Side Project Brewing — St. Louis’s Most Coveted Pours

There’s a small category of American craft breweries that operate more like fine wine estates than beer companies — where production is deliberately limited, quality is the only metric that matters, and getting your hands on the product requires either a visit to the source or a lot of patience. Side Project Brewing in Maplewood, Missouri sits at the very top of that list.

Founded by Cory King in 2013 as a literal side project while he was brewing at Perennial Artisan Ales, Side Project has grown into one of the most celebrated barrel-aged and mixed-fermentation breweries in the world. The program centers on farmhouse ales, saisons, wild fermentation, and barrel aging in wine, spirit, and beer barrels. These are beers that take months or years to produce, that change dramatically over time, and that reward cellaring the way only the very best bottles can.

Flagship releases like Derivation (a barrel-aged stout series) and Fuzzy (a peach cobbler-inspired farmhouse ale) sell out rapidly and appear in trade discussions globally. The Cellar, their dedicated bottle shop and tasting room, hosts release days that draw dedicated pilgrims from across the country. Their Ferment on Demand program lets you reserve bottles in advance — one of the most humane things a brewery of their caliber has ever done.

If you’re in St. Louis, making the trip to Maplewood is not optional. It is the trip.

Side Project isn’t making beer for the casual market. They’re making it for people who believe beer can be as serious and as beautiful as fine wine. They’re right.

Food Advertisements by