St. Louis beer tour, Part 5: Anheuser-Busch
Read all entries from the St. Louis beer tour:
Part 1: Schlafly Tap Room || Part 2: Morgan Street fail(s), and a decent Downtown sports bar || Part 3: Six Row Brewing Company || Part 4: Straub’s (Bringing home some beer) || Part 5: Anheuser-Busch
The first time I went on the Anheuser-Busch Brewery Tour in St. Louis, I was 21 and Bud Light was the greatest gift to man. The brewery was cool, sure, but the “Hospitality Room” was the highlight of the tour.
Twelve years later, my beer palate has changed significantly. I like to taste my beer. I don’t chug, I sip. And I’m now a brewer myself, so I understand a lot more about what makes a beer a good beer.
So on my recent visit to the St. Louis Brewery, I marveled at the massive mash tuns and boil kettles. I appreciated the history of the facility, which is a U.S. National Historic Landmark, with some buildings dating back to the 1800s.
I smirked at the tour guides who bragged about the use of rice in making Budweiser. I also found the frequent use of the words “sub-premium” beers — describing the Anheuser-Busch beers priced below Budweiser, i.e. Busch Beer, etc. — just a little weird.
There is a Beermaster Tour, which is supposed to be more in-depth than the typical free tours that run all day.
I did the free tour, and it was still fairly extensive. It took us to the Budweiser Clydesdale Stable, Beechwood Lager Cellars, historic Brew House, Bevo Packaging Facility and, of course, the Hospitality Room. (Budweiser American Ale = Not half bad.)
Whether you like Budweiser products or not, the Anheuser-Busch Brewery Tour in St. Louis is worth checking out.
just ran across this 18 months later. hope for an update soon. we just went to Stl and hit Wine and Cheese Shop in Clayton. The selection blew Straub’s away. Could have spent 2 hours there.
Thanks for this! Great resource
1added to above:
2picked up
2 Hearts IPA from Bells
Schlafly American IPA
Bear Republic’s Racer 5
Blue Star Wheat
That’s a nice haul!
Some friends visited St. Louis since I posted all this, and they had quite a bit of luck at Randle’s: http://shoprandalls.com/
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