urbanSTL

I've been wanting to hit Narrow Gauge for years but ya know... I don't remember the last time I was that away from downtown. I've heard the Italian Restaurant they're in is good too. 
A move to McCree Town would be amazing, keeping both locations would be even better. 

I love Narrow Gauge and it's attached to Cugino's, who made me appreicate, if not love, "st. louis style pizza" with their version. Their beers started out same/same, but they've manage to differentiate their brews a bit.

gone corporate wrote: Goodbye, William K. Busch Brewing Company... 

After 8 years, Busch heir pulls plug on Kräftig beer company

^I've been noticing that stock was short lately. Kräftig has been my go-to beer for several years now and I've grown quite fond of them. (I really enjoy some craft brews, but in the end I'm probably more of a light lager guy. And Kräftig was in an interesting place where it had a bit fuller flavor than the mainstream offerings, but it was clean, crisp, and really very drinkable without the craft price or sometimes extreme craft experimental "bespoke seasonal fusion" mentality. And I prefer beer in the German tradition to the Belgian or English traditions, really.) I had really been hoping he'd open a major operation here when he outgrew contract brewing. This is a sad day. I do not want to contemplate what my next go-to beer will be.

^If you haven't already, give Schlafly White Lager a try. It's a German style lager with moderate (5.5% abv) alcohol content and it's very easy drinking. I think it is available year round now.

Black02AltimaSE wrote: ^If you haven't already, give Schlafly White Lager a try. It's a German style lager with moderate (5.5% abv) alcohol content and it's very easy drinking. I think it is available year round now.

White lager is good. Summer lager is probably my favorite though. I wish they would just move it to year round.  It has a pretty long season now. 

If you aren't anti AB, Mich Golden Light (not that new Mich Gold thing) is really easy drinking. 

^The white lager is okay and the summer lager isn't bad. But they're both quite a bit more pricey than Kräftig. And if I'm going to pay craft beer money I'm more inclined to move over to Stammtisch, Citywide Pils, or Urban Underdog. Schlaffly is better at Anglo-American style beers, in my opinion. Their oatmeal stout is very nice, and the coffee stout is great when you can get it. (And for what it's worth I really like the original Citywide APA.) But there's nothing quite like Kräftig at the price point of which I'm aware. Maybe some of the Belgian stuff would be okay, if I could make myself drink it voluntarily. Michelob was pretty okay back in the day. And I did like Amberbock. But . . . I really want to support someone that might actually invest in St. Louis if I can. I'll have to give Griesedieck another look. (Or find a cheaper source of Urban Chestnut.)

If you want to save some money, go to Aldi and buy some Wernesgruner. I think you will probably save money over what you were paying for Kraftig and it's a better than average German pilsner. 

I really like Hoegaarden. Add a lemon and its even better. Not sure if AB brews any batches here, but I wish it was available on-tap at more local establishments.

Anyone have an update on the Griesedieck Bros. venture in Baden? Last I heard it was still proceeding but that was a while ago.

^Their website says they expect to have it up and running this summer and it's still listed as their location on the Brewer's Guild site. (Which site seems a little out of date, to be fair.) Would love to have new information, but the most recent I'm seeing is from middle of last year at best.

Would love to see an establishment like Narrow Gage, a distillery or an urban winery in the building at the corner of Lawrence and Folsum. However because of the residential nature of the location they would just need to be sensitive to the noise levels. Unfortunately the NIMBY`s on Nextdoor are already shooting this down. As an aside the buildings smokestack is an especially neat feature. 

^You mean the smokestack(s) a block west on Park in the Liggett & Myers complex?

I really wish someone could jumpstart the redevelopment of this neighborhood before it is consumed by the parking desert to the east.  There are so many amazing buildings between Park and Folsom Aves.

Speaking of urban wineries I've always had a small dream of opening one in Lafayette Square growing grape in the greenspace left from the 44/55 interchange. Perfect use of the space and would be a great advertisement for the business

Concept could translate pretty easily north of Delmar too.

^Maybe all the nitrates from the automobile exhaust would be fertilizer?

Sad to hear about Wellspent closing.

Hopefully Wellspent can find a way out of their financial hardships. They did have some extra space in front that could easily be subleased out to someplace like Frankly Sausages or another food truck wanting a physical location.

pattimagee wrote: By financial hardship, do you mean just selling the brewery equipment, lease, etc? I didn't see a post anywhere so... just curious

Facebook Post

"Unfortunately, our business cannot support the amount of debt we took on to get started. We had a vision for Wellspent and a commitment to quality in both beer and experience. To realize that vision and maintain that commitment, we needed a LOT more money than we had. We didn’t want to take on private investment for fear of diluting that vision and commitment. We hoped we could sustain long enough to reach a break-even point. We did all we could after starting way too fast, and it wasn’t enough."