Adventures With Food: On The Road... St. Louis Bites and Brews

 

Schlafly Raspberry Hefeweizen

I'm always on the lookout for delicious and unusual food and when I find something out of this world I just have to share. This weekend was one of those times. My husband and I spent a Saturday touring two of the biggest breweries in St. Louis. Most people know that the gateway city is the home of Anheuser-Busch, but unless you are in it's limited distribution area you may not have heard about the Schlafly Bottleworks.

While AB has been around since 1852 and virtually set the bar for American beer, Schlafly is a relative newcomer to the brewing scene after establishing themselves as a fixture in the St. Louis market in 1991.

But it is this newcomer I intend to focus your attention on today. If you come to St. Louis definitely plan on taking the free tours offered by both companies, but make sure you're hungry when you hit Schlaflys.

Schlaflys have two locations in St. Louis, the Taproom in the downtown area and on the outskirts of the city you will find their main brewery, the Schlafly Bottleworks. Inside you can take a short tour and enjoy samples of some of their signature craft brews. (I highly recommend the Coffee Stout, Scotch Ale and the Raspberry Hefeweizen.) Then sit down and relax for a bite to eat in their restaurant.

They have a diverse menu that incorporates fantastic locally sourced ingredients. Their menu offers standard appetizers like Pretzels and Nachos done up with a twist by pairing them with Hefeweizen cheese sauce and Bison and black beans.

This brings me to the burgers. I gave in to the siren song of the Bison Burger and wished I could have gone back for seconds. The Burger came cooked to order, smothered in Gouda cheese on a toasted brioche bun with fresh lettuce onion and a side of slaw.

 

Bison Burger

They also serve a Vegetarian Black Bean burger that is so good my very non-vegetarian husband didn't even realize there wasn't any meat in it until I said something.  I suggest taking a look at the menu yourself and the next time you're passing through stop in for a bite!

http://www.schlafly.com/breweries/bottleworks/menu/