Brew Hub Taproom opens March 3 on Oakland Avenue

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Photo courtesy of Brew Hub Taproom

Brew Hub Taproom boasts a collection of brews not found anywhere else in St. Louis. Not a bad hook, for starters.

The 120-seater opens on Saturday just off Highway 40/I-64, in the former Krieger’s/Highlander Pub/St. Louis Ribhouse location.

Brew Hub was conceived by Tim Schoen, a former A-B exec, to provide brewing, packaging, distribution, and marketing services for small craft brewers in the Lakeland, Florida area, acting as a “partner brewer” (similar in concept to a contact brewer). Jim "Otto" Ottolini, long-time brewmaster at Schlafly, was tapped as Chief of Brewing Operations.

The pair hoped to repeat the process in St. Louis and optioned a parcel of property in Chesterfield for that purpose. When the craft market slowed, the project was put on hold and the concept pivoted to a taproom model versus a partner model. The result is Brew Hub Taproom.

The tapoom business plan calls for the Florida-made beers to be shipped to St. Louis (in what’s called a brewery-to-brewery transfer), opening up the partners to a new market. (If and when the Chesterfield project is realized, St. Louis beers could be shipped to Florida.)

The 20 beers on tap at Brew Hub will include 14 partner brews and three “home brands,” Keybilly Island Ale, Rome City IPA, and Diver Down IPA. House-made and local beers will fill out the remainder of the 20 taps. That ratio will change as time progresses. The full list of beers can be found here.

Brew Hub has a relatively small four-barrel system, so Ottolini says some popular styles will need to be piggybacked or “they won’t last a weekend.”

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Photo courtesy of Brew Hub Taproom

On the back bar are halves of spent beer barrels inset with laser-cut logos from each of Brew Hub's 17 partner beers. The 120-seat room includes a communal table, a lounge-y area with leather chairs and sofas, and a 30-seat, dog-friendly patio is in the works.

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Photo courtesy of Brew Hub Taproom

Part of the space is dedicated to the brewery operation, barrel aging, and stainless steel tanking. Inside the front door is a retail area, selling everything from 4- and 6-packs to growlers and crowlers of the partner beers. The Brew Hub staff will be well versed in beer-speak: all are required to attain level one certification as a Cicerone (the beer equivalent of a wine sommelier).

Flights of four beers will be served in cool-looking barrel staves. But Brew Hub kept the non-beer drinker in mind as well by offering a full bar with premium call spirits, a few higher-end options, and six wines (three reds and three whites).

Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

The food menu was created by chef and general manager Andy White, alum of the Ritz Carlton, Harvest, and long-time GM and chef at both Schlafly locations (Taproom and Bottleworks).

The expansive menu is broken into five sections with one price per section—Bites, Snacks, Salads, Burgers, and Sandwiches. The Bites are true tapas: a choice of four different tacos, small buns, kebobs, and sausage, all in bite-or-two portions, all $2.75 each.

White explains that “after writing beer menus for 10 years, I knows what works. Meatloaf works, for example—ours will be made from grilled turkey. Fish and chips work—ours will be battered cape shark with house-made London-style chips. Reubens work—ours will have duck confit, Emmenthaler cheese, and a very flavorful homemade kraut.”

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Photography courtesy of Brew Hub Taproom

L: Spent Grain Beer Bread, served with pimiento beer cheese and bacon date jam. R: Taproom Cubano, with roasted pork, ham, Swiss, pickles, and beer mustard on pressed hoagie

Regarding other items, Brew Hub takes a same-but different-approach. White says that part of the dining out experience—a part that many owners and chefs overlook—is that the customer needs to feel good when they leave, which is why the burgers are in 5-ounce portions, “an ample size that won’t leave you wishing you’d ordered something else.”

In the same vein, there’s not a lot of fried food on the menu, and chips are offered in lieu of fries. White says they’re hand-cut, soaked in salt and vinegar overnight, then fried to order. He hopes “it’s the best chip ever and no one will miss the fries.”

Brew Hub opens on March 3 (see hours below). Due to its uniqueness and prime location across from The Saint Louis Zoo and the Saint Louis Science Center, White says they hope to attract “everyone from Springfield to Springfield.”