Review: Alpha Brewing Company in St. Louis
Alpha Brewing Company emerged this spring as the scrappy new contender in the ever-thriving St. Louis craft beer scene. There’s a distinct alternative appeal to this spot situated a block north of Washington Avenue. Alone in a gritty, nondescript back alley adjacent to the City Museum on Lucas Avenue, Alpha is flanked by a handful of parking lots. As the sun sets on a Friday, gaggles of club-ready 20-somethings click past the joint with hardly a glance. They’re not to blame, as the signage is almost purposely, yet fittingly, lacking.
Bellied up to the main bar is a herd of young guys – most in need of a shave, sporting flip-flops and T-shirts. Across from them in a dark leather sectional sits a brunette flipping through her smartphone, oblivious to her companions – two dudes in Polo shirts weighing in on politics. Opposite, a handful of middle-aged friends in button-downs hover over a narrow communal table stretching nearly the length of the entranceway. Outside, a small patio decked out in high-top tables teems with smokers, smokers’ friends and smokers’ dogs. Hardly an A-list, glitzy crowd, this is just the type of scene where anyone might comfortably blend in.
As you might expect from a fresh-faced endeavor deep in loft country, Alpha Brewing has a funky, laid-back look. A bright, abstract mural welcomes guests to a cozy, minimalist tasting room dressed with little more than a handful of wooden tables and a couch. From the center of the main bar, barkeeps pull on 10 taps – imposing pieces of custom metal (artwork in themselves) from which flows the real lifeblood of the place.
The “Alpha” moniker is a nod to the science background of 26-year-old owner and head brewer Derrick Langeneckert. With a master’s in biology and a serious homebrewing hobby, last year Langeneckert upgraded his homebrew kit for more substantial hardware and put together a business plan. And while he’s the first to cop to his amateur status, Langeneckert has devised some clever takes on traditional brews. A single-page menu card breaks down the 10 or so options. Highly approachable, the menu is dominated by full-bodied brews, heavy on the hops – “aggressive ales,” as Langeneckert calls them. Don’t expect to find any easy sipping pilsners or stale lagers. Likewise, don’t expect the beer menu to collect dust with a gaggle of experimental brews, seasonal insertions and even a guest spot on the tap line for the winner of a quarterly homebrew contest. Langeneckert, ever the mad scientist, emerges from his lab at the end of every work week for a “Firkin Friday,” with a special cask of one-time-only brew, which, minus the traditional refrigeration and CO2, must be served that day.
The beers - served in pint and tulip glasses - regularly run $5 to $6 each. Personal favorites include the Alpha Hefeweizen, a light, wheat beer with a pronounced tropical flavor that the menu deems “banana and clove aroma.” For a stronger brew, try the Imperial Red Ale, which sports a heavy kick of roasted malt, or the hoppy White IPA. But the real standout was Alpha’s Berliner Weiss, a crisp, perfectly carbonated German sour mash wheat ale set off with a splash of either raspberry or woodruff, a herbal honey-tasting syrup. Less impressive: the Alpha Storter, brewed with chocolate malt. This one tries (and fails) to find a happy medium between a smooth stout and a thicker porter. Also missing the mark was the Raspberry Hefe. Though thoughtfully brewed with fresh raspberries (You can tell by the seeds in your teeth.), it tastes more like a flat, watered down smoothie than a summer ale.
Picks for any non-beer drinkers may be a bit of a let down (Only a handful of wines are available by the bottle.). Likewise, anyone hoping to catch the last few minutes of the Mizzou game will be disappointed; there are no televisions. Yet, TV is not the point at this upstart brewery; rather, on most nights, the scene is set to the beat of indie rock, boisterous conversation and drunken merriment. In keeping with the communal spirit, management is known to break out the on-site barbecue and host impromptu open-air, open-invite gatherings throughout the week. The rest of the time the bar has an official open food policy, allowing patrons to bring in carryout or snacks from home.
Though still in the experimental phase and hardly ready to start bottling its suds for retail, Alpha Brewing Company is a labor of love for Langeneckert and crew. As a great antidote to the banal neon jungle of Washington Avenue, there’s a lot of fun to be had at this unconventional little microbrewery. Aggressive ales, indeed.
Alpha Brewing Company, 1409 Washington Ave., St. Louis, 314.621.2337, alphabrewingcompany.com
