St. Louis Recommendations

Darwin, to be perfectly honest NG has gone down hill a little IMO. It's a bit out of the way as well. With that being said the food at Cuginos is dynamite and you must get the stuffed meatballs. I say go there for food and try some draft pours before you commit to buying 4pks.

Definitely go to 2nd Shift since it's 5min down the road. They usually have LSD and variants in cans to go. You may get lucky and have a BA LSD option. UC is decent and a real cool place to visit. Food options are sweet as well. You can get Bavarian pretzels, pork rinds and raw oysters all in one place, lol.

I know your time is limited but Wellspent is great as well as Civil Life.

As for food, the blue duck is right by SP and is excellent. It's hearty American stick to your ribs kinda grub. Also amazing confections if you have a sweet tooth. They have some ok whiskeys but nothing super limited (I think). Twisted tree is closer to Twisted Tavern but both will have a nice whiskey list. Last I check Tavern had all the higher end stuff, because they "stole" it from Tree when it first opened up. I would think Tavern will get first pick at all the allocated stuff going forward, so they may be stocking back up.

 

I actually started a Narrow Gauge thread for this year. I posted some thoughts after revisiting those beers after a few years away from them (and drinking mostly BKS Artisan Ales in the meantime.)

It may not be super extravagant, but I really enjoyed Pizza Champ's hottest wings on my last visit. Heat level was really solid, just short of being over the top. I have yet to try their pizza as the wings seemed like a more appropriate solo order. They also paired well with Content Moderator.

Is Civil Life open yet? @not2quick
I caught up with the guy who designed (I think?) the tap system for the new space. They mentioned visiting Civil Life earlier that day, but it was industry only so far. On an even more exciting note, they mentioned adding some true cask engines, though that's not confirmed. The St. Louis scene just continues to get better and better.

 

You know, I don't think they are now that you mention it.

 

Yeah, 2nd Shift is a must since it's so close. Some of their current stuff like Annabelle and the (soon to be released) Dissatisfied IPA are great. With some notable exceptions, they always struck me as a place that specializes in crushable lake beers.

Sneaky best part about 2nd Shift is when you're done, you can go around the corner from them to Gioia's Deli for a hot salami and roast beef sandwich.

 

LSD is one of the best Russian imperial stouts in the Midwest imo. 2nd Shift is always on my list when I’m visiting. Everyone else has other great recommendations, so I’ll leave that to them. But I’d definitely make 2nd Shift a priority on your list @Beer_Economicus.

 

Lunch: Balkan Treat Box

2nd shift fav: Technical ecstasy

Urban Chestnut fav: Stammtisch

Randall's & The Wine and Cheese Place are the best places to find local craft beer

 

Came here to say this!

Also, I really enjoyed Pizza Champ and Gus's Fried Chicken when I went to SP recently.

 

On my frequent visits on business, I found Urban Chestnut is a great place to visit with a large group, but has never blown me away. On that side of town my trifecta is Heavy Riff-2nd Shift-Side Project.
Many great recommendations and advice from locals in the St. Louis FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/307368742701430

 

you can break up 4- or 6-packs at Craft Beer cellar, but their selection isn’t as great imo. If you’ve got time you can do all of them.

 

"If you've got the time, we've got the ...." Oops, wrong beer for STL. Really though, if you've got the time, do the tour at Anheuiser Busch. It's interesting, and you get to be up close to the horses and a Dalmatian in the stables, which was a better part of the tour for me than the tasting room at the end. I don't know what they serve nowadays, but you can try to enjoy it anyway.

 

Are any of the Randall's or The Wine and Cheese Place locations preferred over the others?

 

Randall's are all pretty similar. I would go to the closest to your hotel.

TWCP Clayton location off of Forsyth has the biggest selection of all TWCP stores I have been to, although they have a new Kirkwood store that is pretty big. I would personally stick to Clayton location.

 

Narrow Gauge makes a mead, Blazing Star, that is 25 for a 375mL bottle. Tastes like diabetes. Not sure about getting mead anywhere else in StL.

 

Schramms doesn’t distro here

 

Is there any mead that is not sweet? It is fermented honey water. Genuinely asking since I dislike mead because I find it always to be too sweet (I've tried Pips, Schramms, other). Heart of Darkness was the most balanced I've had, but 2 oz was enough.

It seems like your wife, like me, may like Sherry or Port more than mead. If I were to conceptualize a non-sweet mead, these are the two beverages I would think of. Binny's has really excellent selections of Port. I still haven't found any good brick & mortar places that sell good Sherry.