St. Louis enjoys a craft beer revival

There’s something new brewing in St. Louis these days. Best-known as the home to beer titan Anheuser-Busch, this Midwestern town is enjoying a different type of beer resurgence these days, thanks to a growing number of small breweries that have set up shop around town. A recent news article chronicles the rise of Saint Louis’ increasingly diverse craft beer scene.

Saint Louis has long had a close relationship with the beer industry. For decades, local taverns were dominated by hometown brews produced by Anheuser-Busch. Smaller brewers like Saint Louis Brewery, which opened in 1989, were nearly nonexistent. When they first started, the only place you could get a Saint Louis Brewery pint was at the company’s on-site pub. But the one-time niche craft brewer was a sign of things to come. Today St. Louis boasts 14 craft brewers, and appetite for quality beer continues to grow. When Anheuser-Busch was purchased by Belgian beer giant InBev in 2008, it was symbolic of the sea change that has ocurred in American brewing towards all things small-batch, independent and craft brewed.

Is Saint Louis witnessing the rise of a new age of beer tourism? The best way to find out is to sample a few pints on your next trip through town. Check out local favorites like Morgan Street Brewery, Six Row Brewing Company and Trailhead Brewing Company on your next St. Louis visit. Beer site Pubcrawler also has a good run down of other St. Louis brewers.

(Image: Flickr/Laurie Chipps)