Hey folks, I live in Charleston, SC. Originally from Peoria, IL. I will be stopping in you fine city on Tuesday Sept 18th for one full day on my way to Peoria to see the folks. I am going to a cards game that night. I have been to the city many times and know my way around, but havent been too much lately . ( I moved away from Peoria about 12 years ago and dont get to StL regularly like I used to.) So, here is my question. I want to go to two, maybe three places that day before the game. I want to try some new places. I have been to Shclaflys a bunch and International Tap House a few times, and bridge. So, if you had one day and wanted to hit 2 or 3 places before (or may be 2 before and one after) the game. Where would you go? I dont mind some driving. I am staying right by union station. After studying beerfly; Cicero's, Iron Barley, and Urban Chestnut intigue me the most. Are any of these "must visit" type places? Ok, one more question, is there a concensus on what the best beer store is? Would love to grab some stuff while there. Basically most of what you get I can get in Illinois but would like to get some Deschutes and O'Dells. Thanks for any advice. BA never steers me wrong.
As far a cicero's beer Itaps selection is better, but Ciceros has great food. cant speak for Iron barely. Urban Chestnut has a big list of beers on tap. If your looking to stop somewhere before the game id recomend stopping at 4 Hands Brewery its only a couple blocks from Busch statium. If possible Id say try to make it down to Perennial to drink some of there awesome beers on draft. Beer stores: Wine and cheese place forsyth, Randalls on jefferson, Friar tucks, Wolfbrau in St. Peters Also see beer lists on stlhops.com
I'd recommend Urban Chestnut, a lot of German style beers on tap. 4 Hands is close to the stadium but I don't know if they're open after the game or not. Iron Barley has great food and 16-20 taps. The owner used to be a homebrewer. They're beer list is here: http://www.ironbarley.com/BeerList.asp The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton does have the best beer selection in town, but don't go there hoping to find rare beers, they sell those quickly and usually with online reservations.
I've had decent luck when visiting in the past at W&C, but given your statement, I'd be curious to hear your recommendations for a less picked over selection. I am heading to STL this weekend and staying through next week and will be trying to hit on or two spots to pick up beer.
TWCP still has the best selection in town, but most of the rare stuff gets posted on Twitter followed by online reservations and is spoken for in a couple of minutes. It never appears on the shelves unless it doesn't get picked up in seven days. I live about 30 miles from downtown and there are a couple of stores in my area that you can walk in to and find some stuff that was sold out days ago at TWCP. But if you are from out of town and just want beers that aren't available in your area, TWCP is still your best bet.
I'm originally from the Peoria area too, now living in central MO (2 hrs from STL) but we get down there a couple times a semester. The Wine and Cheese Place (esp. the Forsyth location, Claton, I believe) is awesome and while 'special' brews are generally snapped up the day they're released, they're likely to have a bunch of stuff you can't get in SC. I gotta agree w/Urban Chestnut (awesome, understated, authentic German-style ales and lagers) and 4 Hands is doing some incredible stuff if they're open (haven't been there yet). The Schlafly tour might be fun (if you haven't done it yet, it's at the Bottleworks) but the Schlafly Taproom generally has a wider selection and (IMO) even better ambiance. FWIW, Peoria just got a HyVee with a good beer selection (and much fresher than some of the stuff at Friar Tuck's, I always hit it when I go home) and Kelleher's is ALWAYS worth a stop in Oh, and I don't know how long you've been away from, but if it's for several years, you might want to grab a buddy or two and check out Destihl in Bloomington/Normal. It's a fantastic, upscale brewpub with great food!
Definitely agree that Urban Chestnut is a good place to go while you are in town. They just opened up a new beer garden there. I also hear good things about 4 Hands, I'm living in Kansas right now and we don't get that distributed over here. And the Wine and Cheese Place has an excellent bomber selection. We went there to look around one day and found some Goose Island Bourbon County Coffee Stout just hanging out on the shelf by it's self. Needless to say, we gave it a nice home. Go CARDS!!!
For some local breweries try these.....4 Hands, Civil Life brewery 3714 Holt Ave., Perennial Artisan Ales 8125 SOUTH MICHIGAN \\ corner of virginia & davis
