Ales For Tails is back! Here's what you need to know

The world of home brewing is one that continues to grow and grow fast. Last month, the American Home Brewers Association said there are 1.1 million dedicated home brewers in the U.S. with 40% of those starting home brewing within the last four years.

Here in St. Louis home brewing is alive and well, with an estimated 14 local homebrew clubs in the St. Louis metro area that we can find. One of the largest is the St. Louis Brewminati, which recently announced the return of its annual beer festival, “Ales For Tails.”

“We’re excited to announce that the Ales for Tails beer festival has returned for 2023! Ales for Tails 2023 is sponsored by Instinct, The Raw Brand, and supports Tenth Life Cat Rescue & Needy Paws Dog Rescue,” wrote the group on social media.

This year’s event is set for Sunday, March 5th, from 12 – 4 PM in front of 4 Hands Brewing Company, where the local brewery is setting up its giant parking lot tent. Guests will enjoy four hours of beer samples from local homebrewers while listening to music and voting for their three favorite beers. This year’s Meow Market features local pet-focused products and arts & crafts. Tenth Life and Needy Paws will be on-site with adoption information.

Do you enjoy the content here on Drink314? We’d love it if you’d please consider tossing a few bucks in our Tip Jar. Please find us on Venmo – @Drink314.

Please note that only service animals are permitted.

This event is a 21+-only event. Parking will be available on-site. The event will take place rain or shine.

St. Louis Brewminati

St Louis Brewminati was formed in 2015 to fill the void for home brewers that wanted more than to just get together and drink socially with other members.

“We focus a lot on education. We meet once a month and each month we typically devote about half the meeting to education and the other half to socializing and getting feedback on our beers from other members,” said Brian Haskins, who holds the office of Secretary for the group. “We are a fast-growing club that typically has 20-25 members at each meeting.”

Haskins started homebrewing in 2013 and quickly fell in love with the hobby. While Brian finds the brewing part to be fun, he really enjoys the social aspect of homebrewing.

“Homebrewing is a growing hobby. We regularly get many new visitors and new members that are looking to get started. We also have husband and wife brewing teams and a father and son brew team that are all part of Brewminati,” said Haskins. “It’s a fun hobby where you can share the results with friends and family. It’s very social. One of my favorite parts of the hobby is that you have something you can share with others when you are done.”

Ales For Tails

Ales for tails originated as a way for Brewminati to give back to the local community. Many of the Brewminati members are animal lovers and also really enjoy home brew festivals.

“We typically attend three to five festivals a year to help benefit other local charities. We wanted something that we could host where we could pick the charities and we typically host it early in the year to kick off the festival season,” said Haskins.

The group found two local animal rescues to partner with, Tenth Life Animal Rescue and Needy Paws. Both have been a part of the festival since the beginning.

This will be the 5th year for Ales for tails, after having too take some time off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We feel like we have found a really good long-term home for the festival. It will be held at 4 Hands Brewing company this year and hopefully for many years to come,” said Haskins.

The big difference between Ales For Tails and many other festivals is that in addition to being a festival, they hold a people’s choice competition for all of those that bring their beer to pour. This creates a fun comradery between brewers and makes them think outside the box when it comes to what they bring and pour.

“We have had some very creative beers in the past and hope to continue that tradition,” said Haskins.

Ticket information

Tickets for this year’s Ales For Tails are $35.00 per person in advance and $40.00 at the dor. Also,a charge of $5.00 for anyone wishing to attend, but not drinking. All tickets can be purchased online.