Schlafly Bottleworks | St. Louis, MO
Beer Trip - Schlafly Bottleworks in St. Louis, Missouri
Schlafly Beer, also known as The St. Louis Brewery, has multiple locations spanning the St. Louis metro - Bankside, Tap Room, Highland Square, and Bottle Works offer options for you wherever you land; however, we enjoyed an afternoon at Schlafly Bottleworks. While Schlafly isn’t the largest brewery in town, it has a world class facility that makes it a must-see during your time in STL.
Quite the sight when you approach - some of the best “curb appeal” we’ve seen!
The Brewery
Can’t go wrong with the Hefeweizen here!
Schlafly Bottleworks is somewhat off on its own compared to other large attractions in St. Louis, but it definitely is worth seeking out. The brewery is an old supermarket that has been transformed, so it’s an enormous facility with huge fermenting tanks out front to match - it certainly cannot be mistaken when you arrive! Parking is plentiful here and, once inside, you’re greeted with a massive, bottle-shaped art piece made with actual beer bottles.
The tasting area here is divided up into two sections - a dining area and a bar area. As you might imagine, the dining area feels more like a restaurant whereas the bar side is more of what you might expect a traditional brewery to feel like. While we visited on a colder day, there is also a huge outdoor area that looked like the place to be during the warmer months.
Wood is abundant throughout the brewery with all tables, chairs, bar top, and even wainscoting consisting of this finish. With extremely high ceilings throughout, everything feels quite spacious.
The Beer
Schlafly distributes all around the Midwest, so we were pretty familiar with a lot of their beer prior to stepping foot in the door. We were pleasantly surprised to discover not only were they serving major flagships, but that they also had several smaller batch, brewery exclusive choices. Ranging from wheats, stouts, a Kolsch, IPAs, and even a few ciders, anyone can find something they’d enjoy here from roughly 15 taps.
In our opinion, you absolutely must have the Hefeweizen when visiting - it’s one of our favorite mass-produced beers. This brew is very light with a clean, grainy taste - far different than most Hefs. Another solid wheat beer offering is the Uncaged Ale, which has more of a biscuity flavor. Even though the flavor is good, the real draw for us on this beer is that a portion of each sale goes to an organization that works to provide forever homes for sheltered dogs.
Food & Merch
Beer to-go for days!
Schlafly has several other offerings that make it really unique, the first being that they serve a wide range of food. We stopped in at lunch time and enjoyed burgers and fries, but they also had numerous sandwiches, pizzas, and fish choices.
Due to COVID their brewery tours were on hold, but we hope to make it back someday to take one. Despite a tour being unavailable, the gift shop here is incredible. This dedicated space is massive and they park entire pallets of beer here surrounded by any other kind of merchandise you could fathom. From countless shirts and hats, to glassware for days, you must check it out!
Overall Schlafly has great beer, a fun atmosphere, and a gift shop that is an experience in itself - all would be worth your visit.
Cheers!
Cold, yet sunshine-filled day in STL!
