Side Project Brewing

V - Laid back, modern farmhouse/garden vibe. Friendly staff.
Q - Amazing wild ales and farmhouses - top notch. Very good marzen, IPAs, etc. on tap as well - nice glassware selection to suit the beer style
S - friendly staff and quick service
S - various styles such as saison, wild ales, IPAs, marzen, etc.

 

 

Prefer the cellar's vibe slightly, also don't get the hours of operation here, never seems empty when I visit but hey what do I know. Quality and service are right there with the cellar, top notch and classy. The selection while a great bottle list there are less taps here. I know splitting hairs. They are hall of famers for a reason, STL should give them a key to the city for all of the business they drive in

Brick building, with lots of windows on the west and north. Gives a view of Shared across the street. High ceilings and wood floors. Bar, with high chairs, follows along the interior. View of barrels on the south. Five Side Project tap choices, and seven Shared choices. Can buy bottles for on site consumption, or bottles to go. Parking lot adjacent. Friendly and helpful staff. The space smells great.

Walking in the first thing I noticed was the large zigzag bar rail with about 15 stools. To the left one can spy a peak at the foeders, as well as some merchandise and a to-go fridge. Medium sized space, but the high beam ceilings contribute to a pleasant, well-lit and spacious feeling. I had to go up to the bar to order my beer, which might be the protocol, but it isn’t clearly specified. The draft list had 12 Side Project/Shared beers, a few of which were high quality. There were 24 on-site and 13 to-go bottles to choose from. The bottle prices are high, but expected for the quality. The servers got my beer promptly but I wouldn’t call it full service. I was accosted by dogs and young children, which was mildly annoying but would be a positive aspect if I lived nearby and could bring in my dog and my kid. No food but you can bring in pizza from across the street. Overall I enjoyed the SP Cellar location much more, but this is still cool.

 

 

This is the location where you go to pickup all bottle orders, FYI.

Stopped in during Stout Week 2023 to pickup proxy orders and have a pour. Staff is attentive and friendly, and the space isn't large, but it feels larger than the Cellar. Felt like the draft/bottle offerings here leaned more to the sour side than the stouts (felt the opposite about the Cellar).

A number of years ago, I visited the Side Project Cellar before the brewery taproom had opened. Quality and selection has always been world class ever since then, and the beer list has only become more extensive and varied over the years.

The layout is open and airy, with high beamed ceilings and a direct view into the brewery, rows of barrels and fermenters everywhere. Some cool decor behind the bar, old crates stacked with lambic bottles, and live plants here and there. The bar wraps around along a zig-zag course, with the pick-up station at the end closest to the door. I sat next to a woman that declared that she proxies for a facebook group, and didn't have much to say about the actual beers. The hype is real. Seems to be a pretty common thing, as they have you write your name/order numbers/proxy names on a sheet before picking up to-go orders. Two employees were dedicated just to fulfilling orders, pulling bottles from cases stacked behind the bar the whole time I was there.

Staff were friendly, quick and efficient, no complaints. It was pretty hopping on a Saturday afternoon, and there was never a line or wait for beers.

Selection was vast with a dozen drafts and nearly 50 SP bottles to choose from. Bottles get spendy fast, so bring friends to share, or make new ones. I was limited on time, so I had a couple small drafts as they quickly retrieved my bottle order. Hoping to delve into the bottle list next time. Be sure to check out the new Shared space across the street and try the excellent pizza.

 

 

 

 

My favorite STL brewery. Always a good mix available for bottles and draft. They allow half pours which is a plus. They also allow dogs. Pretty laid back and the staff is great.

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately the week was so busy with the Invitational that I only had time to pop by the brewery for a second (spending most of my time at the Cellar). The space was beautiful, very open with tons of natural light coming in from all angles (great for beer pics lol). Selection, as I've usually seen, is almost exactly the same as the cellar, sometimes only differing in what's being offered as far as on-site bottles or to-go stuff. If you're in the area I feel as though you'll end up favoring one location over the other, but both spots are awesome. My only complaint is that I wished they did short tours of the brewery itself! I always love seeing the operations these master brewers are working with behind the scenes. All in all, a great trip and as predicted an awesome space!

Nondescript building on the edge of the downtown Maplewood area of St. Louis. Interior is well appointed with high cavernous ceilings towering over dark hard wood floors, and a hodgepodge of seating arrangements intimately lit by hanging Edison lightbulbs. It feels focused on natural - wood and some steel. A large set of windows at the rear of the space showcases the barrel room, foeders and brewing equipment - quite a sight to see, although much smaller than anticipated. A 'deck' is built into the brewery room with a dart board, offering up standing room for patrons to stretch out in as the taproom portion fills up. Bar is a large 'L' shape with only half of it available for seating. A handful of staff members work to deliver draft pours, bottle pours, and merchandise to the clientel. A line of one or two was consistent throughout our visit. Selection is focused on Side Project's and Shared's own work, which is to say, mostly barrel aged saisons, stouts, barleywines, and wild ales. Shared's lagers, IPAs and lighter sours appear on tap handles and in to-go formats. It's an intimate space that has been well crafted to cater to a discerning beer crowd, and yet stops shy of feeling stifling or snuffy.

No patio. Kid friendly. Board games available.

 

 

Awesome spot that’s not too busy on a rainy Wednesday afternoon. Wish they had more of their own on draft; however, their onsite bottle list is plentiful. Sadly I’m traveling for work and don’t have my wife to split a bottle or two.

 

This seemed like a nice, quaint little spot. There's not a lot of space, but it has a cool peekaboo view of the production area, displaying their beautiful foeders and all, but unfortunately that's the extent of what's positive about this place, as they chose to argue very disrespectfully with a customer coming in from a short walk trying to order a single in-house bottle.

We walked in with a happy, pleasant demeanor after taking pictures of ourselves outside with the sign in the background. The girl behind the counter spots us coming in, welcoming us by loudly declaring directly to the two of us that they’re closing in a half hour and they can’t open any bottles this near to closing time. This is before she even knows what we want to order--must be a tradition! She continues to explain that she doesn’t want anyone chugging Derivation in 15 minutes, with an irritated tone of voice and demeanor.

We assure her that we don’t want Derivation, and that staff at the Cellar down the street told us the plum Fermier was available here and worth a try, so we were excited to do so. Despite her rudeness, I delivered this in a pleasant fashion--I thought, surely she's working hard or has a reason to act this way. She then straight up asks, "why are you arguing with me?!" All right, seriously? I plainly say hey, it’s your money, and walk away with an unforced smile, as it's funny at this point. Unprompted and practically to my back from a distance behind the bar that now seems absurd, she asks why I'm being so aggressive.

I'd already given up on the idea of trying this beer, and was walking away without further dialogue, so I found this very offensive. Still, I calmly turn around and ask if she is going to kick everyone out at 7PM, because if not we can slowly drink a saison in 20 minutes without chugging it, while also managing to behave ourselves. She goes and puts a hand on her manager and acts as though I came in on a mission to personally attack her, all while I look on in amazement. So with a smile and a shrug, I again turn and walk away.

I’m not sure who hurt this girl, but I didn’t need this kind of guff, so that was that and my wallet lost no weight.

But now that I think about it, if you want to close a drinking establishment so damn early on a Saturday night, putting your eager to leave staff in that kind of position--having to to turn people away when the evening hasn't even gotten started--while also preventing people from ordering from your menu a half hour before closing, maybe you should not bottle any of your beers in such large format, since the size seems to be the excuse you use to not sell. Here's a thought: maybe keg more, eh?!

Whatever, it's no longer my problem--I won’t be back to this location again, and wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. If this is okay behavior for a manager to witness, then it must be acceptable to the ownership and the business overall. This also gives me pause in even re-visiting the much lower key, less high strung Cellar location. There's plenty of other stuff to do in STL, and this is an experience I'd rather avoid re-living.