Mr. VB Turns 40 & a Craft Brewery Tour

Last month, Mr. VB turned the big 4-0. Now, I know what you're thinking. "How did that old fart get such a young catch like me?" 

He's just lucky, I guess. :-)

To celebrate, I planned a craft brewery tour for the two of us. Microbreweries have been popping up all around St. Louis. Our favorite, Exit 6, is just down the road from our house. Jeff also just started brewing his own beer last year...

So, a tour of the local places we needed to visit was the perfect gift! Since I am a planner to the core, I mapped out our day, with notes on which places served food and snacks. We started out in South City and would end up at good ol' E6.

First up, Perennial Artisan Ales.They focus on using local, seasonal and organic ingredients...and had a fantastic tasting area.

It was also one of the few places that served food. Very. Tasty. Food. Entre (an underground restaurant in STL) serves a small, but mighty, menu onsite. So, along with our Southside Blonde and Saison De Lis, we had mac and cheese with gruyere and duck fat bread crumbs.

And, smoked pulled port tacos with pickled red onion pork tacos.

We didn't try the Strawberry Rhubarb...but, it sounds awesome!

Next up, Civil Life Brewing Company. I loved the sign they made out of old windows. They kept their pricing simple..$2.50 for 8 oz.  and $5 for 16 oz.  

Cute, cozy nook to enjoy a beer. Or read a book. If you like to do that type of thing at a bar.

Civil Life was one of the few on our list that distributes to other bars.

 They also had a great way of keeping track of your drinks...on a piece of slate in front of your space at the bar. Also, the bartender kindly drew out directions for us to our next stop.

They also had fun games, like Pin the Ring on the Bull Horn.

We tried to get a roadie at the drive-thru...

Next on the list, 4Hands Brewery.

This turned out to be one of my favorites on the list. They served beer in cute little mason jars.

Had DIY shelves from old corbels held their growlers and beer books.

Check out this beautiful table made from the original door on their building. Almost every place we visited had long tables for groups (and strangers) to sit at.

The largest brewery on the trip was Urban Chestnut Brewing Company, a one-year-old brewery located in a 1920's garage. You can find their beers in bars throughout the area.

While most of the places we visited made just 5 or 6 beers, UCBC had a long list...

I have to admit, while I did get to taste a lot of great beers during the day, the bonus for me was all of the decorating ideas. I took something away from each place we visited. Like these industrial shelves.

At the end of a long day, we were "home" at Exit 6, with a Frappuccino (a mix of E6's Vanilla Cream Ale and Founders Breakfast Stout) in hand and notes on our favorite samples from the tour. Cheers!