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Main & Mill Brewing Co., mid-construction.
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The corner of Main and Mill Streets in Festus, Mo, circa 1905.
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The same corner in the 1950s
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The same corner today.
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Barry and Denny Foster (father and son), 25 years ago.
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Son and father, today.
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Cheap labor
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The second story at Main & Mill.
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Is there an echo in here?
The thing about a place like Festus is, it’s home.
The person cutting your hair has a mom who taught you Algebra in middle school.
The guy changing the oil in your car plays in a band at the tavern on Friday nights.
The lady taking your order, well, her sister-in-law is your next-door neighbor.
And now, the kid you played in Little League with, and his dad, who of course happened to be the coach, own Main & Mill Brewing Co, the new microbrewery located at the intersection of those two streets, scheduled to open in October.
When Barry Foster drove onto Main St. for the first time, he and his wife hadn’t even been to their new home yet. Their son, Denny, was 2 years old. Back then, in the 80s, the cobblestone road was still illustriously branded for “cruising,” a Saturday night pastime that included slowly idling down the two-stop sign stretch so that everyone and their brother could check out your sweet ride.
And Barry thought, oh Lord—where have I moved? But the Foster family is now as rooted in the town as the nineteenth century building that Main & Mill calls home, and Barry says he couldn’t think of a better spot to grow a family-owned and -operated business. The town has changed slightly over the years, but cruising is now an activity memorialized in the Festus history books. The modern-day city is what Barry calls a bedroom community, meaning that anything you need is right here, at home.
Although the microbrewery craze has hit all major cities in recent years, many beer-lovers scratched their heads when Denny announced his would be located in Festus. But it was always his plan to help promote his hometown. In Denny’s mind, those unfamiliar with Festus just needed a reason to come see it for themselves. Barry and Denny hope that people visiting the microbrewery will stay in the hotels, shop the antique stores, and in general, boost the local economy. They hope Main & Mill will mean much more to Festus than just a new place to eat and drink.
Denny spent three years learning his craft at Crown Valley Brewery in Ste. Genevieve. Now 29 years old, he hopes that all of the buzz that surrounded Main St. during its cruising days will return again. Apparently all of Festus feels the same way: the Fosters report the microbrewery might not have been possible without a lot of local financial, legal, and labor support. “This town has a lot to offer,” Denny says. “We're just one more reason to come on down.”
The main attraction, of course, will be the locally crafted beer. Main & Mill will offer a wide range of beer styles, from the heartiest of porters to the lightest of lagers. Some brews will be seasonal, depending on what is growing in the gardens and on the farms nearby. And they’ll average $4-5 a pint, a bit less than their big city competition.
The food will be American gourmet cuisine, consisting of upscale burgers, ribs, soups, salads and more, with the ingredients as locally and domestically obtained as possible. Head chef Leo Gomez, formerly of Taytro’s Bar & Bistro, will see to it that the food be as sought after as the beer, and at price points just as reasonable, with entrées ranging from $7 to $12.
When the doors open, the Fosters plan to introduce an IPA, a porter, a pumpkin beer, and a blonde ale. From there, they’ll let their customers tell them what they like and what they don’t, further integrating their community involvement.
The two-story building is made of cast iron, wood, and brick that Barry and Denny hand-scrubbed with a fist-sized stone. The business will seat 85 to 90 people, plus an outdoor deck and patio with local live music and games. The Fosters are aiming for an overall classic and sophisticated aesthetic, with an open seating plan to encourage mingling and conversation.
Denny says they are doing all the construction and repair work themselves, and that community members have been peeking into the building for months, monitoring their progress. Like any business venture, Barry says they’ve pretty much encountered a problem at every turn, bringing the 130-year-old building in compliance with modern building codes. But, it’s okay because they see it as one of the greatest adventures of their lives. “I’d be psyched out of my mind if someone else were doing this here,” Barry says. “We get to be those folks.”
SLM intern Emily Adams has lived in Festus, Missouri all her life.
