Brew Hub will open taproom, shelves plans for Chesterfield partner brewery

By Matt Sorrell // December 20, 2017

Partner brewing company Brew Hub is set to open The Brew Hub Taproom in early in 2018 at 5656 Oakland Ave., the former home of St. Louis Ribhouse. The company, which was founded in St. Louis, currently has a taproom and a 100,000-barrel brewhouse in Lakeland, Florida.

“There’s a lot of work still to do, but we’re hopefully we’ll be ready in February,” said CEO and co-founder Tim Schoen.

As The Scoop reported in 2014, Brew Hub initially planned to open a partner brewing facility similar to its Lakeland property in Chesterfield. Schoen, a former Anheuser-Busch executive, said the company isn’t abandoning the original plan, but is making a “strategic shift.” He said the craft beer marketplace regionally and nationally has recently experienced a downturn, and the Florida facility can handle the current demand.

“Right now the craft marketplace nationally and regionally has shifted, and we have more equipment and volume in Florida,” Schoen said. Instead of building a new brewing facility in the St. Louis area, the plan is to have the new taproom stimulate regional interest, then build a production brewery here when demand increases.

Schoen said the new taproom would have 20 taps, featuring Brew Hub’s own beers like Diver Down Red Ale and Keybilly Island Ale, as well as offerings from some of its partner brewers, including Toppling Goliath, Blackberry Farms Brewing and Palmetto Brewing.

The taproom will feature full lunch and dinner menus from chef Andy White, known for his work at Harvest and the Schlafly Tap Room, with small plates and larger options focused on ingredients from local purveyors. The space will have around 120 seats and a 30-seat patio area.

The new spot will also have a four-barrel pilot brewing system, a distillery and a barrel-aging program, all under the aegis of Schlafly vet and Brew Hub chief of brewing operations Jim Ottolini. Schoen said he expects these features will let the company experiment and work on new ideas.

Matt Sorrell is staff writer at Sauce Magazine.