Brewery Spotlight

Side Project Brewing

Side Project Brewing is an independently-owned, family-run microbrewery specializing in barrel-aged beers. This Missourian microbrewery is very popular among its patrons for their sours, saisons, and wild and barrel-aged ales. They offer a diverse range of beers teeming with eclectic flavors. Emphasis on variety and taste is at the very heart of this brewery.

Side Project Brewing takes a very distinctive approach to the process of brewing that sets them far apart from the competition. The brewers here display a passion-driven hunger towards experimenting with different brewing techniques and flavors. They are artists at work, combining different ingredients to achieve the perfect tasting beer. The Side Project brewers work painstakingly to bring you flavors you would not have experienced in a beer elsewhere. Needless to say, Side Project Brewing prioritizes quality over quantity. These are not mass-produced beers that you will just happen upon at your local retailer; these are exclusive brews carefully conceived and crafted for your pleasure.

Image by Luciano Mendonça on Google Maps

Discovering Side Project Brewing

Side Project Brewing can be found at 7458 Manchester Ave. in Maplewood, Missouri. It is hard to miss with its beautiful red-brick exposed façade graced with clear and tall windows. People walking in have been pleasantly surprised by the old-style European feel of the bar, which is complemented elegantly by the modern seating décor. This tasteful juxtaposition of traditional and modern elements gives the brewery a lovely aesthetic charm that is addictive. No wonder locals keep finding themselves at its doors every weekend.

The building’s charm is hard to miss, even for the tourists. Online testimonials are filled with how outside visitors cannot resist visiting the Side Project Brewing again and again whenever they are in town. Many have introduced their friends and family to this brewery who have inevitably themselves become regulars now. This gushing word-of-mouth popularity speaks volumes about the brewery’s talent.

Side Project Brewing is family-run, and most of its employees are either the founder family’s relatives or friends. This is a tight-knit team whose great chemistry and closeness with each other translate to a cozy and family-friendly vibe of the entire brewery. Visitors of the brewery remark online on being very impressed with the warmth of the place where you always feel welcomed. Being a close-knit family enterprise, the Side Project Brewing understands the value of having a good time with your partner and kids. In that spirit, they have created a lovely, open outside space for their patron’s children to run around and play. This ensures the kids get a nice safe space to have fun without compromising the comfort of people enjoying their drinks inside the brewery.

Online reviewers also mention that the brewery’s spacious outside contains several picnic tables where families can bring in and savor outside food. People love eating and sipping their beers in this open space, watching their kids having a good time. You are also welcome to bring in your pets here. Side Project Brewery is incredibly well-suited to every demographic. The brewery ensures that you will fit right in no matter the composition and size of your family.

Inside, they have a charming brewery tasting room where you can sample their numerous products. The brews are made and packaged here. Everything from start to finish is done in-house here. At the Side Project Brewing, your beer gets the expert personal attention and touch from the beginning to the end of the brewing process. This is more than evident from the extensive flavor profiles you get to experience and the tastefully designed bottles it gets served in.

The Side Project Cellar

Side Project Brewing has another establishment to its name called the Side Project Cellar. The Cellar serves as the brewery’s tasting place. It is an elegant bar furnished in the Belgian style and contains a highly diversified menu filled with beer, whiskey, and wine options. It is located just two blocks away from the main brewery at 7373 Marietta Avenue.

Image by Luciano Mendonça on Google Maps

Beers Galore

Side Project Brewing frequenters rave online about their phenomenal sours and stunning stouts. The reviews, with sound rationale, point out that the prices here are more than justified by the detailing of flavors and the diverse selection they are served under. You will truly be spoiled for choices here. There are wild ales gorgeously aged with cherries and refreshing farmhouse ales and fine saisons infused with wonderful blueberries. There is a stout available here that is a creative amalgamation of 13 malts and is imbued with vanilla and cinnamon. One of the most popular beers here is their Derivation series of stouts. It contains myriad blends aged with different flavor profiles ranging from coconut to coffee.

For their apprehensive and careful customers, they provide half pours at enviable prices, so you know what you are getting into. The beers are served at their appropriate temperatures to enhance their taste. At the Side Project Brewing, you experience beer like never before – amazing flavors coupled with an equally astonishing number of options to choose from.

Their menus are updated before the beginning of every weekend. You can even access these menus online at their website. The menu highlights the drafts and specials available, along with the selection of beers you can order to-go. The beers brewed at the Side Project Brewing are highly exclusive and available only at their brewery. No other retailer has them. However, there is a happy caveat here. The Wine and Cheese Place at St. Louis has provided this brewery with some incredible whiskey and wine barrels to help age their amazing beers in. So whenever such a beer is ready to come out of the barrel, they share it with The Wine and Cheese Place. This is the only rare occasion where you get to sample their exclusive beers at a place other than their brewery.

Since they blend and brew their beers right at their brewery, you can witness the entire process first-hand. They have a spacious open brew deck where you can see the wonderfully quaint barrels that they age their beers in. It is a great place to enjoy your beer amongst the traditional brewing apparatuses where all the magic happens. Great quality meets great service here. The staff is thoroughly knowledgeable about beers so that you can expect good recommendations and even better conversations around this wonder beverage.

Celebrating Beer

The Side Project Brewing maintains its own blog about everything beer where you will find news about their recent beer releases and collaborations they frequently do with other local breweries. These joint efforts result in some exceptional beers that you first get to know about through their blog. They walk you through the process and detail out the tastes you can expect. They recently concluded their very first beer festival. It was a weekend-long affair teeming with their signature barrel-aged beers coupled with great food. Their festivals and events are worth a visit. You will be amazed at how good a beer can taste when it comes out of an expert experimental brewery such as the Side Project Brewing.

Show More

Related Articles

Back to top button