According to the legends passed down from beer drinker to beer drinker, somebody somewhere supposedly once called St. Charles County a “craft beer desert.” Now I don’t know who that person was but if I was introduced to them at the bar, I’d send them shot of water.
“Craft beer desert?” What a crock! Nothing could be further from the truth which makes my next sentence a literal pleasure to type. St. Charles County is hosting its 2nd Annual Craft Beer Week beginning April 22-29! Yay for us, boo for that “craft beer desert” guy.
A band of craft beer focused bars, breweries, restaurants and homebrew shops have joined forces with St. Charles County Craft Tap, another fantastic beer blog and magazine run by local craft beer lovers. Together they have assembled a week full of special release beers, tap takeovers, special Missouri beers, beer education and other events through the week – all to celebrate the explosion of craft beer in this growing area of the St. Louis region.
“Very soon St. Charles County will be home to 8 breweries. The area is really booming,” said Andrew Tessmer, co-founder of the St. Charles County Craft beer week. Tessmer and is partners debuted the craft beer week in 2016 and learned some lessons that will pay off this year.
“We worked with the breweries directly. We wanted to make this work for them, not just us. From those discussions our Marquee events were created,” said Tessmer. “These events allowed each brewery to create an event that worked to their strengths.”
No matter where you live, you may want to give some of these events a shot, because, as you will see, many of them are ones you might consider no matter what time of year they took place.
St. Charles County Craft Beer Week Calendar
Saturday, April 22nd
STC Craft Beer Week Beer Fest
Shamrocks Pub & Grill
1pm – 5pm
4177 Veterans Memorial Pkwy
Saint Peters, Missouri 63376
With rain expected, the good folks at Shamrocks Pub & Grill will close the restaurant and invite everyone indoors. On hand for the 200 party goers will be beer from 30 breweries including eight from St. Charles County, St. Louis and a handful of nationally prominent breweries headlined by Odell’s. BUY TICKETS
After the kick-off event, stay a bit later for the ODell’s Post-Fest Tap Takeover. This event will begin at 5:30 and run until the beer is gone.
Sunday, April 23rd
STC Craft Beer Week Trivia
Exit 6 Pub and Brewery
1pm – 5pm
5055 Highway N
Cottleville, Missouri 63304
You’ve been to a trivia night. You’ve probably even drank beer at the trivia night. But have you been to a trivia night about beer? That’s right, no 80s sitcom trivia this night. No, if you’re a real beer geek, it’s time to show off your noggin full o’ knowledge. If you know your stuff, you won’t leave empty handed. Expect tons of swag to go along with your souvenir pint glass.. All for your $10.00 ticket. BUY TICKETS
Monday, April 24th
STC Craft Beer Week Beer & Food Pairing
Friendship Brewing Company
7pm – 9pm
100 E Pitman Ave
Wentzville, Missouri 63385
We suggest a light lunch around 1 p.m. and come to this event hungry. That’s because Brian Nolan and his Friendship crew along with their in house food partners Benefits Bistro are putting their creativeness together to create a 4 course meal of small entrees served station style, complimented with one Friendship brew with each course. BUY TICKETS
Tuesday, April 25th
Dogfish Head Event
Walnut Grill
6pm – 12am
4401 State Hwy K
O’Fallon, MO 63368
Walnut Grill is relatively new to the area, but we are told they have an great menu and awesome collection of beers. That is why they are wanted to be a part of the Missouri welcome to Dogfish Head Brewing. On this night, you can sample from four core Dogfish Head beers. Or you can try all four as a flight along with a complimentary appetizer.
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Big Beer Tapping
Friendship Brewing Company
6pm – 10pm
100 E Pitman Ave
Wentzville, Missouri 63385
You can’t get enough of Friendship, believe us. On this night we believe Friendship will be pulling out several stored kegs of some high ABV beers they’ve been sitting on and putting them on tap.
Wednesday, April 26th
STC Craft Beer Week Open House
Missouri Beer Company
4pm – 8pm
22 W. Industrial Drive
O’Fallon, Missouri 63366
The much anticipated opening of the Missouri Beer Company is expected in mid-May, but we will get an early taste of what we hope will be at least 2 MBC beers, but maybe as many as 4. Stay tuned.
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Wednesday Sour Wednesday
6pm – 10pm
An After Hours Brewing release of two sours.
Friendship Brewing Company
100 E Pitman Ave
Wentzville, Missouri 63385
Like a good speakeasy, the story behind what is going on at this event is hush hush. All we could learn is that the sours you will try are heavily influenced by classic cocktails.
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Special Cellar Release Night
4pm – Close
Special release of including The Bruery White Chocolate
Exit 6 Pub and Brewery
5055 Highway N
Cottleville, Missouri 63304
Thursday, April 27th
STC Craft Beer Week Dessert in the Desert (Sold Out)
Third Wheel Brewing
6:30pm – 10pm
4008 N Service Rd
Saint Peters, Missouri 63376
Few craft breweries have developed a pre-launch buzz like Third Wheel Brewing. Perhaps it’s the remarkable woman brewmaster, Abbey Spencer who is ready to explode the area with a new batch of new beers.
For this night, Abbey and Third Wheel have teamed up with Sucrose, the popular artisan dessert shop in St. Charles to create some home brewed goodness paired with some cool deserts. Spencer will lead the night and explain to all how each beer pairs best with each sugary treat.
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Barrels of Fun
6pm – 9pm
A Friendship Brewing & Wood Hat collaboration event.
Friendship Brewing Company
100 E Pitman Ave
Wentzville, Missouri 63385
Now this one sounds fun, as two of our favorite liquid artists are coming together to create something special. The guys are keeping this one a secret, but I think it’s fair to say that something is aging in a bourbon barrell.
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Schlafly Night
7pm – 1am
Schlafly Variant Tapping & Randalizer on hand
Shamrocks Pub & Grill
4177 Veterans Memorial Pkwy
Saint Peters, Missouri 63376
Friday, April 28th
STC Craft Beer Week Meet the Brewers at Brewer’s
6pm – 9pm
Meet area brewers, learn techniques, beer samples. Beer, Blues & Cardinals Raffles. Meet Cam Janssen & Tony Twist.
Brewers True Value
915 Jungermann Rd
Saint Peters, Missouri 63376
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Wild Game Menu
7pm – 10pm
A selection of wild game items & local beers on tap.
Mike’s Tap + Grill
2447 State Hwy K
O’Fallon, MO 63368
Great menu, great food and better beer selection. They are putting together a menu, with some ‘wild game,’ which we hear has included Alligator and perfectly cooked bison steaks. Not a pairing, but you will be able to sample any of the beers from their amazing tap list.
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Public House Night
Shamrocks Pub & Grill
7pm – 1am
4177 Veterans Memorial Pkwy
Saint Peters, Missouri 63376
Been looking forward to this for the past month. Next year can you add a post to calendar link so the events can easily be added to calendar apps like google calendar?
That would be a great idea. I’ll have to find out more on how to do just that. Thanks for the tip.