St. Louis' brewers favorite spots to drink

We asked some of our favorite brewers where they drink when they aren’t on the clock. All of them spoke passionately about their most beloved watering holes, and most lamented how little time they have go to out. 

“I love Urban Chestnut’s Midtown location. They’re open two hours later than we are, so I can always go there and have a glass of lager before I go home from a bar shift. If my wife and I actually get to go somewhere, we go to Reeds American Table in Maplewood or Olive + Oak. At Reeds, their cocktail menu is awesome, and their bar manager makes a mean Sazerac. At Olive + Oak, they have a new one on their winter cocktail menu. There’s bourbon in it. It lists three ingredients, but I’m sure it’s much more complicated than that. It expanded my palate as a brewer.” – Kyle Kohlmorgen, Wellspent Brewing Co.

“I like to stop at White Rooster because I haul beer back and forth between our Chester location and our St. Nicholas location. I convince myself that it’s on the way, but it’s like 15 minutes off the route. The guys are always there – the owners – they’re always hanging out, ready to talk with people. Their beers are excellent. I usually get whatever they dumped a bunch of fruit into – their nice, fruited, sour, barrel-aged thing.” – Paul Plett, St. Nicholas Brewing Co.

“I worked at the iTap in Columbia, so all of the iTap locations have a special place in my heart. For date night, my fiancee and I like to go to The Royale. It’s never super populated, and the beer selection is constantly changing. Great whiskey selection too.” – Rob Abell, Ferguson Brewing Co.

“In terms of beer, I love going to Wellspent and Civil Life, and getting back down to Perennial. I stop in at Side Project as well. I used to live a block away from Tick Tock Tavern; now I live like eight blocks away. It’s probably better that it’s more than a block away from me. It feels like you’re drinking in your grandpa’s bar, or somewhere much smaller than St. Louis. It’s new-ish, but well-worn. I usually get a can of DAB in there, that Dortmunder export, which is really hard to find. And you can get a Manhattan for five bucks or whatever. It’s really comfortable and low-key. It’s a good place to disappear for a bit and not go too far.” – Jonathan Moxey, Rockwell Beer Co.

Adam Rothbarth is a staff writer at Sauce Magazine.