Good Beer in Bud's Back Yard
by Frederick Ekstam
Here in Missouri, one would be tempted to think that people drink only Budweiser. While Anheuser-Busch, Inc., is certainly not hurting in its home state, there are alternatives to bland beer if one knows where to look. Not that it can’t be daunting; before homebrewing became legal in 1995, certain lobbyists tried to slap a 5% surcharge on all equipment and ingredients sold in the state. Their claim was that such sales were going to hurt the "small businesses" that sold their product! Fortunately, it didn’t pass.
Following are a few brewpubs and micros whose beers (and in most cases, food) I have sampled. All pubs have specialty and/or seasonal beers.
If you go to St. Louis, there is the granddaddy of 'em all, the Tap Room, a/k/a the Saint Louis Brewery (2100 Locust Street; 314.241.8101). They’ve been around for about 12-15 years and are just a stone’s throw from the A-B building (tempting…). They have several seating areas plus an outdoor beer garden, and a full menu ranging from the exotic (some Oriental dishes) to the standard pub fare (burgers as big as your head). They have numerous special events, ranging from the traditional Oktoberfest to an annual oyster festival. They also feature live music several nights a week.
Just up the road on I-70, there is a place called the Trailhead Brewing Company (921 South Riverside Drive, St. Charles; 314.946.2739), so named because it is just a few miles from the spot where Lewis and Clark set forth on the Northwest Expedition. They also boast multiple rooms and feature the now-standard practice of having the brewing process visible behind glass. At any time, patrons are likely to see mashing, sparging, or wort chilling going on, or perhaps a couple of guys in hip boots hosing everything down. Their menu features appetizers, sandwiches and full dinners.
Owensville, Missouri, a small town near, well, near nowhere, has a place called the Owensville Roller Mill Feed and Brewery (411 Springfield; 573.437.6464). A restaurant with a local flavor, it is housed in a converted barn. It is small, a three-barrel system, and all the beers go under the name Good Goods, from a flour business owned by the brewmeister’s grandfather many years ago. It also has a full menu; try the rib tips. (Closed Sundays.)
Head to Columbia, and near the Mizzou campus you will find Flat Branch Pub and Brewing (115 South Fifth Street; 573.499.0400), a great place with an abundance of styles that always includes a cask-conditioned, cave-aged beer and some interesting seasonal offerings; a year or so I had a roggenwiess there, a rye beer made with a wheat beer yeast! Always experimenting, the brewmeister provided a beer-paired-with-food German chocolate cake, made with his Porter, for the 1999 American Homebrewers Association conference. It is one of the few pubs that regularly serves a barleywine and/or an Imperial stout. It also has great food from a full menu and an extensive line of single-malt Scotch whiskeys.
Down in Springfield, there is the imaginatively-named Springfield Brewing Company (305 South Market Avenue; 417.832.8277), an absolutely beautiful pub built by the Mueller family, who became rich in the sheet metal business and spared no expense in design and construction of their establishment. Their fermentation tanks are individually temperature-controlled; patrons can see a lager fermenting at 34 degrees right next to an ale doing its thing at 65 degrees. They have what I feel to be the best Munich-style lager outside of Deutschland. Their T-shirts bear their logo--the family crest–-and the words "Beer is Yummy."
Also in Springfield is Ebbets Field (1027 East Walnut; 417.865.5050), a funky little place in an old house; no room is larger than a typical living room and the bar is in what was once a back hallway. The place is decorated with old-time baseball regalia, and all the sandwiches on the menu are named after old-time New York baseball players or other Brooklyn Dodger nicknames. Sadly, they have suspended their brewing operations (which used to be done in the garage out back!). My contacts tell me they now feature high-quality imports and microbrews. No word on whether or not they’ll resume brewing.
South of there, on U.S. 65 in Willow Springs, is a microbrewery called Little Yeoman Brewery (R.R. 1; 417.469.3451), which is quietly but quickly getting its beers in restaurants, taverns and stores throughout the area. One major establishment in Springfield provides them with more shelf space than Anheuser-Busch’s; take that, Uncle Bud! It is owned by a back-to-nature hippie couple and makes some great beers.
Since we’re already in the southern part of the state, let’s take a jaunt down to Fayetteville, Arkansas, the home of Ozark Brewing Company (430 West Dickson Street, just off the University of Arkansas campus; 501.521.2739). Its décor boasts an all-wood, three-story central area, supported by hand-hewn 10x10s joined together with wooden pegs. It also features a full menu as well as standard pub fare; try the sausage medley with three different kinds of mustard. Its IPA packs a whopping 55 IBUs!
Back up north, the Kansas City area is a burgeoning mecca of micros and brewpubs; of the former, Boulevard Brewing Company (2501 Southwest Boulevard, Kansas City, MO; 816.474.7095) and Pony Express Brewing Company (311 North Burch, Olathe, KS; 913.782.6699) are two of the biggies (tours are available; call for information). The area also features the 75th Street Brewery (520 West 75th Street, Kansas City, MO; 816.523.4677). Its beers have won numerous awards both regionally and nationally. It has a full menu and the fish and chips are locally famous. Also in the area is the River Market Brewing Company (500 Walnut, Kansas City, MO; 816.471.6300), located near a crafts/gardening/farmer’s market. It boasts a game room with weekly pool tournaments and a full menu. Try the barbecued pork sandwich; it certainly holds its own in a town known for barbecue.
In the works as of this writing is a brewpub in Hermann, Missouri, an area better known for wineries. My sources tell me it has opened already and I mention it because the town is a delightful little village of German descendants, with several German restaurants, and boasts festivals in both spring and fall. It is also known for craft shops, flea markets and bed-and-breakfast establishments.
A homebrewer for nine years, Frederick Ekstam supports his hobby by being a member of the English faculty at the University of Missouri-Rolla. He brews about 80-100 gallons of beer a year and boasts that he saves so much money on beer that he owns four refrigerators. He lives in Rolla with his wife, Nena Thomas, and their cat, Nitecap.