Urban Chestnut Brewing Company

As a dinner plan with others didn’t work out, it was left to me to figure out where I wanted to eat.  A discussion with an “in-the-know” beer enthusiast at Schlafly suggested Urban Chestnut, if I had time, to check out their German beers and Schnitzel.  Two birds, one stone, in the form of dinner and another craft beer brewery.

So, I drove to their closer location, not a small place as it opens to either side of the building shown below, including a courtyard.

But, they had a very limited menu.   No Schnitzel.  The employee had no reservations in sending my business to their other location, which was only a few miles away in “The Grove.”

It’s a pretty colorful place, by appearances an eclectic revitalization of an old commercial district.  And, at one end, Urban Chestnut greets you.

That’s a pretty big sign.  And it’s an omen for the facility’s overall size (75,000 sq.ft.).  The below picture doesn’t show the length of the place, though notably the central section is a pretty cool outdoor patio section.

That patio might include the total seats available at many craft breweries, but not here, where many tables are set within.

Just add more people:

Oh, and there’s the bar:

Yes, it was a slow night.

And, beside all that, I came for the food.

With a side of “corn nuts.”    The sandwich was $10, and it was delicious.  Corn nuts?  Meh, maybe with more salt or sugar.

To be paired with this I chose the STLIPA, short for St. Louis India Pale Ale.  This was a fine drink, an Imperial, with 8% alcohol volume.  I remembered to take a photo before I finished it, even.  I have a few beers that I favor over this in the style, but this still at the upper end.

Below is the Triskel, An American single hop IPA, with French hops.

This was interesting, but not nearly as good as the STLIPA.  Revisiting a week later, I tried the Aramis, from the French hops for which it is named, not to mention the possible Alexandre Dumas influence.  An interesting and pleasant beer, but I prefer more bitterness.

Below is the Hopfen, described as a Bavarian IPA, brewed with a variety of Hallertau ‘hopfen’ hops (German), instead of the more usual and more citric hop varieties of most American IPA’s.

As a result, it had a unique (to my experience) and enjoyable hops flavor.

The brewery, which opened earlier this year, will be able to produce up to 100,000 barrels a year, plus approx. 40,000 at their other location.

This brewery is intended to feature their “Revolution” series of beers, suited to their American beers.  The original location will produce their “Reverence” themed German/European beers, as well as test beers, though beers from both will be available at either.

Tours aren’t offered as yet, but they do offer a self-guided tour, which I thought was pretty clever.  This wouldn’t work in most breweries, but it does here because of the scale.

Urban Chestnut has a lot of beers to offer, but I only sampled the one.  Usually, it would be the beer that would bring me back.  Here, I’d come for the schnitzel, but plan more time to sample their beers.

Overall, it’s a very worthy stop for craft beer seekers.