BrianMSTL

2019 was quite a year, I visited my first brewery outside of the United States during a trip to Mexico, visited the Great American Beer Festival, and visited my milestone 200th brewery. Over the year, I was able to visit 55 new breweries and sampled over 848 unique beers from 287 different breweries. The Great American Beer Festival in Denver, along with several beer festivals in my hometown of St.Louis helped me sample so many different styles of beers. Despite the massive variety, my most common beer style of the year was likely a toss-up between the many IPA varieties and Saisons, however towards the end of the year, I started to venture more into stouts, which is something I usually have stayed away from. St. Louis, MO (Metro Area) St. Louis is my hometown, so I would make an effort to visit every brewery within the region. I think as of this year I have visited most, but there is always something new opening. St.Louis is easily one of the best beer scenes in the country. ...

Starting 2020, I figured it would be an excellent opportunity to start over; my goal late last year was to begin to contribute outside of Twitter, Instagram, & Yelp; however, work and life seemed to get in the way. For those that do not already know or follow me, allow me to introduce myself. I was born and raised in St.Louis, so both baseball and beer are in my blood. Over the last nine years, I have been relatively active in Yelp, which is an online review site. During that time, I had met many people whom I am fortunate enough to call friends. Yelp does encourage community, and if you are looking to share personal experiences about food, beer, cocktails, or anything else, I highly recommend it. About three years ago, I decided to branch out from Yelp to Twitter and Instagram as another platform to share my experiences. Initially, I started to mirror my Yelp experiences, but I quickly grew past that and started to explore my passion for craft beer with occasional food and ran...

Madison, WI - August 10, 2019 2018 was my first year attending the Great Taste of the Midwest, and I have to say it was quite an experience that no craft beer lover should miss. For those that are not familiar, Great Taste of the Midwest is the second longest-running craft beer festival in North America. GTMW brings together over 190 brewers in a scenic location overlooking Lake Monona while providing some great views of downtown Madison and the state capital. Ticket sales can be challenging, as they are typically released the Sunday after Cinco De Mayo at select locations in Madison, however, if you do not happen to live in or near Madison you can enter their mail order lottery for tickets. Should you be lucky enough to secure tickets, you will encounter a massive selection of craft beer, great food, and fun entertainment. One of the best things about GTMW is that despite the size the festival never felt like it was too busy, lines were tolerable, and I never seemed to wait more ...

Land Grant Brewing Company Columbus, OH The first stop in Columbus was Land-Grant Brewing, which is located just across the river from downtown Columbus. Since it was a weekday, the crowds were light, so we grabbed a seat by the bar. After looking over the menu, we decided to split two flights to sample about 3/4th of the available beers. Of which my favorites had to be "Bae" and "Concentrate V.102". First off, Bae was an Imperial Porter that was brewed with chocolate, raspberry, and lactose to produce a sweet and fruity porter. Next up, Concentrate V.102, a New England IPA brewed with both traditional, and cryo-hops to create a wonderfully delicious and juicy beer. The atmosphere here was very relaxed, with a reasonably large inside and an even more massive outside patio with enough space for a food truck or two to squeeze in without being too cramped. I could easily see Land Grad being a perfect patio weather destination.

Hoof Hearted Brewery & Kitchen Columbus, OH My second brewery stop in Columbus was an obvious one, how could I resist visiting Hoof Hearted which had recently made their beers available in St.Louis. It was a no brainer to check out their taproom to enjoy some fresh, uniquely brewed beers. After a short Lyft ride from Land-Grant, we arrived at Hoof Hearted, again due to the time (Early afternoon 2-3pm) there taproom/restaurant wasn't overly packed, and that was a good thing as it still allowed us the opportunity to grab a seat at the bar and chat with the bartenders. Honestly, I am not sure where to start here, much like earlier, we went with two flights to try as much as possible, but it was nearly impossible to pick a favorite. However with that being said at the top of my list was "Don't Worry, My Mom Said It's Cool," which was an Imperial Birthday Cake Stout brewed with Astronaut Ice Cream, Cacao Nibs, & Vanilla; it was dessert in a glass (I even...

2nd Shift Brewing Company St.Louis, MO How have I not reviewed 2nd Shift Brewing yet, seriously its one of my favorite breweries in St.Louis, so I figured it's finally time for a review. 2nd Shift is a great brewery serving up a variety of beers. Much like every brewery, they do have their flagship beers, so quit your bitching about the same old beers. 2nd Shift isn't afraid to experiment either, often releasing varients or blends along with new creations. 2nd Shift also has some of the best friends in the brewery industry, which allows them to create some killer collaborations. Some that come to mind are recent collabs with Mikkeller Baghaven, Off Color, Mikerphone, and many more. The staff here is killer, many of the awesome bartenders have been serving since I first started visiting, so that speaks volumes.  The taproom has a large bar along with a large open area complete with board games and food from Guerilla Street Food. If you're lucky, you might make frien...