ST. LOUIS -- Like nearly any major city in America, the local brewing scene in St. Louis is exploding. Just this week alone, St. Louis beer lovers welcomed another new brewer to the scene, when Wellspent Brewing Company opened its doors last Friday. But, unlike other cities where the brewing scene is made up of startups creating as 'scene' from scratch, St. Louis is actually reclaiming its heritage as America’s brewing capital.
St. Louis’ brewing history dates back to 1852, the year Anheuser Busch was founded. In 1991, we saw St. Louis enter the world of locally owned craft beer with the establishment of Schlafly Beer. In 2011, we saw four breweries enter the market – Urban Chestnut, 4 Hands, Civil Life and Perennial, all now known as the Class of 2011.
Since then, the St. Louis region has expanded past the 50 brewery plateau. But it's more than simply the number of breweries that make St. Louis the best beer scene in America, it's the quality of beer these brewing magicians are producing and the support they are getting from a growing and vocal population of beer lovers.
That said, our sister newspaper, USA Today is looking the best beer scene in America. They are hosting a live poll as part of their 10Best series. St. Louis currently is in 2nd place but there is still plenty of time to change that.
We recommend voting as often as possible. Here is the link to the poll. Please share with your friends and beer buddies and help us reclaim our heritage as the nation's premier beer town.
