St. Louie Shines
Published by Staff on 5.12.2008 at 4:17 p.m.St. Louis proved its mettle this weekend with a celebration of the city’s brewing history, the St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival held at Forest Park. Beer giant Anheuser-Busch, along with Alandale Brewery, Augusta Brewery, Morgan Street Brewery, O’Fallon Brewery, Schlafly Beer and Square One Brewery, collaborated to bring more than 60 brews to beer enthusiasts and honor a nearly 200-year brewing legacy.
The fete began on Thursday evening, when a lucky assembly of VIPs gathered for a beer-pairing dinner hosted by chef Dave Lieberman, former DRAFT coverboy, Food Network star and the Here’s to Beer campaign’s Beer Concierge. On Friday and Saturday, mud didn’t deter hoards of beer drinker from enjoying the fest’s general sessions in well-organized tents (one each for ales, lagers, specialty brews and food) overflowing with the city’s finest. Best of all, brewers roamed the grounds greeting drinkers and answering questions about their brews.
DRAFT’s favorite Heritage Fest beers included: Square One’s Spice Beer and kolsch, O’Fallon’s Wheach (a peach wheat beer lovingly nicknamed “Whee-atch”), Schlafly’s American pale ale, and Alandale’s Czech pilsner. (Side note: We also caught wind of Alandale’s upcoming creation, Passionate Blonde, a blonde ale accented with orange, coriander and passionfruit…mmm!)