Old Bakery Beer Company in Alton rolls out winter menu and beers

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Photo by Miranda Munguia

Old Bakery Beer's crispy tacos, with refried beans, seasoned rice, and avocado dipping sauce

Photo by Miranda Munguia

This holiday, Old Bakery Beer Company is rolling out a particularly seasonal new brew: Tannenbaum. 

The fir tree–inspired IPA is an apt addition, considering the brewery's emphasis on certified organic beers.

“Environmental sustainability is a key to what we do here," says co-owner Lauren Pattan. "We're certified organic and take that into account with every decision that we make.”

The Alton brewery uses only North American grown malts, raw grains, and hops—and, in the case of the holiday-centric IPA, locally grown organic rosemary. The brewery also recently introduced three other wintertime offerings: a Double Stout (pitch black, bitter, and roasty, described as a “pretty burly beer by OBB’s standards”), Vanilla Porter (OBB’s standard porter with vanilla added), and Raspberry Porter (a collaboration with Friar Tuck). Besides the brewery, the stout and vanilla porter are available at Randall's, BeerSauce Shop, and Craft Beer Cellar.

Photo by Miranda Munguia

Teriyaki Tofu Sandwich

Teritaki tofu sandwich with roasted red pepper, hummus, pickled carrot, red onion, and spinach on ciabatta

At the same time, Old Bakery chef Matthew Cooper has updated the brewery's menu. The fare includes seasonally rotating snacks, soups, salads, and sandwiches, including vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. “Eating a plant-based diet is one of the most environmentally sustainable ways that you can eat,” says Pattan. 

Among the new vegan and vegetarian options: Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts with fried tofu, a teriyaki tofu sandwich, a house-made sweet potato burger, crispy tacos, and vegetarian toasted ravioli.

Heartier meat-centric dishes include a sweet coppa and hot soppressata sandwich and the Charlie Brown (pictured below)—“basically a Thanksgiving meal on a sandwich,” says Pattan—with turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry chutney, and cheese on a rosemary Tuscan roll.

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Photo by Miranda Munguia

Behind the Brewery

For those not already familiar with Old Bakery, the brewery first came to life after Pattan and husband James Rogalsky discovered the former Colonial Bakery building in downtown Alton, at 400 Landmarks Boulevard. 

Photo by Miranda Munguia

James Rogalsky, Lauren Pattan

“At the time, we were living and working in St. Louis,” says Pattan, who had been working at Urban Chestnut Brewing Company with Rogalsky, who'd previously been a home brewer. “Up until that point, we'd been looking in St. Louis for buildings and were struggling a bit. Then we stumbled upon this building in Alton, and we're both from Alton—born and raised—so we decided to check it out.”

In the late 1800s, part of the building started as a bakery, but a fire in 1929 resulted in a series of remodels, additions, and changes in ownership. The building remained a bakery until the early 1980s, when it shut down. In 2015, the two brought it back to life. “From the moment we walked in, there were a lot of mixed emotions because it was so cool," Pattan says. "It was so perfect—a good combination of warehouse, industrial space, and what could become a commercial retail space that we were struggling to find. But it was also totally bare bones and in really terrible condition. There were chippings, peeling paint on every surface in the building. There was no HVAC; the floors were totally torn up concrete. The only thing in the building was small, little piles of rubble.” In the years that the bakery was closed, owners rented it to people building Mardi Gras parade floats or repairing broken forklifts.

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Photo by Miranda Munguia

Photo by Miranda Munguia

The two saw an opportunity. “From the moment we started working on it, we would have people stop by, and they were so excited,” says Pattan, noting that it took a little more than a year, from idea to execution, before the brewery opened in the rehabbed building in 2015. “People would tell us about their experiences when they were kids going on field trips to the colonial bakery and the smell of bread just being a constant presence downtown. They were excited to see something new happen in the building.”