Sauce Magazine // Guide to Beer 2020

third wheel head brewer abbey spencer, p. 15

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BEER GuideST. to Beer I SAUCE I1 LO2020 U I S’ I N D E P E N D E N T C U L I N A RY AUTH O R IT Y // S AU C E MAGA Z I N E .C O M // F Rsaucemagazine.com E E , G U I D E TO B E EMAGAZINE R 2020

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Guide to Beer 2020

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to have and to hold

Ayinger Brewery Celebrator Doppelbock

Rockwell Beer Co. Passing Clouds Belgian-style witbier

by adam rothbarth // photo by izaiah johnson Picture this: You’re laying out at the pool with your friends. “What’s that beer?” someone asks. Everyone stops what they’re doing and looks at you.

“Oh, this?” you reply. “It’s just a Street Sodie from 4 Hands and Shared Brewing.” Everyone is blown away.

4 Noses Brewing Co. Mountain Wave American ale

“Damn, that is a great looking can,” your other friend says. “It looks dope.” You already knew this.

It was part of the plan.

Or maybe it’s the Stillwater Artisanal Extra Dry sake-style saison. “That’s beautiful,” your friend says. “What an amazing can.

Is it as good as it looks?” You take a long swig and feel the sun shining on your face.

Prairie Artisan Ales All Y’all hazy IPA

Fat Orange Cat Brew Co./Decadent Ales Baker’s Dozen Imperial stout

“It’s such a good beer,” you reply.

“Very refreshing and light.” You are now your group’s queen or king of selecting beers.

We know how it feels, on a cool spring afternoon, to hold a gorgeous can or bottle with a label full of alluring colors, awesome fonts and breathtaking designs.

Here are some of our favorites to be seen drinking.

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Off Color Brewing Very Very Far Belgian-style ale

Guide to Beer 2020

Center Ice Brewery Old Arena lager

Six Mile Bridge Beer Bavarian Hefeweizen

TO ØL 1 Ton of...

Pineapple Sour Ale

2nd Shift Brewing Co./Speciation Artisan Ales Beer #1 wild ale

Stillwater Artisanal Extra Dry sake-style saison

4 Hands Brewing Co./Shared Brewing Street Sodie double dry-hopped hazy IPA

Guide to Beer 2020

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stout family tree

perennial artisan ale's

by adam rothbarth

Perennial Artisan Ales has been building a blockbuster stout program since opening in 2011. Its first official venture into the dark, roasty beer was Abraxas, a Mexican Imperial stout flavored with ancho chilies, cacao nibs, cinnamon and vanilla beans. It was an immediate hit. Since then, the brewery has produced myriad great beers in the style, from the Fantastic Voyage, an Imperial milk stout with coconut and notes of coffee and baker’s chocolate, to the Intentionally Indulgent, an Imperial stout with vanilla, coffee

Guide to Beer 2020

and chocolate that Perennial plans to phase back into rotation this year.

Perennial’s stouts are all based on one master recipe. The base itself isn’t bottled, but Prodigal is the beer closest to that recipe, with just some subtle additions of cacao nibs and vanilla. The aptly named Maman (French for “mother”) is the base stout aged in whiskey barrels with no adjuncts, offering a big, smooth mouthfeel and delicate notes of chocolate and oak. It’s Perennial co-

owner Phil Wymore’s favorite. “I just like that it’s sort of stripped down,” he said. “I really enjoy drinking whiskey anyway, so it’s kind of a nice mélange to layer that flavor character on top of our base stout.”

Almost a decade later, Abraxas is still one of the base stout’s most powerful offspring. “It’s the most popular and accessible stout that we make,” Wymore said. “Barrel-aged Abraxas is the most sought-after. It’s just a lot more limited than the regular Abraxas.”

Another notable lineage in the master recipe’s children is the coffee stouts. “We’ve been making coffee stouts for maybe five years, six years,” Wymore said, calling them some of Perennial’s most successful brews. The brewery has partnered with roasteries like Sump and Chicago’s Dark Matter Coffee to create bean-infused recipes for an amped-up buzz.

Here’s a look at Perennial’s stout family tree.

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Guide to Beer 2020

COCONUT ABRAXAS

VANILLA ABRAXAS

BARREL-AGED ABRAXAS

COFFEE ABRAXAS

MAMAN Imperial stout aged up to two years in whiskey barrels

aged 15 to 17 months in whiskey barrels

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Imperial stout with cacao nibs and mint leaves

BARREL-AGED 17 TAKE 10

ABRAXAS

SUMP COFFEE STOUT BARREL-AGED SUMP COFFEE aged 12 months in Rittenhouse rye barrelsÂ

FORTUNE FADED Imperial stout with vanilla

PRODIGAL

IMAGES COURTESY OF PERENNIAL ARTISAN ALES

Imperial oatmeal milk stout

FANTASTIC VOYAGE Imperial stout with coconut

base imperial stout *Currently available at Perennial Artisan Ales, 8125 Michigan Ave., St. Louis, 314.631.7300, perennialbeer.com

Guide to Beer 2020

Imperial stout with salt, chocolate and peanuts

Imperial stout with ancho chiles, cacao nibs, cinnamon and vanilla beans

INTENTIONALLY INDULGENT Tiramisu-inspired Imperial stout with vanilla, coffee and chocolate sauce

UNICORN TEARS Imperial stout barrel-aged 18 months, steeped on tart cherries

COFFEE STOUT Made with Dark Matter Coffee

ANNIVERSARY BLEND 2019 'TIL THE NIGHT CLOSES IN Imperial milk stout with orange

Blend of Imperial stout, barleywine and wheatwine aged in wood

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get low St . Lou i s breweries go l ow- a n d n o-A BV

by matt sorrell // photo by izaiah johnson

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After White Claw Summer 2019, the

proliferation of hard seltzers has been hard to escape. While it may horrify some beer nerds that serious craft breweries are involved in such frivolities, this trend didn’t start with water.

Low-booze beverages have always been with us, and the old craft obsession with high-gravity IPAs and the like has been soundly replaced in recent years by a love of low-ABV brews like lagers. It was only a matter of time until

breweries were straight-up selling water.

The Boston Beer Co. made waves last year when its Truly hard seltzer significantly outperformed its Samuel Adams beer. With beer sales stalling nationally and a 200% sales increase for the most popular hard seltzer, White Claw, from 2018 to 2019, according to Nielsen data, it’s no wonder more breweries want in on the action.

Along with an increased interest in high-end sessionable beers (those with ABVs around 3% to 5%), nonalcoholic brews are seeing new life. For those who want to eighty-six the booze completely, there are more quality beers available than ever before, with international brands like Heineken committing a lot of resources to making NA beer Guide to Beer 2020

The consumer focus on health and wellness seems to be at least one of the drivers of this trajectory from high- to low- to sometimes no-ABV beers and other beverages. The goal can be reducing calories from drinking or pursuing a healthier relationship with alcohol.

“I know there’s an audience for good quality nonalcoholic beer,” Stevens said. “Is it going to be this explosive mass trend? I don’t know.” Early on, he saw some pushback from retailers anxious to promote their alcoholic brands that still make up the larger part of the market, but he feels they’ve become more interested in the NA audience.

lower alcohol. Currently, the Wellspent taproom sports three taps serving beers at 4% ABV or lower. As a brewer, Kohlmorgen is attracted to the subtlety of brewing something that’s both flavorful and lower in alcohol.

According to Jeff Stevens, owner of WellBeing Brewing Co. and a local pioneer in the NA beer surge, the public’s

“I do think that mindful drinking is a definite trend. People just having a better relationship with how much they drink – thinking

Other brewers are diversifying with new products. Schlafly introduced Boomerang mead spritzer to its lineup in late 2019. The brewery had offered some full-strength meads in its taproom in the past and thought the fermented honey beverage would provide a good base for a lower alcohol libation. Boomerang comes in at 4% with no sugar, 3 grams of carbs, 90 calories and is glutenfree to boot.

that tastes consistent with its alcoholic offerings.

relationship to alcohol has been changing. In recent years, Stevens has witnessed more people contemplating their relationships with alcohol, fueled by movements like Recover Out Loud and the Dry January campaign.

“Recovery was always about being anonymous and suddenly in the digital space especially there was an explosion of people taking about recovery and not drinking,” he said.

WellBeing, which debuted in 2017, currently has five NA beers available: Heavenly Body Golden Wheat, Hellraiser Dark Amber, Victory Wheat, Intentional IPA and Intrepid Traveler Coffee Cream Stout. Until recently, there has been more demand than WellBeing was able to supply.

about it more in ways they haven’t before. I think that’s a real trend,” he said.

“I think it’s a bell curve,” he said.

“Making an excellent example of a 3% beer and a 13% beer is an incredibly difficult task.”

“We wanted to give the consumers what they want,” Schlafly founding brewer Stephen Hale said. “Rather than try and copy the hard seltzer market, we wanted to reintroduce a lower-gravity mead. I like to think of it as the pendulum swinging back.” Still, he said he doesn’t think highgravity brews will disappear.

As the general public concentrates more on personal health and wellness, the demand for products to feed that desire is constantly expanding and many local brewers are positioning themselves to take advantage of the demand in a variety of ways. For some, this means continuing on with business as usual. Kyle Kohlmorgen, head brewer at Wellspent Brewing Co., made his name making lowABV beers.

WellBeing is in the process of developing a CBD seltzer, which will launch in April, and Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. recently debuted HopWater, a nonalcoholic sparkling water flavored with hops. The beverage began as a one-off project for Loufest in 2018.

When the festival was abruptly canceled, the company put HopWater on tap at its Grove bierhall. It proved popular enough that they started canning it and now offer it in ginger and grapefruit flavors as well as the original.

“It excites me as a brewer and us as a company because it’s what we put our hat in the ring with when we first started,” he said of the recent shift to

“The [nonalcoholic] category has been with us forever,” said UCBC co-founder David Wolfe.

“We’re just seeing a change in it.

It’s taking on its own shape.”

get it Schlafly, 2100 Locust St., St. Louis; 7260 Southwest Ave., Maplewood; 314.241.2337, schlafly.com Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. 3229 Washington Ave.; 4465 Manchester Ave., St. Louis; 314.222.0143, urbanchestnut.com WellBeing Brewing Co. wellbeingbrewing.com Wellspent Brewing Co. 2917 Olive St., St. Louis, 314.328.0505, wellspentbeer.com

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fo the How Abbey Spencer went from homebrewer to Third Wheel’s head brewer teaching the next generation of St. Louis beer

BY STACY SCHULTZ // PHOTOS BY CARMEN TROESSER

Guide to Beer 2020

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The second beer Abbey Spencer ever brewed was terrible. It was a porter she made using one of those homebrewing kits – the kind where you just add water and hops and let it do its thing.

She had just moved to St. Louis from Chicago and found herself at the back bar at Cicero’s with her then-boyfriend, now-husband, Benn Overkamp. “The bartender gave us a bunch of samples of all these crazy craft beers,” Spencer recalled. “He mentioned that Cicero’s had this free beer school, which, you know, was unheard of at that time. So we started showing up at this class. I got sucked in.”

A fellow classmate told her about the homebrewing kits, and soon Spencer brewed her first beer – a “drinkable” wheat. The second? That less drinkable porter. So she dumped it but kept brewing. Soon she had made more great beer than she and Overkamp could ever drink, so she started having parties – lots of parties – for her friends and family.

“I’m not saying [they were] ragers,” Spencer chuckled. It was a bunch of beer nerds with written descriptions of the brews. “Just nerding out left and right.”

As Spencer immersed herself in the local craft beer scene, working at the Flying Saucer and Craft Beer Cellar and hanging out at beer bars like The Stable, she started to notice how often men would order for their girlfriends and wives. It made Spencer think about women’s place in the craft beer movement. In 2014, she co-founded The OG, an organization dedicated to educating and getting women involved in craft beer. They started hosting brewing demos, guest speakers and events for women interested in beer.

Spencer had made a name for herself – and not only through community involvement.

Just two months after she dumped that first porter, she made another and began to medal with it at competitions, calling it Redemption Porter.

In 2016, The Stable’s former owner, Brad Wheeling, approached her about working at a St. Peters brewery he was opening with partners. They had met years earlier, when Spencer and Overkamp could be found at The Stable most Fridays for pizza and a few drafts.

Wheeling had been out of the beer scene for a few years after selling The Stable and its small-scale brew operation, Amalgamated Brewing, but he’d been attending Spencer’s homebrew parties and was impressed with the quality she was turning out.

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owners are still few and far between. It’s still a relevant conversation, but we have a lot more resources than we did.

She was stoked. She had been doing mostly front-of-house work and was excited to help open the place. “He’s like, ‘Nope! We would like you to brew.’ I mean, I think my jaw just dropped. I was not expecting that at all. I was just a little homebrewer in Dogtown. So I asked him to let me think about it. I figured if I said no, that would probably be one of my biggest regrets ever.”

“It feels good that these conversations can

be moved out from these small rooms with just a handful of us to larger spaces, more public domains – and it’s not just women talking to women anymore. It’s women and men and people of color, LGBTQ people trying to push the craft community to be much more inclusive of everybody across the board.”

Wheeling was so sold on her beer that his partners didn’t share Spencer’s hesitation.

“She was the hardest person to convince!” he said. “With her personality and her beer, I knew she was the right person for the job. Every time, the next beer she made was better than the last.”

And now, as another way to give back to the community, Spencer took on a faculty position at Saint Louis University’s new brewing science and operations program.

She has a course called Flavor, Quality Control and Sensory Evaluation alongside other local brewing pros, teaching students how to improve their palates and accurately judge beer in preparation for their first cicerone test.

In 2017, Third Wheel Brewing opened its doors with Spencer as head brewer. She focused on what she did best: “unique takes on classic styles and classic takes on unique styles.” She wasn’t going to be a trendsetter.

She wanted to focus on quality, make beer she felt proud of – beer she wanted to drink. Included in that list was the Redemption Porter, this time renamed for its new home: Saint Peters’ Porter.

Third Wheel was St. Peters’ first brewery, and for this Bud-heavy town, the learning curve was bigger than Spencer and her partners expected. “You have all these people from the St. Charles, St. Peters, O’Fallon areas coming in,” Spencer said. “They see a bar, they see it’s a beer bar, and they want Bud Light. And that’s because so many of them had not been exposed to the small microbrewery, brewpub environment.”

But the partners trudged through it, and around the six-month mark, they saw a shift. Suddenly, there was excitement about them being there. The age of the Third Wheel customer dropped dramatically. They started hearing things like, “We’re just so glad we don’t have to cross the river every weekend.”

“Our business out here is about creating this community of our locals, our neighbors,” Spencer said proudly. “Those who are coming in every day and sitting at our bar – it’s not people traveling from the city out here.”

Today, Third Wheel beer is hitting drafts in Columbia and will soon pour from taps at more bars in St. Peters and St. Charles too. Spencer is learning to can and playing around with beers inspired Guide to Beer 2020

"It’s not just women talking to women anymore. It’s women and men and people of color, LGBTQ people trying to push the craft community to be much more inclusive of everybody across the board.” by the creativity of the cocktail scene, like Sloe Clap, her take on a sloe gin fizz brewed with plum puree, juniper berries, lemon peel and lots of creamy lactose.

“Coming in in the beginning and just being so overwhelmed – so much fear and so much anxiety – and now, being two-and-a-half years in, looking back on me freaking out about my abilities and my capabilities,” Spencer said. “You know, I just want to hug her and tell her, ‘You’re going to be OK. It’s fine. There are so many people to help you. It’s gonna be great.’”

Preparing to open Third Wheel, Spencer apprenticed with Cat Golden at Mark Twain Brewing Co. and Jared Sefill and Rick Hagen at Heavy Riff Brewing Co. on her days off from Craft Beer Cellar.

They held her hand, taught her the ropes

and let her pepper them with questions about the business and how to brew on a large-scale system.

Before the brewery opened, Spencer also joined Pink Boots, a national society committed to the advancement of women in the beer industry. She’s active in the new St. Louis chapter and is still a member of The OG as well. As a cofounder, she raised funds, collaborated with areas brewers to put real beer out into the world and, most importantly, she has seen the landscape shift.

“There’s a lot of women in beer,” Spencer explained happily. “I do feel like the conversation has started to change a little bit. I don’t want to ever say it’s an irrelevant conversation because we’re still paid less and we’re still seen less – especially in production rolls. Women

Beer education is one of Spencer’s biggest passions. She has always been a teacher.

When she lived in Chicago, she oversaw a nonprofit program teaching English, civics and more to immigrants. She developed an education program for staff at Craft Beer Cellar when she was there and has always focused on training staff in her industry jobs.

“For me, to be approached by Troika Brodsky [director of the SLU program] – it’s one of the biggest honors ever. To be in that environment, especially to be teaching alongside these guys I’ve idolized for years – Mitch Turner [sales director at Major Brands] is teaching, and he’s the one that really inspired me.” Turner taught at the old Cicero’s beer school Spencer attended when she moved to St. Louis and was part of the reason she became a certified cicerone. “I wanted to do what he was doing; now he’s a colleague of mine. You can imagine how I feel about that. I totally fan-girled out hard.”

Among all the beers Spencer has on tap at Third Wheel, the Saint Peters’ Porter is still her favorite. Using almost the same recipe she redeemed herself with after dumping that first porter, it’s proofpositive that after years in the industry, Spencer’s impact on the local scene – and her beer – aren’t going anywhere.

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stl beer festivals by erin killion // illustration by vidhya nagarajan presentations, beer dinners and more. The highlight of the week is the annual Midwest Belgian Beer Fest on July 25. Tickets available online.

Hop in the City Sept. 19 – The Schlafly Tap Room, St. Louis, schlafly.com Sample nearly every beer in Schlafly’s portfolio at this annual outdoor festival, including White Lager, Tropical Saison and Oatmeal Stout. Tickets available online.

Oktoberfest St. Louis Sept. 25 to 27 – Urban Chestnut Brewing Co., St. Louis, oktoberfeststl.com Pull up your lederhosen and head to Urban Chestnut’s Midtown location for traditional Oktoberfest brews like the Oachkatzlschwoaf festival lager and partake in a stein-holding competition. Free admission.

Schlafly Stout & Oyster Festival March 20 and 21 – Schlafly Tap Room, St. Louis, schlafly.com Schlafly flies in thousands of oysters from the East and West coasts at this free festival. Slurp bivalves and sample more than 15 Schlafly stouts.

FestivAle March 27 – Union Station, St. Louis, festivalestl.com This STL beer showcase features vendors like Earthbound Beer and Logboat Brewing Co. along with food tastings. The event supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Tickets available online.

St. Louis Beer Fest March 21 – St. Louis Science Center, St. Louis, Facebook: St. Louis Beer Fest Enjoy a night at the museum at this inaugural beer fest. Sip on samples from over 40 area breweries. Tickets available online.

Ales for Tails March 28 – 2nd Shift Brewing, St. Louis, Facebook: Ales for Tails 2020 Taste samples from local brewers and homebrew clubs like Brewminati and 618 Home Brew Club. Proceeds benefit Tenth Life and Needy Paws. Tickets available online.

Buzz’d Beer Festival March 22 –The Old Bakery Beer Co., Alton, oldbakerybeer.com The Old Bakery Beer Co. is abuzz over its fifth anniversary. Over 25 producers like White Rooster Farmhouse Brewery sample items made with flowers, honey or fruit.

Tickets available online.

St. Louis Microfest May 1 and 2 – Upper Muny Parking Lot, St. Louis, stlmicrofest.org Sample brews from more than 20 area breweries like Wellspent Brewing Co., Modern Brewery and more. Test your skills in the Brewers’ Olympics and support Lift for Life Gym. Tickets available online.

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Manchester Craft Beer Festival May 9 – Paul A. Schroeder Park, Manchester, manchestermo.gov/beerfest Head to Manchester and sip brews from Brew Hub Tap Room and Civil Life Brewing Co., among many others. Tickets available online.

Midwest Maifest May 9 – New Town Amphitheater, St. Charles, midwestmanifest.org Celebrate traditional German spring beer from locals like Good News Brewing, Six Mile Bridge Beer and Missouri Beer Co., and enjoy live German music. Tickets available online.

Lupulin Carnival* May 16 –The Big Top, St. Louis, lupulincarnival.com 4 Hands Brewing Co.’s annual celebration of the hop features fire-breathers, acrobats and more than 45 breweries like Cinderlands, Oakshire Brewing and Hop Butcher. Tickets available online.

IndiHop Late spring – The Grove and Cherokee Street, indihopstl.com This hop-on, hop-off bus tour allows you to sample breweries like Earthbound Beer and Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. at businesses in The Grove and on Cherokee Street. Tickets available online.

Criderfest June 27 – 2nd Shift Brewing, 2ndshiftbrewing.com Celebrate the 10th anniversary of 2nd Shift Brewing at Criderfest with over 70 breweries like Side Project Brewing, Rockwell Beer Co., Big Rip Brewing Co., Good Word Brewing and Penrose Brewing Co. Tickets available online and at the door.

St. Louis Craft Beer Week July 24 to Aug. 1 – St. Louis, stlbeerweek.com Drink to St. Louis’ rich beer history all week long with dozens of tastings,

St. Charles Oktoberfest Sept. 25 to 27 – Frontier Park, St. Charles, discoverstcharles.com St. Charles hosts its Oktoberfest again this year with more than 30 beers from 12 breweries, including Hofbrau, Samuel Adams and more. Free admission.

Fest-of-Ale Oct. 16 – Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, missouribotanicalgarden.org Observe the beautiful plants and enjoy beer from over 30 local breweries. Past participating breweries have included Perennial Artisan Ales and Bluewood Brewing. Tickets available in advance or at the door.

Czech Beer Festival Dec. 12 – American-Czech Educational Center, St. Louis, acestl.org Try an array of imported Czech beers, from Pilsners to ales and everything in between, while enjoying live music and Czech food like stuffed kolache for purchase. Tickets available online. * denotes a sauce-sponsored event

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PARTNER CONTENT

DR I N K OFF MEN U AT W ESTPORT SOCI A L

BY LAUREN HEALEY

I

f you think all Westport Social has to offer are games, some yummy eats and a standard beverage selection, think again. Although the rotating cocktail list is quite inventive, bar manager Kyle Mathis is pushing the envelope regarding what a volume bar offers, ensuring you can quaff all your favorite off-menu libations, from an Aviation to a Sazerac and everything in between.

“One of our biggest objectives is to give people an opportunity to step outside their comfort zone,” Mathis said. “We carry a lot of spirits needed for some of those out-there classics.

Volume bars typically limit the amount of hand selling, but we’re willing to take time to converse with our guests.”

Allspice Dram, for example, is utilized in winter cocktails to add savory components, while crème de violette adds sweet, floral notes to drinks like the Aviation. Green chartreuse adds spicysweet herbal layers to cocktails like the Last Word, and Luxardo Maraschino imparts fruity notes to the Last Word and Aviation, along with the on-menu frozen bellini. And the Brazilian spirit cachaça imbues drinks like a Caipirinha with herbal, floral flavors.

“They’re not featured much on the menu, but we use them on a regular basis because we have the opportunity and demand to make these cocktails that aren’t necessarily available elsewhere,” Mathis said.

Westport Social also offers a range of Massenez Garden Party herbal liqueurs, from mint and rosemary to sage, thyme and basil.

PHOTO BY LAUREN HEALEY

“They’re a nice way for us to add fresh, herbal flavors without actually having to use fresh herbs, which are notorious for slowing down service,” he said. “If you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing, come in and ask, ‘What’s a classic cocktail off menu that I might like?’ And the bartenders will work with you to help you pick a good flavor profile.”

Although the off-menu options are phenomenal, the selections on the Guide Beer 2020 1 to I SAUCE MAGAZINE I saucemagazine.com

menu are always worth trying.

“I tend to think of cocktails in a culinary sense – I’ll look at food pairings that match well and try to translate that into a beverage,” Mathis said. “We do a lot of interesting stuff you don’t see many other places.

We’re not afraid to put scotch in a cocktail, like in our B. Foster, which is a take on a White Russian with Cinnamon Toast Crunch-infused almond milk, Johnny Walker red scotch, Big O ginger liqueur and caffe amaro. Even though it may scare a few people away, we feel confident to put it in front of most patrons. ” Mathis creates distinctive combinations in other drinks too.

“The frozen Paloma is a fun one,” he said. “Mixing gin and tequila seems slightly odd, but some of the green vegetal characteristics in the jalepenoinfused tequila work really well with the aromatic, herbal components in gin. ... I look up natural flavor affinities and work from there.”

The bar also offers a good selection of local beers from breweries like 4 Hands Brewing Co. and Rockwell Beer Co., along with some more unique options like Pipeworks Ninja vs.

Unicorn and Mother’s Social Brew.

“We also try to keep a dedicated limited release line,” Mathis said. “In the wintertime, we do some of the barrel-aged stouts. In the spring and summer, we try to do some of the more limited IPAs and sours.”

The menus are updated every spring and fall, but rest assured you’ll always be able to order your favorite cocktails.

“Even if you aren’t coming in necessarily to drink, one of the best parts about this place is that we support the most diverse clientele I’ve ever seen in a bar,” Mathis said. “We have a laid-back vibe with an attentive but not overbearing staff, plus it’s just a huge space that’s really inviting.”

For more information, visit westportsocial-stl.com.

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