St. Louis: Home Of The Brews
For the second year in a row, St. Louis was named the city with the “Best Beer Scene” by USA Today. St. Louis has a long history as a major beer industry hub, but the city’s ties to Anheuser-Busch aren’t driving the awards. Over the past decade, the number of breweries in the US has grown exponentially, from just over 1,800 in 2010 to almost 7,500 in 2018. St. Louis has followed suit and is now home to dozens of small and medium-sized craft breweries.
The story of St. Louis’ beer industry is a story of the city in microcosm. The city has long been associated with Anheuser-Busch, the beer industry heavyweight behind Budweiser, Bud Light, Natural (“Natty”) Light among others. The original brewery was located near the Mississippi River for water access essential to the brewing process. Anheuser-Busch represents the city’s past as a river trading hub south of the Missouri-Mississippi confluence. More generally, AB’s rise, dominance and decline mirrors the rise, dominance and decline of St. Louis as an industrial powerhouse. But the recent growth of the highly innovative craft beer sector might also signal the city’s potential in the post-industrial 21st century.
Over time, AB’s connection to St. Louis has weakened. From its founding in 1852 through the 1950s, every Anheuser-Busch beer was brewed in St. Louis. However, over the second half of the 20th century, Anheuser-Busch began constructing breweries across the country, eventually creating a dozen more production facilities in the U.S. Meanwhile, St. Louis lost more than 11,000 manufacturing jobs in the mid-1950s in the wake of a mass exodus of textile, apparel, shoe, machinery, wholesaling, and meatpacking firms.
Although AB’s expansion to other breweries served a logistical purpose, it started to break the links between the city and the brewery that came to symbolize it. St. Louis went from producing all of the nation’s Budweiser to just a small fraction. Now that Anheuser-Busch’s breweries are spread from coast to coast, there is no longer a unique connection between each can of Budweiser and its hometown.
The ties between the brewer and the city it had represented frayed even further in the 21st century. The acquisition of AB by InBev, a Belgian beverage conglomerate, in 2008 was the symbolic end of the 150-year relationship between AB and St. Louis. Although the Budweiser brand has a large presence in the city, the company is now officially headquartered in Belgium.
Even as the city’s status as an industrial brewing powerhouse has declined, over the past decade the city has become a hotbed for small to medium sized craft breweries. The first modern craft brewery to open in St. Louis was Schlafly in 1991. Schlafly opened as a brewpub and expanded to bottling beer within the first several years. It is now the largest independent craft brewer in the region.
The real expansion of craft brewing in St. Louis started about a decade ago, in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Other big players in the St. Louis craft brewing scene — Urban Chestnut, 4 Hands, Perennial — all opened their doors in 2011, with dozens more opening their doors in their wake.
St. Louis’ craft brewing scene has risen out of the city’s industrial heritage. Many craft breweries took advantage of abundant empty industrial space leftover from the city’s industrial heyday, as well as depressed real estate prices in the wake of the Great Recession, to open up new breweries. For example, Urban Chestnut’s Grove location on Manchester Avenue is located in a renovated paper goods warehouse, and 4 Hands is located in a warehouse space in a light industrial neighborhood just north of Soulard. An abundance of cheap real estate in the city has lowered the barriers to starting and scaling up a brewery.
Now, St. Louis is home to a wide variety of high-quality, innovative craft breweries ranging from Side Project, a world-renowned microbrewery that focuses on barrel-aged beers to larger regional craft breweries like Urban Chestnut, 4 Hands and Schlafly.
Brewery Profiles
Perennial
Located in far South City near the riverfront, Perennial is one of the staples of the St. Louis craft beer scene. Perennial serves a wide variety of styles, from lighter saisons and witbiers to heavy Imperial Stouts, including coffee stouts in collaboration with Sump Coffee. Perennial offers a variety of Belgian and barrel-aged styles, as well as collaborations with other local breweries. Perennial’s tasting room is a more warm and relaxed environment than many other local craft breweries.
Garrett’s pick: Saison de Lis
Michael’s pick: Distant Land (Saison)
Urban Chestnut
Brewmaster Florian Kuplent is German, apprenticed at German breweries, and used to work at AB. Urban Chestnut offers two lines of beers: a series of are excellent recreations of traditional styles, and a line of more innovative American craft styles. Inside the brewery is a German-style bierhall, where you can find rowdy St. Louisans drinking from steins the size of toddlers. Across the street from the Grove Bierhall is the Urban Research Brewery, where you can taste and give feedback on experimental brews, as well as purchase delicious wood-fired pizzas.
Garrett’s pick: Hollow Pointe Gose
Michael’s pick: Schnickelfritz (German Hefeweizen)
Side Project
Quite literally the side project of former Perennial brewer Cory King, the brewery has since become home to a unique style of barrel-aged beer. Originally seeking a career in winemaking, King began experimenting with homebrewing before opening his dimly lit cellar in Maplewood. Upon walking inside this brewery, you’ll encounter casual drinkers playing board games to glass-swirling snobs enjoying what might be the most unique and exquisite pour in St. Louis.
Garrett’s pick: Skip & Whistle IPA
Michael’s pick: Saison du Blé
2nd Shift
2nd Shift was founded in New Haven, in Missouri’s wine country, and moved to its current location in The Hill in 2016. The brewery is owned and operated by the couple Steve and Libby Crider, who have made an effort to integrate the business with the St. Louis community. Last year, the brewery released a special “Thoughts and Prayers” beer, in which the proceeds were given to alleviate food insecurity in Normandy School District. Inside, you will find an impressive collection of table games, delicious onsite food provided by Guerilla Street Food, and a quirky, family-friendly atmosphere.
Garrett’s pick: Sub-mission IPA
Michael’s pick: Hibiscus Wit
Schlafly
The one that started them all — St. Louis’s first craft brewery.
Garrett’s pick: Raspberry Hefeweizen
Michael’s Pick: Pumpkin Ale
4 Hands
Before opening 4 Hands, Will Johnston was a brewer at Goose Island in Chicago for five years before its acquisition by Anheuser Busch. Now, he crafts the local favorite City Wide, an American Pale Ale, and the Chocolate Milk Stout, a wintertime classic. Located a stone’s throw from downtown, the brewery is a frequent post-game for Cardinals fans. Upstairs you’ll find a full-size (free!) arcade with Skee-Ball and first-person shooters.
Garrett’s pick: Contact High
Michael’s Pick: Chocolate Milk Stout
Garrett Cunningham ’19 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at cunningham.garret@wustl.edu. Michael Fogarty ’19 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at michael.fogarty@wustl.edu.