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While St Louis may not be the first “Beer City” you think of, the history of beer in St Louis is one that goes back to the very beginning. Before Prohibition there were upwards of 40 breweries in the City of St Louis. At the time, the city was much smaller and much less populated than it is today. And while we don’t have quite the number of breweries per capita that we used to, one thing in St Louis has remained: a love for good beer. We’re a drinking town, there’s no denying it. And if you want to drink like a local, these are the places you must see to try the best beer in St Louis.
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Anheuser-Busch Brewery Tour
Locals will likely turn up their nose at the suggestion, but no matter what your thoughts on Anheuser-Busch are, there’s no denying they serve a role in the history of beer in St Louis. Anheuser-Busch not only survived prohibition, it thrived post-prohibition. The tour guides will tell you all about the history of beer in Saint Louis, and will give you two free samples to go with it.
With the In-Bev takeover, Anheuser-Busch has more beers under their umbrella than you may realize. If you don’t like their flagship, Budweiser, perhaps you’ll enjoy Elysium, Golden Road, Land Shark, or Goose Island, all of which you can find at Anheuser-Busch.
Must-Try Beer at Anheuser-Busch Bier Garten
Likely, you’re already familiar with what you like from Anheuser-Busch. Stick with the classic Budweiser, or if available, try Golden Road’s Tart Mango Cart. All the usual Anheuser-Busch classics are available, and the craft beer menu in their beer garden rotates.
Schlafly
Schlafly is best known as the David who took on Goliath. In 1991, when Schlafly opened their doors in the Downtown West neighborhood of St Louis, they were the first new brewery to open their doors since Prohibition. Furthermore, they were a micro brewery moving into neighborhood which, at the time, was almost completely vacant. This in the city where Budweiser was king. Anheuser-Busch took care of the city of St Louis through hefty donations and Clydesdale appearances, residents weren’t exactly looking for a new beer company. Given all this, would you be brave enough to open a brewery of your own?
No. Definitely not. But Tom Schlafly did just that. And his company grew to be the largest, locally owned craft brewery in our City and in our State. His story is impressive, and the beer is delicious too, among some of the best beer in St Louis. Schlafly now has three locations in St Louis: their original location, known as Taproom, in Downtown West. A larger brewery, known as Bottleworks, in Maplewood. And their newest location in St. Charles, called Bankside.
Must-Try Beer at Schlafly
You really can’t go wrong with anything you drink at Schlafly, but my favorite is their Kolsch. If you’re visiting in the Summer time, ask for their seasonal brew, the Raspberry Hefeweizen.
Schlafly Curbside
All three Schlafly Breweries have curbside pickup available. Place your Schlafly Curbside orders online or call in your order. They are offering growler or crowler fills of any of the beers they have on tap, but are only filling newly purchased growlers. They’re also doing what they refer to as “Adopt-a-Keg,” which is much like renting a Keg, only way more fun to say.
Urban Chestnut
With so many great options for beer in St Louis, it’s really hard to pick a favorite. But I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Urban Chestnut is my favorite beer in St Louis. They brew mostly German Styled beers with lots of German-Styled names, but don’t let the menu intimidate you if you’re not familiar, they’re happy to explain and sample any beer you’re curious to try.
Urban Chestnut has two locations, the first in Downtown West, and the second in The Grove neighborhood. Their Grove brewery is known for being dog friendly. You can’t bring your dogs inside the brewery itself, but their outdoor patio has a doggy entrance. Not to mention they host Dog Days of Summer events where they pop up some tents and serve beer on the adjacent empty grass lot. Bring a lawn chair and listen to some live music while enjoying their Urban Underdog brew, where a portion of sales go to local animal rescues.
Must-Try Beer at Urban Chestnut
The Winged Nut is by and large my favorite brew at Urban Chestnut. They call it a Chestnut Ale, not sure if it is made with real chestnuts or not, but it is delicious regardless. If you’re looking for something lighter, try the Schnickelfritz. For something more hoppy, try STLIPA (Pro-Tip: despite the fact that it looks like it should be said “S.T.L.I.P.A,” the brewery pronounces it “sta-lee-pah.”) Personally, I think Urban Chestnut is overall the best beer in St Louis, but don’t tell the other breweries I said that.
U.R.B.
While you’re visiting the Grove location of Urban Chestnut, be sure to swing by the Urban Research Brewery. This is a quasi-third location for Urban Chestnut. As the name implies, this is a smaller venue where they do research. What kind of research, you ask? The tasting kind!
For a $2 fee, you will receive 3 to 4 samples of beer, roughly 4 ounces each. That is what essentially equates to a pint of craft beer for $2. Awesome! In exchange, you must fill out a survey on your phone answering questions about what you smell, taste, and feel while drinking their experimental beers. Most of the times they don’t tell you what you’re tasting (aside from clues like “these samples are all citrus.”) This makes for a great place to hang out with friends and discuss what you think you’re tasting.
Must-Try Beer at the U.R.B.
There isn’t a menu here, and the tasting they offer is the only draught beer available. Live adventurously and try what they’re offering, then head across the street to their Bierhall and have anything your heart desires. They do offer a small selection of cans or bottles at this location, but stick to trying the survey brews here.
Curbside Pickup at Urban Chestnut or the U.R.B
Urban Chestnut is doing Curbside pick up at their location in The Grove only. They are offering everything they have at their Bierhall menu as well as pizzas from the U.R.B. They’re currently offering an Urban Underdog Dinner Pack that includes a pizza, a four-pack of Urban Underdog, koozies, and treats for your pup!
Rockwell
A new Brewery to the St Louis beer landscape, Rockwell is quickly rising to the top. Their brewery is built out of shipping containers and features a large patio. Rockwell is great because they’ve got a beer for everyone. While there are lots of tables available, you won’t often find someone coming around to serve you (although on a busy day, they’ll stop by and offer up a glass of water, or take away empty food baskets.)
One surprising thing that people are also saying about Rockwell is that their food is amazing. Their menu is typical, burgers and fries, but if you’re looking for the most heavenly shoe-string fries in town, Rockwell is the place for you. They’ve also got a veggie burger on their menu. The founders have an eye for design, so you’re likely to walk out of here with a t-shirt or a pint glass with tiny llamas on it (yup!).
Must-Try Beer at Rockwell
Order the Oxford Llama because it is served in a glass with llamas on it and also because it tastes good. If you’re feeling extra adventurous, try one of their beer cocktails.
Curbside at Rockwell
Instead of ordering online, Rockwell is using a drive-thru model to make curbside available to visitors. They’re open noon – 8pm and have drive-thru tables available if you want to drive up and then sit outside without coming into contact with anyone.
Earthbound
One of the reasons beer, and particularly German lagers were so popular in St Louis was because St Louis sits on top of miles of caves! Caves were the perfect place in the days of no refrigeration to brew and store lagers. Most breweries aren’t using caves to brew beer anymore…but Earthbound isn’t like most breweries. Earthbound rehabbed what was once the Cherokee Brewery and returned beer to the building, and to its caves. They offer tours of their caves on Saturdays. Learn a bit more about the history there, and learn more about the restoration process here: Earthbound Beer’s Renovation of the old Cherokee Brewery.
To summarize Earthbound as briefly as possible, they’re a brewery that likes to sway towards the peculiar. They’ve been known to brew up “Chicken and Waffles” or “Fuzzy Pickle” and love to incorporate herbs and spices into their brewing process. While they have a few “normal” beers on their menu, too, that’s definitely not what they’re known for. If you have a taste for the obscure, you’ll find that Earthbound has the best beer in St Louis.
Must-Try Beer at Earthbound
Practically everything Earthbound makes is a limited release. That’s one thing that makes them very unique. Their Irish Red always seems to be available and is a safe bet, but this is a good place to try something you’ll never taste anywhere else. Never had beer with coriander in it? Now’s your chance.
St Louis Beer Date Night?
I created a list of 60+ St Louis Date Ideas that you’ll absolutely love! Earthbound is just one of the breweries mentioned on this list. Find out the best breweries for a date night, and so much more!
Curbside at Earthbound
Earthbound has a to-go window. Place orders online, pick up in the window. They’ve recently created a small outdoor patio area for enjoying your beers outdoors as well. They specifically call out that you can not order to-go beers and then sit and drink them on their patio. They’ll sell you a single can if you want to hang out, or take your beers and run.
Heavy Riff
Heavy Riff is a great spot if you’re going to be doing any exploring of Forest Park while you’re in town…which you absolutely should do! It’s a very short drive (or Lyft ride) away from Forest park, which is even larger than Central Park and has so much to be explored! Heavy Riff is perhaps the smallest of all the breweries on this list, but is one of the best options if you’re looking for a bite to eat. I love the food at Heavy Riff, and the vegetarian options are great!
The bar area is spacious, but the dark interior gives it somewhat of a hole-in-the-wall feel, which I find to be very cozy. Heavy Riff is a middle-ground brewery. They offer a wide selection of brews, but their most talked about is their Velvet Underbrown. I love that this brewery focuses on fruit influenced and wheat beers, and their Squeeze Box Lemon Wheat is right up my alley.
Must-Try Beer at Heavy Riff
Squeeze Box Lemon Wheat, Bohemian Raspberry, and Velvet Underbrown are all winners here.
Curbside at Heavy Riff
Heavy Riff’s Curbside online ordering is available for beers. Place your order online, pull up to the green cones, text them with your last name when you arrive, and show your ID to pick up your beer.
O’Fallon Brewery
The name O’Fallon Brewery is a place that is more confusing to the locals than it is to people from out of town. That is because St Louis sits right on the border of Missouri and Illinois, and both states have a city named O’Fallon, both approximately 30 minutes in either direction of downtown. When the city O’Fallon is mentioned, it is quickly followed by the question, “Which O’Fallon?” To add to this confusion, O’Fallon Brewery is named after both O’Fallon, Missouri AND O’Fallon, Illinois, but is not located in either city. See where things can get confusing? I suspect they did this on purpose.
O’Fallon Brewing is another one of those breweries that does a lot of things really, really well. If you order your usual go-to beer style, you’ll likely agree you’re drinking the best beer in St Louis.
Must-Try Beer at O’Fallon Brewery
The O’Fallon Weach is a great place to start. Part wheat, part peach, all beer. Their St Louis Red is another great brew, and is almost as red as the name suggests it should be. If you’re looking for something different, O’Fallon also has their own line of hard sodas. They partnered with a local soda maker, Fitz’s to make a delicious Hard Root Beer.
Curbside at O’Fallon Brewery
O’Fallon offers curbside pick up of everything they sell. Everything everything. Beer? Yes. Merch? You bet. Food? Definitely. Hand Sanitizer? That too! Please your orders online and pre-select the time you’ll be picking up.
Center Ice Brewery
As the name implies, Center Ice is a Hockey bar! This a great place to watch a Hockey Game, as long as you’re cheering for the Blues that is. They have hockey stick shaped tap handles, hockey themed beer names, and even hockey boards that line the walls so you can truly feel like you’re on the ice while you’re here.
There isn’t any food at Center Ice, but that shouldn’t stop you from stopping by for dinner. They’re outside-food friendly, and are right next door to a few St Louis dinner favorites: Southern, Pappy’s, and Vito’s.
Must-Try Beer at Center Ice
They have a few limited release beers that, if you can get your hands on them, you should absolutely try. They are really great at making lagers and pale ales. Their American Golden Ale and their Old Arena Lager are my favorites.
Curbside at Center Ice
Curbside is available at Center Ice any time during their taproom hours. Place orders online, and either run into the taproom to pick up, or call them and they’ll run it out to you.
Old Bakery Beer Co
Old Bakery Beer Co is left off of the lists of the best beer in St Louis far too often. It’s likely because they are actually located in Alton, Illinois, right across the Mississippi from St Louis, but that shouldn’t stop anyone from visiting. Old Bakery Beer Co is a force in the craft beer scene in St Louis. They truly have a great beer for every taste, no matter what your favorite beer style is.
What makes Old Bakery Beer Co even more impressive is they crush everyone else on this list when it comes to food. Old Bakery Beer Co has the best food of any brewery in St Louis. They are inclusive of all dietary restrictions, with gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan options. And I say options as in plural. Anyone who’s diet falls into any one of those categories will know how hard it is to have choices when going out to eat. Old Bakery has your back!
Must-Try Beer at Old Bakery Beer Co
Old Bakery makes really solid beers no matter what you like. Their classic options are their Citrus Wheat, Centennial White, or Porter. If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, you might want to try out their Rosemary IPA or their Basil Pale Ale (the Basil Pale Ale is my favorite, but when I say “adventurous,” I mean it.
Curbside at Old Bakery Beer Co
Old Bakery Beer Co has been hit the hardest by restrictions in the past few months. Because they’re in Illinois, they live by Illinois’ rules. They’re only open for curbside and patio seating currently and could really use your support. To order Old Bakery Beer Co Curbside place your order online, and call when you arrive. Old Bakery also has a pandemic page on their website. Check that out for the most up-to-date information.
Beer Lover’s Weekend Itinerary
If you’re visiting St Louis for the weekend and want to check out some of the best Breweries our city has to offer, follow this itinerary to get the most out of your weekend. Like all my weekend itineraries, this one starts on Saturday morning…because you worked all day Friday and you need to actually have time to pack before hopping on a plane! Making travel possible is what I do. To check out more of my weekend itineraries, click here: Weekend Itineraries.
Don’t miss out on any of the best beer in St Louis. Grab your free “A Beer Lover’s Guide to a Weekend in St Louis” by clicking the button below. This completely free guide comes with a map of the breweries in the guide, too!
Visiting St Louis for the weekend but want more than just beer? I’ve got you covered! Check out these other posts about things to do in St Louis and start planning your weekend right away!
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Where to get the Best Cocktails in St Louis
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