Hey guys! New England B.A. here but did school in Missouri and still like supporting Midwest craft scene. Urban Chestnut has been rolling up here in greater Boston for a few months now. I just had a Thales stout and was pretty happy with it! That said, I don't know much about the brewery. Good people? Owned by AB? I run BA on the app so after scanning back a few pages I gave up and posted anew. Anyone's feelings about the house would be appreciated!
I'm still in the "buy anything once" phase with UC, but they haven't really laid an egg to this point. That said, they haven't really wowed me, either. I like supporting a Missouri brewery, but so far they haven't hooked me into any one thing.
Urban Chestnut was founded by a guy named Florian, who was the last classically trained (in Germany) brewmaster at AB, or so I've been told. I think his partner was another former AB exec, can't remember. As far as their beers go, I really enjoy them. Their Reverence series is all German/old world styles and these are my favorite from them. In my opinion, they make the best German style beers outside of the Deutschland. Winged Nut and Zwickel are great, especially when very fresh. Their Revolution series is a collection of their interpretation of American styles and is solid as well, but their Reverence beers are my favorite. They also make a barleywine called Daft that is barrel aged and amazing.
Agreed that they make awesome german style beer which is rare. If Florian is secretly owned by AB and kicks puppies I haven't heard about it
They are independent, and this quote from a distributed business page (Business Journals) is telling: They're not available in Minneapolis, yet, but their brands are priced competitively at Binny's and Woodman's a couple of states over, and each brand that I've tried has been worth re-visiting.
Totally meant that he was the last, before he left. Rereading my post, I can see it wasn't that clear.
For those of you under age of 40 this is an "old" article -- from 2011. My geezerly humor aside, the article is noteworthy for the fact that both co-founders of Urban Chestnut are mentioned by name in the piece. Likewise, their involvement with Anheiser and Busch (as former employees) is also referenced in some detail. I would be very surprised to learn that A-B/InBev were secretly bankrolling this enterprise. http://www.stltoday.com/business/lo...cle_a655cea7-89e0-5800-bf6a-b717f10662ae.html
Thanks to everybody for the replies! I'm happy that UC is an independent project that I can endorse and enjoy. Hope folks can make it up to Extreme Beer Fest this year - Boston is...well, let's say "extreme" in February!
