Trailhead Brewing Co

Trailhead Brewing CoTrailhead Brewing Co
Trailhead Brewing CoTrailhead Brewing Co
Brewery, Bar, Eatery

921 S Riverside Dr
Saint Charles, Missouri, 63301-3489
United States

// CLOSED //
BEER STATS
Average:
3.24
Beers:
12
Ratings:
230
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.44
Reviews:
37
Ratings:
58
pDev:
12.5%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by MTNboy:
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Reviewed by MTNboy from Germany

3.03/5  rDev -11.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3 | food: 3.5
I went here during the Festival of the Little Hills. The outside was packed but the inside was not too bad. They have a little gift store that wasn't bad. It had the usual brew pub paraphernalia with some beer in bottles to go and growlers. I grabbed a few to go. The food was alright but a bit pricey. Our waiter was not so great when I asked him for a sample glass he got a little bit of an attitude. He didn't charge me but I am sure like a lot of you don't mind paying for a sample. This was shoot glass with a little bit of beer. He was also slow with the check. The ambiance was nice a lot of antiques, vehicles and fans made from canvas and fishing poles.
Sep 14, 2009
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.11 by 3fdread from Illinois

Sep 20, 2017
 
Rated: 4.64 by Big_Thirsty from Illinois

Feb 28, 2017
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Reviewed by MizzouBrew from Missouri

3.53/5  rDev +2.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3.25 | food: 3.75
I've been to Trailhead several times, but it's been a while. From what I remember, brewery beer selection is limited - about 5 different offerings I think, ranging from lager to stout. Food was pretty good. I'll have to get back there sometime soon.
Jan 27, 2017
 
Rated: 2.2 by JLaw55 from Missouri

Jan 15, 2017
 
Rated: 3.6 by bpkrippner from Missouri

Oct 02, 2016
 
Rated: 3.94 by jessewilliamson from Missouri

Jun 12, 2016
 
Rated: 4.06 by Copperhead from Missouri

May 25, 2016
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Reviewed by welldigger888 from South Carolina

3.47/5  rDev +0.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 4.5 | selection: 2.75
Cool building in a neat place, that said, it was a relaxed joint. The brews were a little meh, the seasonal was a nice nut brown with hazelnut coffee extract. Service was good and the joint was clean. Sadly there was 0 hoppy brews.
Mar 09, 2016
 
Rated: 3.64 by kylehay2004 from Illinois

Jul 19, 2015
 
Rated: 3.86 by crow from Illinois

Jul 16, 2015
 
Rated: 2.98 by Tertullian007 from Missouri

Jun 03, 2015
 
Rated: 3.36 by Monkeyknife from Missouri

May 22, 2015
 
Rated: 3.25 by lemmy187 from Missouri

Feb 12, 2015
 
Rated: 3.36 by casapy from Idaho

Jan 26, 2015
 
Rated: 3.66 by NoahEllison from Missouri

Jan 03, 2015
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Reviewed by Suds from Missouri

3.2/5  rDev -7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 3.25 | selection: 2.75 | food: 4
Visited this brewpub with my family on a little outing to St. Charles. The building is an old brick structure in a great location. It is larger than expected, and the central room is neat. The beer selection leaves a lot to be desired. Sixrather uninteresting brews. The brown and the stout were okay. The food was quite good. I loved the wings and the salads. Service was prompt and good, but not outstanding.
Dec 31, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by bsuedekum from Missouri

Dec 07, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by atlbravsrno1 from Maine

Dec 03, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by MaximumYuks from Oregon

Oct 08, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by SnatchyMcPants from Indiana

Sep 24, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by ajs4bd from Missouri

Jul 01, 2014
 
Rated: 3.1 by Eaglefan344 from Missouri

Feb 23, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by Boca-X from Missouri

Feb 09, 2014
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Reviewed by damngoode from Indiana

2.59/5  rDev -24.7%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 2.25 | service: 2.5 | selection: 2.75 | food: 2.25
This should be more appropriately categorized as a restaurant that makes its own beer. If you're going to offer all of the macros alongside your own beers, i'll assume that you just want to get people in the door to eat and not scare off the Coors Light crowd. No biggie.

Appearance had me excited. Big space, looks a little rustic. Nice clean bar with plenty of tvs. Then I started my meal.

Wings were smoked before fried, good & spicy - best part of my experience, even if they were the smallest wings I'd seen since I was stationed in Korea. Maybe they're using real, non-Frankenstein chickens, I dunno. Had their stout, which was thin and lifeless. Maybe this is your craft gateway bar. I passed on a second beer and opted for water. My sausage platter was edible. Large portion, but I didn't want to finish it. 3 sausages, all had chewy casings. Sausages themselves were OK tasting but nothing i'd seek out again. Also note, this is a smoking establishment. Skip it.

Update: I was coerced into coming here again (silent consent) for a work dinner. This time we sat in a non-smoking dining room (whew!) that was surprisingly well ventilated for the winter and I couldn't really detect the smokers in the bar area. Yay. Service was much worse than I had at the bar previously. Guy had little idea about the beer they served (what's the seasonal... uhhh... let me see...) and just wasn't very engaged with our party of 5. Open-faced prime rib sandwich was actually pretty decent so that saved the day. Beer still meh (I had a dark lager... their seasonal). Still skip it.
Feb 07, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by jaminjohnson from Canada (YT)

Jan 30, 2014
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Reviewed by Offa from California

3.41/5  rDev -0.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.25 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3 | food: 3.5
This is a good brewpub in Missouri's old capital city.

It's in a neat old brick building converted inside with modern accoutrements. There is seating on a couple different levels, some looking down into the brewing equipment through glass. There are different area to walk and sit, breaking up the place into an interesting, almost maze-like collection of different areas.

Beer quality is good, not great. It's solid but fairly pedestrian and nothing exciting, some beers had ranging from very good to mediocre.

Service seemed good and friendly.

Beer selection is good, fairly limited but with a decent range of standard styles.

Food was very good but not outstanding. Nacho plate which we shared as an appetizer was excellent. BBQ ribs, called baby back, were not baby back. Cole slaw was decent - the vinegary kind, which I do love, but it was not that good and seemed a bit old. Pulled pork was very good.
Jul 15, 2013
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Reviewed by ChefHazmat from Missouri

4.24/5  rDev +23.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25 | food: 3
The beer selection here is exceptional. They not only have the well known domestic brews. They also have a great selection of micro-brews which are brewed right there on site. The service here was so so. I mean we did have a large party but the waitress seemed like she was bored with her job and didn't want to work. The food selection was good with sausages, burgers, salads, and entrees.
Apr 04, 2013
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Reviewed by jettjon from Florida

3.88/5  rDev +12.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
Stopped by for dinner on a business trip to St. Louis. Went with a group of about 8, none of which were "beer people." (Fortunately, they let me pick the place.) This is your basic brewpub, nothing too fancy; just good beer and good food. I had the beer sampler and prime rib sandwich and managed to coax two others to try the sampler. Even though the two were self-described "not-beer-people" they enjoyed trying the different samples and the experience. The samples were OK; nothing to really write home about but pretty solid offerings for style. Food was a little bit above average; steaks are where this place obviously shines and the prices there were quite reasonable. My prime rib sandwich was excellent and the potato salad side was decent. Others enjoyed their food as well. The server was friendly and knowledgeable about the beers and was happy to explain the beer menu to the neophytes as well as answer general questions about the establishment. Atmosphere was definitely brew-pub-ish with lots of tanks and lines visible from everywhere I looked.

Overall, this place is definitely a worthwhile stop if in the St. Louis area. While it’s nothing spectacular, it’s certainly a solid brewpub that’s worthy of a visit.
Sep 24, 2012
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Reviewed by tripelhops from Missouri

3.6/5  rDev +4.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 4
Trailhead is in a great locaiton and has a really cool, multi-tiered layout in old-town St. charles, right near the river. Lots of glass and seating allow a fantastic view into the brewery. The food is really great in my opinion with half price apps during their happy hour, and super hot and smoked, not fired chicken wings that are just fire up your mouth fantastic. the soft pretzels are great too. The downside is that the beer is just average, and maybe that's because they are trying to not scare off the typical AB folks that are there, but for beer people,. it's pretty non-exciting. Sometimes they will have a seasonal that is decent, and it's not that the beers are bad, just not super special, in my opinion.
Jun 29, 2011
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Reviewed by DCon from Missouri

3.25/5  rDev -5.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 2 | selection: 3 | food: 4.5
Visited the Trailhead Brewing Co. after my graduation @ the Family Arena in St. Charles, MO. Tuesday night. Was with many people off the tennis team and over 100 graduates as well. Great location as it is at the corner of Main Street and South Riverside.

As you walk in, there are two (at least) 50 gallon brew kettles and merchandise. The people were awesome and has great outdoors/urban architecture throughout the whole Brewery.

The quality was decent. When it came down to it, they didn't know their ABV's or much description on any of the beers. They also seemed like they were served into Chilled Pint Glasses!?!?! This was surprising for a BrewPub!

On the service, our waiter had NO CLUE about beer, their beer, and didn't help me in any way trying to help me pick out my beers of the night. I then went to the bartender and he was almost as clueless. How can you not know beer at a Brewing Co/BrewPub?!?! This baffled me to the point that I almost wanted to walk out. He did offer us a good happy hour deal but this was the only good part of the night (and of course the food).

Selection was average. They offered 6 beers and I tried 4 of these. When it came down to it, I wish they had more to offer at one time because I don't even need to re-visit this place soon because I would overlap on beers I've already had from them. There were 6+ taps at the bar and probably even more but didn't look into it.

The food was extremely good! I shared 3 pretzels and spicy mustard and then a Pepperoni & Sausage Pizza on a flatbread with my girlfriend and old tennis teammate. The french fries were also delicious. Would come here to eat their food rather than to drink their beer.

Very inexpensive when it came down to it! We also were here during a Late Night Happy Hour, so every beer was $3.50 and our entrees/apps were half off. Will come to again in the future and hopefully will be able to say their staff will be more helpful and friendly next time.
May 06, 2011
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Reviewed by Radome from Florida

3.19/5  rDev -7.3%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 3 | service: 3.25 | selection: 3 | food: 3.5
(This is my second review of this brewpub, after a new visit in April 2018.)

Located in a historic building in very cool St Charles. Classic pub feel on the inside but well-appointed and modern at the same time. The atmosphere was comfortable and welcoming. Prices were good for the area, especially at happy hour.

The service was competent but not great, although I was with a large group, so I give them the benefit of the doubt. The staff was knowledgeable about their beers. The food was decent, including standard pub grub. The happy hour special on appetizers was a great deal, so my group just got a variety of them to share.

Unfortunately, with all these other aspects going for them, I found Trailhead’s beer to be the only disappointing part of the whole experience. They had six of their own beers on tap with no guest taps. I got a sampler to try them all. They were all drinkable, but none was truly enjoyable to me. All the beers seemed just a little “off” stylistically or in their flavors. Perhaps the brewer is inexperienced and doesn’t have his/her ingredients, equipment and/or quality control dialed in yet, but the result is that the beers are nothing to shout about.

With everything else the pub is doing well, I wish them the best in improving the most important element of the business—their beer. I may give them another try in the future, but I’m not in a rush to go back.
Nov 11, 2010
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Reviewed by soju6 from Missouri

3.6/5  rDev +4.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 4
The Trailhead Brewing Company is located in "Historic" St. Charles and is a nice fit to the community. It is also close to the Ameristar Casino. The main bar is at the head of the staircase with dining areas set off on either side. The menu has a good variety and is priced fairly average. The service is generally very good but once in a while it's not quite in sync.

They normally have 5-6 regular beers on tap along with 1-2 seasonal brews. The beers for the most part are generic & unoffensive to their style. If the beer was a bit more robust or flavorful I would probably stop in more than 1-2 times a year.
May 31, 2010
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Reviewed by lackenhauser from Maryland

3.58/5  rDev +4.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5
Scanned the review before I went here. Tried to keep an open mind. Was the only thing I could hit while in St Louis for work.

Anyway...very normal neighborhood bar like feel to it. I am not used to people smoking anymore. I don't diss it here or really care-I just was not used to it. More of a tavern feel with dining rooms off the sides. While the beers themselves are a bit pedestrian and take no chances overall I thought it was all good quality.

Service was rather ho hum. Once I asked for a beer menu the bartender lost all interest in me. A 2nd one had to pick up the slack 5 minutes later, then he carried the ball.

Decent enough selection-lite/fruit wheat/red/brown/stout and a special, another red. Once again pretty standard stuff but the red was very malty and caramel like and the rasberry beer was quite nicely balanced. Had a red or 2 after a taste sampler.

Great bowl of seafood bisque and a killer chicken salad sandwich. Pizzas were flying out the door while I sat there. I left well satisfied food wise.

Great local place with a decent beer or 2 for sure. Nice town and area as well. Would not go out of my way but if you are there I think you would be pleasantly suprised.
Mar 14, 2010
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Reviewed by Wheelinb from Missouri

3.2/5  rDev -7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 2 | food: 4
I believe this was the first brew pub in St Louis or at least the first one I ever went to. It is in a really cool area - Old Town St. Charles so the atmosphere is always nice, especially when you can sit outside.

The food here is really good and the selection is varied is scored the selection low due to the beer, not the food. Same qith quality. However, I find the beer to just be average. It's worth a trip for the whole scene and the good food. The food and beer prices are reasonable so it is worth a trip. It seems that the greater emphasis is placed on the food. Try the sausage sampler.
Apr 25, 2009
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Reviewed by chrishickman from Wisconsin

3/5  rDev -12.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 2
Ate here the weekend before last while on a business trip. The historic Saint Charles downtown is beautiful, including this place, but everything I consumed here was disappointed. I ordered the "Open Faced Porta Plant Stack Sandwich", an interesting sounding combination of a grilled portabello mushroom cap over deep fried eggplant slices topped with melted swiss and asiago cheeses, and red peppers. The mushroom itself was pretty bland as was the rest of it but not unpleasing. I had a side of onion rings and the onion part was fantastic, tender and sweet, but the breading was tasteless. I had two beers, the stout was without character and the dark ale was saccharine sweet. My waiter was very slow and inattentive (to be expected at dinner time Saturday night to some extent) but he also knew very little about the beers..when I asked, his descriptions were less helpful than what I already read on the menu.

Overall, pretty disappointing. I can't foresee coming back to this establishment or recommending it to others.
Feb 20, 2009
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Reviewed by Tone from Missouri

3.48/5  rDev +1.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3 | food: 3
I've been to Trailhead twice this year now. Located in downtown St. Charles, Missouri. Parking is limited, so be prepared to search for a while or walk a long ways. They have four regular brews and a selection of four seasonals. There are two bars (one on the main level and one in a lower level). The service is good and the bartenders are knowledgeable. Open views of the brewing equipment in the background. Seating is split into little alcoves and corners along with two main sections. Food is a little better than average, but not great. For the quality the food might be a little overpriced, but for an overall experience it was pretty good. I go more for the atmosphere (social drinking) than to dine.
Dec 15, 2008
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Reviewed by cubbyswans from Missouri

2.83/5  rDev -17.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 2.5 | service: 3 | selection: 2.5 | food: 3
blah... I went there a few weekends ago to meet some friends who picked the place. The feel of the place inside and out is great. It's a nice builing, with a grand stair case leading from the front door up to the bar. The beer, though.... the beer is lacking. They only make a handful of styles, and not one of them was really worth having a second of. The beer wasn't bad, there just wasn't anything good about them. I sat there and wondered if they got their recipes from Mr. Beer. The only alternatives to their own beers are the standard AB beers, Bud, Bud Select, etc.

They do offer tasters of their beer, so you can try before you buy.

Ordered shrimp stuffed Jalapenos, which were really good, only we got 4 of them for $8. Our friends ordered bacon cheddar french fries, which were the highlight of the evening.

The bartender was a bit hard to get ahold of at times, but not more than you would expect for a fairly busy Saturday night.

They do offer to go beer, but the prices are laughable, at best. $2.25 per 12oz bottle of beer, and $29 for a growler? Yes, I typed that correctly. $29 for a growler.

I wouldn't recommend. I won't be back unless someone I know insists, and you can be certain that I will try my best to talk them out of it.
Jul 17, 2008
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Reviewed by MOShepp from Missouri

3.7/5  rDev +7.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5
I used tolive in St. Charles and made my way to tis brew pub quite a few times. went back recently and it has changed. This pub is in old town St. Charles which is worth a day visit if your in the area. The pud is beautiful inside and out, with a lot of history. It's big and can be busy, especially in the evening.

The food is the standout at this place, very tasty. The service is pretty good, but can be hit or miss as far as beer knowledge is concerned. The beer is average, not a lot of flavor and sometimes seems a little flat, but in this area your not going to find much better. I'll keep going back when I'm in town.
May 09, 2008
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Reviewed by johnyeast from Colorado

3.13/5  rDev -9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3
I was in St. Louis for Thanksgiving. This happened to be close to the hotel we were in. A good looking place. It was a busy place on a Friday night. Service was okay. Took a bit to be addressed at the bar. But, again it was busy. Didn't really feel like chatting it up with the bartender. When asked about the "Golden" style of beer, he said, "it's light and popular". When asked how it was, my brother quipped, "it's beer". Overall, it would have been a lot worse in quality, except for their seasonal, a "pumpkin spice" beer, Which was really good. Had some meat to it. As apposed to the golden version and stout version of beer often found in brew pub type places. This place has potential and I'm sure, one of the better places in the St. Charles area for beer. I would go back. An important part of a place, in my opinion, is the atmosphere. Most times you can find a decent brew and service is relative to the situation.It makes me think of a piece of advice I try to live by. Sample first. A small tasting can be tolerated. A pint of something that you don't like, and you have to pay for, leaves a lasting impression, and most times, not very favorable or positive.
Nov 27, 2007
Trailhead Brewing Co in Saint Charles, MO
Brewery rating: 3.24 out of 5 with 230 ratings