Summer is the perfect time to re-discover Point Labaddie Brewing

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You don’t need to travel very far to technically ‘get out of St. Louis’ especially if your goal is to ‘get out’ and drinks some beer.

Just about 45 minutes outside of downtown is where you’ll find the large red barn, amid the rolling 17 acres that is home to the brewery, tasting room and biergarten of Point Labaddie Brewery.

The brewery’s core beer profile focuses are farm house ales, Belgian styles and IPAs. All of their beers are unfiltered, with the goal to brew flavorful classic and modern styles using only traditional ingredients when possible. Simple food is available in the tasting room, and food trucks / vendors are brought in for live American Roots music every Sunday.

The Backstory

Owner Rob Grimm was born and raised in Chesterfield, MO. Like many local brewery owners, he began by home brewing.

“In 2004, I began using a 3-gallon stainless steel pot on an electric stove burner. Charlie Papazian’s “The Joy of Home Brewing” was my guidebook as I began my journey with malt extract batches, and quickly decided that I needed to start hobbling equipment together to start brewing all grain batches. It took exactly one batch for me to fall in love with brewing, and soon I was fantasizing over home brews about one day making a living at it,” said Grimm.

It took 5 years, but Grimm finally realized his dream. He purchased a Sabco Brew Magic which allowed him to improve batch repeatability. He then enrolled at the Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago, IL in 2012 to gain a professional education in brewing technology, followed by 6 weeks of advanced brewing courses at their sister school Doemen’s Academy in Gräfelfing, Germany, just outside Munich in the Spring of 2014.

Everything finally came together at the end of 2015. An equipment vendor was selected, funding completed, and the purchase of 17 acres of pasture and woods on the south side of the community of Labadie, MO, about 100 yards off Highway 100 (Historic Route 66). Construction started on the building in January 2016 and brewing and retail sales licenses were received in September 2016.

Grimm then began brewing his first batches in his new 15bbl brew house.

“Our tap room opened to the public with 8 guest beers on tap. The first Point Labaddie beer, our Batch 1 Saison (now renamed Saison Du Labaddie), was served at the end of October 2016. The Grand Opening was held in mid-November with 3 Point Labaddie beers, and 5 guest beers on tap.

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What’s On Tap For Summer 2021

On any given day, Point Labaddie typically has about 8-9 beers on tap, along with a cider. The list is often changing with a few mainstays. Here’s a look at some of the more ‘summery’ beers you’ll find over the next few months.

Foggy Mountain NE Style IPA is a very popular one. It’s hazy and juicy per the style and is very tropical fruit forward due to the use of El Dorado and Mosaic hops. It’s provided year round but is a great Summer option. It is 6.8% ABV. IBUs are around 40.

Golden Ale is also very popular. It’s a pretty straightforward Belgian style golden ale – brewed along the lines of a Golden Strong Ale but with a much lower ABV at 5.5%. While maintaining a flavorful profile, it’s light, fairly dry and a bit crisper than other ales and quite refreshing. Due to the free-rising fermentation temperatures on their farmhouse ales and Belgians, some batches may have a light tartness to them as well.

Belgian Style Apple Cider is something new Grimm and his hteam began making last year and has become very popular as well. It’s brewed using their Belgian Saison farmhouse yeast, which contributes in the flavor and aroma as well as producing a nice dry cider. It’s clean, refreshing and has that subtle farmhouse character you’d expect – a little tartness and light phenols come through. Due to possible cross-contamination from using shared equipment and it being brewed with propagated beer yeast, the brewery cannot guarantee that this is gluten free, however. Grimm believes any gluten would be very minimal but it’s something the brewery always warns people about.

Saison Du Labaddie is a Belgian style Saison/Farmhouse Ale. It was the first brew made at the brewery on our commercial system (It used to be called Batch 1: Saison). It’s one of their best sellers and seems to be what many people know us for. It’s avaiable all year long and it certainly tastes great in the Fall but it’s still quite refreshing and a popular Summer choice out here. It’s a classic Belgian style Saison using Dupont yeast and no Brettanomyces so it has a clean finish and any tartness is very subtle.

IPAs are great any time of year, in my opinion, and our Goodle Day IPA is no different. It’s on the high end of the single IPA ABV range at 7.4%. It’s a balanced version of classic west coast style IPAs brewed with Centennial bittering hops and then Mandarina Bavaria and Cascade hops in the whirlpool and dry hop stages. It’s been Point Labaddie’s mainstay IPA since their first year. ON the tongue, look for traditional grapefruit, pine and citrus of west coast IPAs as well as some tangerine and more citrus contribution from the Mandarina Bavaria hops.IBUs for this beer are around 65.

Coming Soon

Lost Goat Belgian Pale Ale is cold crashing in the fermenter, getting ready to be transferred to the brite for carbonation and hopeful release this weekend. This is a revised version that is a bit lower ABV than the prior year’s. It’s a very malt-forward (think biscuit, toast, a bit of malt sweetness) with hops used primarily for balance and stability and some of that classic Belgian character, as well. It should clock in around 5.7% ABV and while not a modern light/refreshing Summer brew profile, it is popular with the malty brew lovers.

Also keep an eye out for Hoppy Pale Ale (American style) brewed with Amarillo and Falconer’s Flight hops. It’ll be pretty traditional, perhaps a cross between the more classic west coasts like Sierra Nevada’s pale that is more bitter forward and hazies that are more juicy forward. It should come in around 5.3% ABV with a balanced bitterness and be quite refreshing. The hops will contribute lots of orange, citrus, grapefruit, tropical fruit, perhaps a bit of lemon and a little floral to the flavor and aroma. This is the first time it’s being brewed. IBUs should be around 50.

Grimm also says he has a small barrel program going with some wine-barrel Saisons and whiskey-barrel dark brews aging. He says they’ll be releasing a couple of these for ther breweries 5th year anniversary in November.

“It’s been a crazy ride so far, and I can’t thank our customers enough for supporting us through the time we’ve been open. I’ve met so many great people, made so many great friends and look forward to many more years of brewing beer in beautiful Labadie, MO!”