Tag: cooking/brewing

Since moving away from St. Louis in May, 2010, a ridiculous number of new breweries have opened, mostly within the “midtown” area. This explosion in the St. Louis brewing scene has been important enough to make national news in New York Magazine, among others. Of course, all this happens after we move away, but now that we’re back, we can finally partake in some of their wares.  I assume they are springing up because St. Louis does a good job with their water supply (in support of Anheuser-Busch…).  At the very least, I’m glad they’re mostly springing up in the City itself instead of the various surrounding municipalities.

Last night, I went along with old college roommate buddy, Tony, to Perennial Artisan Ales, located in an old Coca-Cola plant that has since been converted to lofts.  Tony lives above the place, so he goes down for a fresh pint from time to time (likely more often than anyone should…).  The neat thing about this place is that they really focus on different beer styles with odd flavorings, so they are purposefully trying to make a distinction between their beers and others in the city.  Their on-tap roster consists of a Southside Blonde, “Saison de Lis” Chamomile Saison, Hommel Bier, and Abraxas (a Mexican Chocolate Stout).  Each week, on Thursdays, they host tastings of some new beer they are unveiling, done on a small, 5 gal scale.  Basically, the head brewer just does what any home brewer does and then, if it’s good enough, they consider scaling it up to a full batch.  They just invest a little bit in materials to test it and then get their customers to tell them whether it’s worth production or not.  Last night’s was a Rye beer that tasted quite good, though the color left much to be desired (i.e. it wasn’t the most attractive beer I’d ever had, but after you taste it, you forget what it looks like).

I tasted a few of them.  The Hommel was the “hoppiest” beer they had, so it’s the one I ended up buying for the evening.  I tasted their Chamomile Saison, which was pretty fascinating.  Chamomile is one of those flavors/scents that you recognize, but can’t always name, but believe you me, you could tell it was in this beer.  The flavor was good and very distinctive.  They also have a Strawberry Rhubarb Tart on occasion.  I can’t begin to imagine what it would taste like.

But that Abraxas.

Wow.

Seriously, it may be one of the best beers I’ve had in a long time.  And I didn’t go there thinking I’d like it that much.  The closest descriptor I could come up with as I had some was “it tastes like Christmas.”  It was chocolaty, but wasn’t overwhelming.  Its texture was definitely stout-like, but not too thick.  The beer was 10% alcohol, so I didn’t want to have a whole one and then drive home later, but geez did I want one.  They sell wine bottle-sized versions of their beers that you can take home, but it was going to be $20 for that one.  Perhaps after Christmas, I’ll grab one so Brooke can try it.

Their location is about as far south in St. Louis City as you can go, and they aren’t in what I’d consider to be a very good location.  I certainly hope they survive, at least long enough to keep their production going there and then sell their beers through bars in the city.  These guys are offering what few others are and are truly innovative, I think.

After having the beer at Perennial, I went upstairs to Tony’s and he shared some Black IPA he and his brother brewed awhile back.  Truly spectacular.  I don’t think I can let him have any of ours because his is far better.  That, or we’ll have to switch to full mash brewing techniques…

When Meg was staying with her grandparents a few weeks ago, Brooke and I checked out another new brewery, Urban Chestnut, and were pretty pleased with that one, too.  They are located closer to SLU, so their building is a bit easier to get to and probably a popular destination with college students and other loft dwellers from that region of the city.  Their offerings are a bit more standard, with a variety of German-inspired beers to choose from.  We tasted 5 or 6 of them, and then got a pint each.  If I recall, the Pilgrim 7 was Brooke’s favorite, and I ended up having a Holzrauch, which is German for “wood smoke.”  Now, this isn’t a beer I would ever attempt to have a 6-pack of, but it was so different, I had to have a full pint.  In the end, I think it would be best consumed with food, rather than just sipped, but it was still very good.

Overall, I’d say I preferred Urban Chestnut’s location (they have a very nice covered outdoor area with a fire pit and wood chips down, to let you sip your beer by an open fire…a nice touch!) over Perennial’s, but I preferred Perennial’s beers over Urban Chestnut’s.  Still, the important thing is that St. Louis’ brewing scene is getting even larger, making our move back to the are all the more fortunate.