Rockwell Beer Co. and Gerard Craft’s Brasswell open tomorrow in Botanical Heights

Rockwell Beer Co. opened softly over the Thanksgiving weekend, along with BrassWELL, a brasserie riff from Gerard Craft’s Niche Food Group that features burgers, brats, and beignets to pair with Rockwell’s beers. Conceived and founded by brewer Andy Hille, an alum of Perennial Artisan Ales, the microbrewery officially opens at 1320 S. Vandeventer (just east of the Grove in Botanical Heights) on Thursday, November 29, at noon.

Before the transformation, the nondescript site was home to Dinzler Equipment, where the most notable feature was a yellow crane at the back of the property. The building is now distinguished by a scatter of brightly colored shipping containers—and the crane lives on, literally in a supporting role, at the cantilevered entrance to the brewery.

Rockwell graphics lead to a bold neon logo above the main door. “In a competitive market, having great beer and food is not enough," says director of hospitality Ryan Nickelson, whom hop heads likely remember from Craft Beer Cellar in Clayton. "You have to grab eyeballs.” And Rockwell does.

Guests enter the tasting room through a slatted container and encounter a ceiling of wooden slats, the scrap wood from the three horizontal foeders (wood tank fermenters) in the brewhouse.

Thick live edge wooden tables, manufactured by Abide Collective, are made from Missouri white oak. Both the communal tables and rectangular four-tops display the grain that distinguishes the species; on some table cross sections, the growth rings are even visible. The 35-foot bar top is a seamless plank, cut from one tree. Two interior garage doors, closed for safety when the brew house is operational, can be opened to expand the 90-seat tasting room.

The brew house currently includes a 15-barrel operation, plus the three foeders (that in time will eventually become a six-barrel pyramid). “They’re a work of art now,” says Nickelson. “I can’t wait to see the pyramid.” The foeders are made by St. Louis-based Foeder Crafters of America, which has the distinction of being the only foeder maker in the U.S. One contains a cold plate, allowing Rockwell to create “cold fermented pilsners and lagers on oak,” a segment that other craft brewers tend to pass by, says Nickelson. Doing so will effectively expand Rockwell’s customer base to mainstream beer drinkers.

Head brewer Jonathan Moxey expects to roll out Rockwell’s first beers in a week to 10 days. In the meantime, a dozen guest tap beers are available, primarily locals and regional brews, along with a few farther-away brands, such as Oskar Blues G-Knight and Brooklyn’s Sorachi Ace.

Moxey says the intent is for the brewery to become “a community hub, a place to enjoy Rockwell’s beers,” which will be primarily sold in the tasting room and the onsite retail store. The beers will also be available to a limited number of metro area retailers and restaurants.

Also on tap: Confluence kombucha, Kaldi’s Haya nitro cold brew, and Grüner Veltliner, a crisp white wine from Austria. Four other wines, a limited full bar, and notable fizzies, such as Jarritos and Topo Chico, round out the beverage offerings.

At present, only two other items are available: Brasserie’s signature fries ($3) and a don't miss, powdered sugar–dusted beignets, as puffy and light as those found 700 miles due south. According to Craft, soft-serve ice cream is next up on the “coming soon” list, followed by more varieties of bratwurst, maybe a chicken sandwich, and some riffs on the existing fries. (And a tip of the Tyrolean to the Rockwellian who instituted the “tax included, no tipping” policy.)

The catchy refrain from the '80s song from musical artist Rockwell begins, “I always feel like somebody’s watching me.” We predict the same for Rockwell Beer Co. In a good way.