growth phases for Boulevard – the 2007 addition of a brewhouse and the 2014 construction of Cellar Five, which houses fermenters and other equipment that increased brewing capacity. Boulevard aims to be canning beer at the new facility by early next year. (Photo courtesy of Boulevard Brewing Co.)
816.474.7095, boulevard.com
CoMo Growlers & Pints
There’s a new filling station in Columbia, Missouri – but you won’t find any gas pumps on the property. CoMO Growlers & Pints, owned and operated by Aaron Banks, is the first dedicated “filling station” in Missouri, offering patrons the option to take home a growler of their choice of 16 draft beers. The business opened after strict regulations about growler fills in Missouri were amended in 2016 with the passing of Senate Bill 919. In accordance with new state law, CoMO Growlers & Pints contains two separate businesses housed in the same storefront: One is the filling station, and the other is a craft-beer tasting room. Taps in the tasting room rotate seasonally and will highlight smaller breweries from around the region and country. Patrons can visit the tasting room to sample pints or flights of beers, and if they find one they really like, they can take some home in a 32- or 64-ounce glass or plastic growler. (You can also bring your own growlers.) Growlers are cleaned with carbon dioxide before being filled to prevent oxygen from reaching the beer quickly, which keeps it fresher for longer. (Photo courtesy of CoMo Growlers & Pints)
573.214.4070, growlersnpints.com
Craft Republic Launches in St. Louis
Craft Republic, a new St. Louis-based craft-beer distribution company, sold its first case of beer this past June. The business represents more than 12 brands from around the U.S., including heavy hitters such as Evil Twin Brewing and Stillwater Artisanal. President and founder Brian Dix started the company after more than two decades in the beer-distribution business to fill a void he saw in the industry: catering to small- and medium-sized brands. Craft Republic features an online ordering program that allows customers to purchase beer from any of its brands and have it quickly delivered. The company is working to build a larger, more diverse portfolio, too, which may include craft spirits, mead, hard ciders, kombucha and cold brews, as well as non-alcoholic drinks like Topo Chico mineral water. As craft breweries grow in number, the company has expanded distribution outside of St. Louis into Kansas City and Columbia, Missouri. The team at Craft Republic includes account managers Nick Pepera and Katie Herrera, the former tasting-room manager at Side Project Cellar in Maplewood, Missouri, as well as “central command” Erica Ivers, craft courier William Woods and “captain of quality” Brian Devine.
314.241.5458, ourcraftrepublic.com
Earthbound Beer Expands
A lot has changed in the three years since Earthbound Beer opened in a tiny 1,000-square-foot space in St. Louis with a one-and-a-half-barrel brewing system. The brewery has gained a loyal customer base for its fun and experimental beers, and in 2015, founders Rebecca Schranz, Stuart Keating and Jeff Siddons announced big news: They leased an 8,000-square-foot space down the street from the brewery with plans to relocate it there. The building is the last remaining structure from the pre-Prohibition Cherokee Brewery Co. and includes an underground barrel vault where beer used to be cold-fermented and stored. Earthbound has removed more than 1 million pounds of detritus from the vaults and will barrel-age beers in the space, plus potentially use it to host private events. After an almost two-year renovation, Earthbound celebrated the opening of the new location last month, featuring seating for 99 inside and another 80 outside in the beer garden. The building includes a seven-barrel brewing system, a tasting room offering up to 16 beers on tap and a food menu developed by Vista Ramen chef-owner Chris Bork. (Photo by Emily Suzanne McDonald)
314.769.9576, earthboundbeer.com
Friendship Brewing Co. Expands
After celebrating Friendship Brewing Co.’s first anniversary in June, owners Brian Nolan and Mike Wood were more than living their, “Friends making beer, beer making friends” mission. They’d made so many friends, in fact, that the Wentzville, Missouri, brewery was at capacity most days and struggled to keep up with production of its five to 15 rotating beers. To accommodate these growing needs, the partners purchased a home next to the brewery and completely gutted and renovated it to act as a private event space for groups of about 50. They’ve since added more than 1,000 square feet to the brewery’s patio, as well as an outdoor pavilion and bar. All told, Friendship can now host up to 200 guests. In the near future, the brewery will add yet another building to its footprint, allowing it to triple its current brewing capacity for favorites such as Rasmanian Devil, a seasonal American red ale made with jalapeños and raspberries, and Wentzville Downtown Brown, a hoppy brown ale. Aside from expansion, Nolan and Wood are hoping to soon can Friendship beers and eventually open a bourbon and cigar bar in Wentzville. (Photo by Mabel Suen)
636.856.9300, friendshipbrewco.com
International Tap House Kansas City
International Tap House, also known as iTap, the St. Louis-based regional chain of craft-beer bars, launched an outpost in Kansas City this summer. The bar offers 56 craft taps and 500 local, national and international beers in its refrigerated coolers. If you’re unsure of what to order, consult beer-savvy manager Jon Whitaker. Situated across the street from Border Brewing Co. and Double Shift Brewing Co., with Torn Label Brewing Co. just minutes away, iTap has solidified this stretch of the Crossroads Arts District as a local craft-beer destination. (Photo courtesy of International Tap House)
816.701.6066, internationaltaphouse.com
Newly Renamed Levi Garrison & Sons Brewing Co.
Ninja Moose Brewery officially changed its name in February 2017 to Levi Garrison & Sons Brewing Co. The original name was inspired by owner Scott Falke’s misreading of Nina Moose Lake outside of Ely, Minnesota, during a fishing trip with family. The name was changed in response to a trademark issue with Canada-based Moosehead Breweries Limited. The new name was drawn from Falke’s great-grandfather, who owned a sorghum company called – you guessed it – Levi Garrison & Sons Country Sorghum. Based in the small town of Hamilton, Missouri, about 65 miles north of Kansas City, the brewery initially crammed a small tasting room and one-barrel brewhouse into an old brick telephone company building. The brewery is currently in the process of a major expansion: Falke plans to triple the size of the brewhouse and tasting room and add a five-barrel system to increase production capacity. (Photo courtesy of Levi Garrison & Sons Brewing Co.)
816.668.9421, lgsbrewingco.com
Main & Mill Brewing Co. Bottles First Beers
Located in a historic 130-year old building in Festus, Missouri, Main & Mill Brewing Co. first opened in 2015. The microbrewery produces best-selling brews like the Missouri Brunch Stout aged in Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels and the Green Chile Ale that gets its heat from Anaheim and serrano chile peppers. Its beers were only available to sip in the tasting room until August, when the family-owned operation released its first bottled beer, Trail of Totality, a tart wheat beer aged on blackberries and black raspberries, made in honor of the recent solar eclipse. The brewery followed that initial bottle release late last month with the debut of an oak-aged imperial breakfast stout and a triple-chile imperial stout in bottles. Main & Mill bottled fewer than 400 bottles of each. Moving forward, the brewery anticipates bottling four to six of its beers each year. Co-owner Denny Foster plans to begin distributing a limited number of kegs to a few St. Louis-area establishments, including Center Ice Brewery in Midtown, which is now serving Main & Mill beer. (Photo courtesy of Main & Mill Brewing Co.)
636.543.3031, mainandmill.com
Mark Twain Brewing Co. Begins Canning and Doubles Production
Mark Twain Brewing Co. has been brewing beers named for the famous author’s most well-known characters in Hannibal, Missouri, for the past three years. This year Mark Twain celebrated banner achievements in production, increasing its output by 100 percent. This has given brewers Cat Golden and Dave Alley more freedom to innovate and experiment with the barrel-aged beers in their Brewers’ Reserve Series, which has increased seven-fold since 2015. This year, the line grew to include Molly Brown, a brown ale made with maple syrup and aged in bourbon barrels; Hocuscadabra, a peach saison aged in Chardonnay barrels; and Ol’ Pudd’nhead, an English-style barleywine aged in bourbon barrels. Next month, the brewery will release its second-annual Passport to Russia, a Russian imperial stout aged in Four Roses bourbon barrels. And thanks to Mark Twain’s new canning line, flagship beers like Clemens’ Kölsch and Huck’s Habanero-Apricot Wheat are now distributed in St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Cheryl Waller)
573.406.1300, marktwainbrewery.com
Schlafly Beer Launches From the Ibex Cellar Series
Schlafly Pale Ale is the brew responsible for introducing many St. Louisans to craft beer. Since opening The Schlafly Tap Room in 1991, The Saint Louis Brewery (and its Schlafly Beer brand) has solidified its reputation as one of the region’s foremost craft breweries with year-round classics including Kölsch, hefeweizen and, of course, the pale ale, in addition to seasonal staples like Oktoberfest and Summer Lager. But to celebrate its 25th anniversary this past December, Schlafly went in a totally new direction. Over a year and a half in the making, its premium From the Ibex Cellar series features more experimental offerings like a barrel-aged imperial stout, gooseberry gose and barrel-aged coffee stout available in four-packs of 11.2-ounce bottles. The most recent release, Local Oak, is a Belgian sour that’s fermented with Lactobacillus, Brettanomyces and two different saison yeast strains, lending it a tart and fruity character. The beer is then aged in foeders made from – you guessed it – locally harvested Ozark timber. The Ibex Cellar series takes its name from the room located beneath The Schlafly Tap Room, and the packaging is designed to mimic the architecture of the historic building, which was the first new brewpub to open in Missouri since Prohibition. (Photo courtesy of Schlafly Beer)
314.241.2337, schlafly.com
Torn Label Brewing Co. Begins Canning
After nearly two years in business and a consistent stream of customer requests, Torn Label Brewing Co. founders Travis Moore and Rafi Chaudry began canning three of the Kansas City brewery’s core beers in six packs of 12-ounce cans: Alpha Pale Ale, House Brew coffee-wheat stout and Belgian-inspired Monk & Honey ale. Torn Label also packaged Magic Magic, an East Coast-style IPA brewed with raspberries and lemon peel, in cans this year as a limited release. A line wrapped around the block hours before the brewery opened, and the beer quickly gained a cult following. Torn Label also released its barrel-aged Long Time Comin’ imperial stout, made by aging a single batch of imperial stout in seven different bourbon, wine and whiskey barrels (including an extremely rare whiskey barrel from Ireland) to produce bottled variants. (Photo courtesy of Torn Label Brewing Co.)
816.656.5459, tornlabel.com
UMSL's Beer Brewing Courses
The University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) has figured out a new way to get students excited about chemistry with its CHEM 1021 Beer Brewing: Chemical and Biochemical Principles course. Offered through UMSL’s chemistry and biochemistry departments, the brewing course was introduced in 2014 at the suggestion of Ron Yasbin, dean of arts and sciences, and Joe Meisel, a Ph.D graduate. Originally designed as a science elective for non-science majors, the course is now so popular that it’s wait-listed. At the beginning of the semester, students pair off into teams of two and select a style of beer to brew. Near the end of the term, each team submits two to three liters of beer to the class, and everyone votes for their favorite. The class then brews that beer together to produce just two bottles for the winning team. The course’s spike in popularity has also resulted in the addition of a quarter-barrel brewing system this fall that resembles what you’d find at a small microbrewery. Students are limited to brewing ales, as many types of lagers require more time to ferment and stricter temperature control. The class also takes field trips to tour local breweries and learn about the science and brewing systems at each (and those of age can sample beers). A second course, CHEM 1022 Principles of Fermentation Science, has also been added to the curriculum for students who have taken the initial course. The advanced class focuses on the fermentation process and how it impacts styles of beer, wine, spirit, kombucha and even yogurt. (Photo by August Jennewein)
314.516.5311, bulletin.umsl.edu/coursesofinstruction/chem
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The craft-beer industry in our region is growing bigger and stronger every day. New brewerie…