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I am heading to St. Louis for work August 6-8. I'll have the night of the 6th to go explore a bit and maybe sometime on the 7th. Unfortunately, the 6th is a Monday and it looks like 2nd Shift and Side Project are closed. What would be my next best option(s) for drinking what STL has to offer? It looks like things have changed a lot since last time I was there...
 
flexabull said:
I am heading to St. Louis for work August 6-8. I'll have the night of the 6th to go explore a bit and maybe sometime on the 7th. Unfortunately, the 6th is a Monday and it looks like 2nd Shift and Side Project are closed. What would be my next best option(s) for drinking what STL has to offer? It looks like things have changed a lot since last time I was there...
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Urban Chestnut
Civil Life
Schlafly
 
A late follow-up after asking for advice a while back. Thanks for all of the tips. We had a great time. Hit all the usual touristy spots. Kids loved City Museum and going up in the Arch. We went to a Cardinals game. Got all of the feels at Saratoga Lanes in Maplewood. Very old school bowling alley. Still allows smoking so it smelled like childhood. No automatic scoring was fun to show the kids how to do it by hand.

Food highlights were Salt + Smoke for BBQ, Grace Meat + 3 for chicken & ribs, Mac's Local Eats for smash burger, Union Loafers for pizza. Tons of donuts with Donut Stop and Donut Drive-In leading the charge. Only real food disappointment was Bailey's Range. Burgers were hockey pucks and the beer list sucked.

Pics: https://photos.app.goo.gl/KFkLzauHrcfgmztm7
 
Managed to hit 5 spots during my quick work trip, here are my thoughts...

Schlafly - Managed to walk here from my downtown hotel. (damn it was hot!) In general I enjoyed it. Liked the historic old building. Beers were pretty good as was the food.

Center Ice - Stopped on my way to Urban Chestnut. Glad I didn't go out of my way to check this place out. So weird how you have to enter from the back of the building and not the front. Beers were not bad, but pretty uninspired. That description applies to the space and employees as well.

Urban Chestnut - Really enjoyed this place. Friendly staff and a cool vibe. Their lager game is on point. The IPA I tried later at the hotel bar was good too.

4 Hands - Pleasant surprise. Kind of a weird location, but the space was inviting with good tunes being played. Liked both beers I sampled.

Side Project Cellar - The obvious high point of the trip. You guys are lucky to have a place like this. I tried the excellent Marietta Ave Farmhouse Pale and the Shared Brewing Cask Porter with vanilla and cocoa nibs was freaking divine.

Things have changed a ton since the last time I visited.

Cheers!
 
I'm going to be in St. Louis in about 3 weeks. Going to hit Narrow Gauge + Cugino's on Thursday and something with my family on Friday. For Wednesday, I'm landing at about 1:30 and looking to spend most of the day out. After looking through this thread, I think I've decided but wanted some advice. I'm going to be at the Union Station Hotel for reference.

Thinking about:
4 Hands or Perennial to start. The former is way closer, but the latter may have more interesting beers.
Salt & Smoke for dinner, probably around 5pm? Was looking at Mac's but really want BBQ.
Side Project Cellar for the rest of the evening.

So not a huge plan but I can't decide on the first step. Maybe it even makes sense to just go somewhere around the hotel instead? Like going to Bridge or something? And any opinions on the BBQ choice?

Thanks for any advice!
 
shadowane said:
I'm going to be in St. Louis in about 3 weeks. Going to hit Narrow Gauge + Cugino's on Thursday and something with my family on Friday. For Wednesday, I'm landing at about 1:30 and looking to spend most of the day out. After looking through this thread, I think I've decided but wanted some advice. I'm going to be at the Union Station Hotel for reference.

Thinking about:
4 Hands or Perennial to start. The former is way closer, but the latter may have more interesting beers.
Salt & Smoke for dinner, probably around 5pm? Was looking at Mac's but really want BBQ.
Side Project Cellar for the rest of the evening.

So not a huge plan but I can't decide on the first step. Maybe it even makes sense to just go somewhere around the hotel instead? Like going to Bridge or something? And any opinions on the BBQ choice?

Thanks for any advice!
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If you are going to stay downtown, I’d just go by 4 hands and maybe the newer brewery in town called wellspent, Kyle makes some good beer
 
Jaminjohnson said:
If you are going to stay downtown, I’d just go by 4 hands and maybe the newer brewery in town called wellspent, Kyle makes some good beer
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Thanks for the response! I'll check out Wellspent and see where it is. Appreciate the suggestion. I also think I agree with you as far as 4Hands vs. Perennial. The latter is just further from everything and I don't feel like spending time caught in too much traffic.

edit: I see Wellspent is near Pappy's Smokehouse. Any opinions on that versus Salt & Smoke?
edit2: Wellspent doesn't open until 4pm on Wednesdays which is a little late for when I was going to get started. Maybe that works better though.
 
shadowane said:
Thanks for the response! I'll check out Wellspent and see where it is. Appreciate the suggestion. I also think I agree with you as far as 4Hands vs. Perennial. The latter is just further from everything and I don't feel like spending time caught in too much traffic.

edit: I see Wellspent is near Pappy's Smokehouse. Any opinions on that versus Salt & Smoke?
edit2: Wellspent doesn't open until 4pm on Wednesdays which is a little late for when I was going to get started. Maybe that works better though.
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Pappy's has better pork, Salt+Smoke has better brisket and some interesting side dishes (burnt end toasted ravs). If you can go during the day Bogart's is killer.

If you're looking for something for the family the zoo is always good, and it's right across the highway from Mac's
 
ccbstl said:
Pappy's has better pork, Salt+Smoke has better brisket and some interesting side dishes (burnt end toasted ravs). If you can go during the day Bogart's is killer.

If you're looking for something for the family the zoo is always good, and it's right across the highway from Mac's
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It's just me on this trip as I'm there for a conference so no need for family recs. Thanks though.

Well, I land at 12:30 so I can get dinner whenever I want really. I'll check out bogart's.

edit: Bogart's is really close to 4Hands. Intriguing.
 
Any opinions on 4 Hands? The draft list seems kind of boring to me but can't decide if a couple of the beers would make a visit worth it or not.
 
Or do I change plans and instead of going to Bogart's go to Pappys. Wellspent and Urban Chestnut are right around Pappy's so that would fill in the brewery and bbq part of the visit.

I'm going to Side Project Cellar after eating so I have that to look forward to regardless of what I choose at least.
 
shadowane said:
Or do I change plans and instead of going to Bogart's go to Pappys. Wellspent and Urban Chestnut are right around Pappy's so that would fill in the brewery and bbq part of the visit.

I'm going to Side Project Cellar after eating so I have that to look forward to regardless of what I choose at least.
Click to expand...
Do Pappy's/Wellspent/UCBC, more interesting beer, similar BBQ. Nothing will blow you away at 4 Hands
 
ccbstl said:
Do Pappy's/Wellspent/UCBC, more interesting beer, similar BBQ. Nothing will blow you away at 4 Hands
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply! I'm going to take your advice and go UCBC -> Pappy's. I just wasn't excited by 4 Hands beer list and I figured why waste my time. I may do Wellspent, but probably not since I want time at Side Project.
 
Hey STL folks, I’ll be in town through Friday for work and would love to meet up with a TB’er or two for a beer or three. I’m staying at the Hyatt near the Arch and should be free sometime between 6 and 7 on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Hit me up if you’re down for a beer, I’ll buy the first round! Cheers
 
Has anyone been to Wellspent yet? I'm in STL a lot now for work and I've hit Side Project, Perennial, Schlafly, Four Hands, Urban Chestnut, and 2nd Shift from a brewery perspective. Any other breweries or bars that I should be hitting that are relatively easy to get to from the downtown or Soulard area? Can uber/lyft within reason..
 
primebeer said:
Has anyone been to Wellspent yet? I'm in STL a lot now for work and I've hit Side Project, Perennial, Schlafly, Four Hands, Urban Chestnut, and 2nd Shift from a brewery perspective. Any other breweries or bars that I should be hitting that are relatively easy to get to from the downtown or Soulard area? Can uber/lyft within reason..
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I enjoyed Wellspent, lot's of well made low ABV stuff. Nothing blew me away, but I liked it all. Civil Life is great and only 10-12 minutes from downtown, less from Soulard. Heavy Riff in Dogtown is pretty good as well and close to 2nd Shift.
 
ccbstl said:
I enjoyed Wellspent, lot's of well made low ABV stuff. Nothing blew me away, but I liked it all. Civil Life is great and only 10-12 minutes from downtown, less from Soulard. Heavy Riff in Dogtown is pretty good as well and close to 2nd Shift.
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Thanks for the recs. I'll try to do a better job of posting in here when I'm in town, as it's quite frequently these days.

I'll check out Wellspent and hopefully Civil Life next time I'm in town. I've had a few Civil Life pours and enjoyed them all. Though it is difficult prying me away from the Grove and drinking all of the Zwickel from the source and then drunkenly stumbling over to Gramophone for some Busch tallboy nightcaps, a massive and delicious sandwich, and some pool. Good times.
 
Hey STL gang, I’m in town this week, landing around 6ish tonight and staying through Friday afternoon. If anyone is around and wants to meet up in the evenings, let me know!

Also, if anyone has any recommendations for great beer bars within walking distance or short Uber from the Hyatt at the Arch, that would be much appreciated!
 
ccbstl said:
I'm at perennial right now, red striped polo across from the bar. I'll buy you a beer.
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Touching tips with ccbstl so hard rn. Let the record state that I got to buy him a beer before he got to buy me a beer.

Other STL folks, I’m back in town June 5-7 if anyone wants to meet up. Cheers
 
So this Derivation 11 release. Will getting in line at 11 am be too late? Do bottles typically last during the on-site events? Seems like they have in the past in the research I've done, but D11 seems like a completely different beast.
 
jeevo said:
So this Derivation 11 release. Will getting in line at 11 am be too late? Do bottles typically last during the on-site events? Seems like they have in the past in the research I've done, but D11 seems like a completely different beast.
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I think you should be OK, but if you're worried the cellar will have it too. They open an hour later so the line won't be as bad there.
 
ccbstl said:
I think you should be OK, but if you're worried the cellar will have it too. They open an hour later so the line won't be as bad there.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I wasn't sure whether I should pack a big bottle to "trade" with someone for a pour or hire someone from Task Rabbit to stand in line. This is super fortuitous timing since I had my flight booked for this Saturday months ago, and I it's something I really don't want to get shut out on lol.
 
I come to you the honest people of TB in order to ask an honest opinion.

I happen to be driving through STL one of the weekends of the Langst release. I am hesitant to spend $40 on a single bottle. So let me ask it simply. Is Langst worth it for a BiL believer such as myself?
 
JGlitz87 said:
I come to you the honest people of TB in order to ask an honest opinion.

I happen to be driving through STL one of the weekends of the Langst release. I am hesitant to spend $40 on a single bottle. So let me ask it simply. Is Langst worth it for a BiL believer such as myself?
Click to expand...
My friends in whatever the side project club is do say that is a tasty beer.

I spent $40 on BBT myself and it’s the best beer I’ve had in a few years outside of VSOJ.
 
JGlitz87 said:
I come to you the honest people of TB in order to ask an honest opinion.

I happen to be driving through STL one of the weekends of the Langst release. I am hesitant to spend $40 on a single bottle. So let me ask it simply. Is Langst worth it for a BiL believer such as myself?
Click to expand...

Batch 1 was super tasty, you've spent more money on dumber things (probably).

giphy.gif
 

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