Dressel's reopens in the Central West End

Name: Dressel's reopens in the Central West End
Item: Dressel's Pub
Author: George Mahe

After a three-year absence, Ben Dressel's beloved pub returns with a brewhouse, the soon-to-be home of the Rock & Horse line of beers.

by George Mahe

June 1, 2023

7:00 PM

Photo by Amy De La Hunt

Photo by George Mahe

Dressel’s, the beloved Welsh pub in the Central West End that’s been closed since June 2020, reopened last weekend—softly—with a refreshed look and an ancillary spin: A new brewhouse has been installed on the building’s lower level, the soon-to-be home of Rock & Horse, a line of branded beers. The pub currently serves a core menu of prior food favorites and beers from several local craft breweries. Here’s what to know before you go.

The Brewery Concept

When Dressel’s was forced to close during the pandemic, the plan was to remodel and reopen in October, "as Dressel’s, just as before,” explains owner Ben Dressel. “But when we saw a quick reopening wasn’t in the cards, in the fall and winter, my wife and I decided to take the next step and do something more interesting.”

After flirting with adding a coffee concept (Dressel’s wife is a coffee aficionado), “the reality of being open from 6 a.m. to midnight sunk in and we reconsidered,” he says, hence the pivot to the brewery idea, something he'd considered for a long time.

“I’d been ice climbing and hanging out around Ridgway, Colorado, for years when I learned all about one of the local brewpubs, and, long story short, the idea crept into my brain that Dressel’s could have its own brewery and make its own beer,” he says.

Courtesy of Forgeworks

Dressel met up with Tom Hennessey, owner of Colorado Boy Pub & Brewery in Ridgway. Hennessey had previously asked a local machine shop company, Bennett Forgeworks, to modify a dairy tank for its beer production, which led to Forgeworks becoming a world-class producer of brewhouse equipment. "That’s how and why we ordered our entire brewhouse from them...stainless steel tanks, boil kettles, and tuns,” Dressel says.

Dressel added that another impetus to begin brewing beer was the unavailability of one of Dressel’s most popular offerings, a Welsh ale named Double Dragon. “It was the beer that gave Dressel’s its Welsh pub identity,” he explains. “It got harder and harder to get, and then craft beer came along and pretty much buried it. When we realized that Dressel’s was due for a reboot, I thought it was now or never and that we’d brew our own beer. In the process, we'd try to recreate Double Dragon.”

In summer 2021, Dressel learned the ins and outs of the brewing business from Hennessey, who also does training "for smaller-operation guys like me, guys who want to open a brewpub on a dime and just sell on premise,” Dressel says. “Unfortunately, I didn’t follow the ‘on a dime’ part.”

The Beers

When the seven-barrel system comes online—likely in three months—Dressel plans to brew seven to eight beers: ales, stouts, lagers, a Welsh beer, a Guinness-style stout, as well as rotating lagers, pale ales, and IPAs. “I don’t want get too far out of that wheelhouse,” he says. “We’ll leave the esoterics to somebody else. What will sustain us is to again become a neighborhood pub, a neighborhood hub, and not venture too far to the edges with either the food or the beer.”

The beer is being branded as Rock & Horse Brewing Company. “I’m passionate about [rock] climbing and my wife, Liz, is passionate about [horse] riding,” he says. “It’s as simple as that, but it conjures similar British pub names like Stag & Pheasant and Rose & Crown.”

Cartel is handling the branding for Rock & Horse and the rebranding of Dressel’s.

Until the Rock & Horse brews come online, Dressel’s will be offering beers from three local brewers, "folks who have been most supportive and helpful,” Dressel says, a few brewed exclusively for Dressel's. Currently, the mix is two from 2nd Shift Brewing, two from Perennial Artisan Ales, two from Heavy Riff Brewing Company, and one from Civil Life. Another personal favorite—Snapper, an American IPA from Logboat Brewing Co. in Columbia, Missouri—will be on tap as well.

Photo by George Mahe

The Rock & Horse beer will be brewed and fermented in the main tanks, then gets pumped into serving tanks, which are connected directly to the draft tower. “We can fill kegs at that point as well, if we want to," Dressel says, "but the intent—and the reason for the redesign—is for us to make and sell our own beer. We can always brew a custom batch for someone up the street, but that’s not the focus.”

As Dressel develops the Rock & Horse beers, he will have help and mentorship in the brewhouse from several local brewmasters, but Dressel stops short of tagging himself with the moniker. With a smile he says, “I’m not deserving of that title, but I’ll be the one doing the work.” One of the beers he hopes to recreate is an iteration of the aforementioned Double Dragon (which is still made in Wales but is not available here). Dressel plans to create a stylized version of the full-bodied amber ale, mentioning that its closest approximation is London Pride (the flagship pale ale from Fuller's Brewery).

The Food

The menu will be a distillation of past hits, Dressel says, items familiar to Dressel’s patrons over the years. The inaugural menu includes the deluxe burger, lamb burger, pretzels and rarebit, fish and chips, “chips and bit,” a porchetta sandwich, grilled cheese, fried buffalo-seasoned cauliflower, several salads, plus a kid’s menu.

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Photo by Amy De La Hunt

Dressel's beer battered haddock, tartar sauce, and house made chips

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Photo by Amy De La Hunt

Porchetta Louie - pork roasted with fresh herbs and citrus, kale, and "STL cheese blend" on a brioche bun

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Photo by Amy De La Hunt

Fresh baked pretzel with Welsh rarebit

Desserts include a croissant-based bread pudding, an apple berry crumble, and crème brulee.

The executive chef is Travis Klott, a former sous chef at Dressel's, so there won’t be a problem with continuity, Dressel says.

Photo by Amy De La Hunt

Photo by George Mahe

The Space

Outside, a banner above the door is “a vinyl version of what the signage will ideally look like, Dressel says, “with the Dressel’s name placed atop hand-painted tiles surrounding the door, similar to the building next door.” The sidewalk is slated to be replaced soon, he adds, "so outdoor dining will have to wait a few weeks.”

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Photo by Amy De La Hunt

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Photo by Amy De La Hunt

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Photo by Amy De La Hunt

The 30-seat dining room—finished in charcoal gray, textured Venetian plaster—can best be described as handsome. “Every generation of this dining room has had plaster walls finished by this old school plasterer named Wally Gianino," Dressel says. "This color is particularly striking.”

Photo by George Mahe

Subtly ornate traditional Welsh flannel quilts hang on one wall.

Photo by Amy De La Hunt

The most notable interior change is the addition of six brewing tanks in the now exposed basement. A stainless-steel hot water tank—used to gravity feed into the mash tun below–has been placed in the front window on ground level, alerts passersby that Dressel’s Pub is now a legit brewpub.

Dressel describes the space as “a little shinier and nicer than it was. Regulars will come in and say, Oh, yeah, looks like Dressel’s, but I think the new space looks fantastic, and I'm pleased that I somehow managed to not screw it up,” Dressel says. “Our overarching goal is to continue to provide a gathering place for the community, with great beer and an amazing but familiar menu, which, by the way, is a welcome combination in a brewpub.”

The Backstory

Dressel's father, Jon Dressel, first opened the Welsh-inspired Dressel's Public House on Euclid Avenue in the Central West End in December 1980. “My dad and his partner opened Llywelyn’s together around 1975,” he previously told SLM. “We then moved back to Wales, and Dad couldn’t remain involved, so he sold his interest to his partner. In 1980, we moved back to St. Louis, and my dad—who was kind of a poet/dreamer—was looking for another source of income. So that became Dressel’s. We lived in the neighborhood, so the location [around the corner from Llywelyn’s] was chosen because it was only a couple blocks from our house.”

Photo by Amy De La Hunt

Dressel’s became known for its selection of European craft beers, classical music (composers' and musicians' birthdays were often honored with special events), spirited conversation, civilized atmosphere (there were—and still are—no TVs), and Welsh-leaning fare, such as shepherd’s pie, cockles and laverbread, bangers and mash, and of course, Welsh rarebit.

In more recent years, the pub became known for its burger selection (especially the lamb burger topped with goat cheese and apricot chutney) and the Porchetta Louie sandwich, which included Provel cheese (and maybe the only porchetta sandwich in town). Both items are on Dressel’s new menu.

A chef change in 2011 nudged the culinary needle in more of a seasonally focused, gastropub direction, which was met with mixed results, according to Dressel. “The menu plan going forward is simply to do more of what we do best,” he says. “The beer-battered haddock is popular, for example, as are the haddock fish tacos—people love that item—so we might add more tacos, and a baked haddock option.”