For craft beer lovers, Christmas has come in July and is spilling into August with St. Louis Craft Beer Week. It began July 26 and continues through this week.
The sixth year of the festival has been the largest yet, with more than 100 events, including beer-pairing dinners, limited-release tappings, and bar-tap takeovers by individual breweries at area bars and restaurants. A full schedule of remaining events—most of which are free—is available at stlbeerweek.com.
The festival concludes Sunday with the Schurcipefones Festival, a block party from noon to 6 p.m. behind what will be restaurateur Dave Bailey’s new Rooster location at South Grand and Juniata. Tickets ($25 online, $35 at the door) get you unlimited samples of special-release beers from Schlafly, Charleville, Urban Chestnut, Civil Life, Perennial, 4 Hands, 2nd Shift, New Belgium, Deschutes, and Tallgrass breweries.
This week, SLM Daily caught up with St. Louis Craft Beer Week creator Mike Sweeney, the man behind the STL Hops blog and an occasional contributor to SLM. Among other things, he shared how St. Louis stacks up nationally in the craft-beer scene and what to drink this summer.
You’ve called this year's Craft Beer Week the largest yet. Can you separate the festival's growth with that of the craft-beer scene?
No, I think they’re absolutely intertwined. I don’t think you would have something this large without having the excitement and growth of the craft-beer industry in St. Louis.
How does St. Louis stack up among craft-beer towns?
You still have bigger craft-beer towns, like San Diego or Denver, but St. Louis has a long history of being a beer town. We’re definitely one the preeminent beer towns in the United States... Thanks to some of the older breweries, we’ve been established as a beer-drinking town, and now the craft-beer scene is growing exponentially. We’ve got to be one of the best towns in the nation right now.
How can craft beer continue to grow? What's missing?
Honestly, I would have said a destination [craft] brewery—something people would come into town to visit. You go to visit some of the other craft breweries across the nation—Stone Brewing in San Diego, New Glarus Brewing in Wisconsin; they have breweries that not only are giant production facilities, but also are just beautiful places to visit. We didn’t really quite have that...until Urban Chestnut’s new brewery. I walked through it, and all I kept saying was, “Wow.” It was one of the first destination breweries we’ve had where it’s beautiful and useful to brew. Moving forward, Schlafly is going to be building a new brewery, and I think that’s going to be another one of these breweries that’s not only a great production facility, but also a tourism stop.
What type of beer has been particularly popular in 2014?
This has been the year of the gose (pronounced gose-UH), which is German-style. It's slightly tart and has a little bit of salt added in. You can taste a bit of saltiness in the beer, but it’s very refreshing. We’ve had a pretty mild summer, but if it was a typical St. Louis summer, where it’s 106 degrees outside, it’s the kind of beer that’s low alcohol and refreshing—something you’d want to drink inside on a hot summer day. We’ve seen a lot more of those [including 2nd Shift's Green Bird Gose at Bridge]. We’ve also seen a little more of the radlers. Boulevard has made one, and Civil Life Brewing will pour one for you on site. It's usually a half-soda, half-beer style and, again, really refreshing.
How can some of our great local beers get more recognition nationally?
Word of mouth. Perennial has quickly become one of the more talked-about craft breweries in the nation—the barrel-aged abraxas is one of the most sought-after beers in the United States. It’s also fascinating to see Schlafly starting to move more nationally. People are clamoring for it on the East Coast. A lot of this stuff happens organically. Most craft breweries don’t have large marketing budgets, so they have to rely on word of mouth, and that means making great beer. I think that’s what we’re really lucky to see here: It’s one thing to be local, but it’s another thing to make great beer. We’re lucky that we have both.
