The Top Three Missouri Microbrewed Beers

Microbreweries and other craft brewers have been resurrecting the art of brewing from the Prohibition's ashes since the 1980s. The few breweries that survived approximately 13 years of criminalized beer and spirits became far larger after repeal of the 18^th Amendment than their pre-1920 counterparts had been. After Prohibition brewers focused on making lagers that fared better when shipped over long distances. As a result, commercial beer was no longer a local product and, with a national palate dulled from abstinence, it also slowly became a homogenous and rather dull product.

It took the rise of craft brewing during the past 30 years to make beer a locally-produced product again, restore the variety of styles being brewed, and to again pander to local beer drinkers' more demanding tastes. Under the shadow of the world's largest brewer, Missouri took longer than many states to grow its craft brewing segment but for the second time in its history has many fine breweries to choose from.

Some of the wildest brewing risks and best beer surprises come from the smallest end of the craft brewing segment - the microbreweries. "Micro" is an apt term for these quality-over-quantity brewers the industry defines as a producer of less than 15,000 barrels annually, especially when compared to Anheuser-Busch's more than 125 million barrel annual volume. These are the best three beers being made by those Missouri microbreweries:

O'Fallon Smoked Porter, O'Fallon

This beer won a gold medal at the 2004 Great American Beer Festival and helped push the "little brewery that could" to the top of the hill. When many believed the St. Louis market was owned by the Budweiser family of beers and already had one craft brewer too many, the folks at O'Fallon didn't listen and just kept pushing forward. Their persistence has put the O'Fallon label in liquor and grocery stores, restaurants and bars throughout St. Louis and a number of states beyond Missouri.

The Smoked Porter is truly unique in domestic brewing. Hearkening back to the German rauchbier, O'Fallon has found just the right amount of Bamberg malt in the grist, which is smoked over beechwood similar to the malt used to make Scotch is smoked over peat. The chocolate and deep caramel malts balance against the smoke and moderate hopping perfectly to avoid what could easily be an overwhelming feature of the taste and aroma of this beer. One wonders why nobleGerman Hallertau Mittelfruh hops would be used in this style, but it works. The slightly higher alcohol, 6% by volume, warms just a little and makes the beer ideal for the cold and wet months.

Charleville Hoptimistic IPA, St. Genevieve County

One of the more recent entries into Missouri brewing, this microbrewery grew out of a winery in St. Genevieve County. The best places to find Charleville beers are restaurants and bars in St. Louis although a few grocery stores have picked it up. The style assortment includes both an American Pale Ale and this IPA, as well as a wheat, Belgian trippel and a barley wine.

The Hoptimistic IPA comes out all hops, but without the bite usually expected from American varieties. Strong maltiness quickly balances the initial hop aroma and flavor to meld into a smooth finish with just enough hop flavor hanging on to be satisfying. Hoptimistic stands on its own and doesn't suffer from the overt citrus notes that come from trying to emulate American exemplars of the style. The gold to orange color is brighter than most IPA and belies the amount of bitterness that lays in wait.

Mueller Munich Lager, Springfield

The Mueller beers hail from Springfield Brewing Company, which has an unusual pedigree. The Brewing Company grew out of a stainless steel fabricator that sought to use the small brewery as a showcase of the brewhouse systems it manufactured and sold. Not surprisingly, the facility is breathtaking and no gadget or gizmo was left off. But the depth of their investment went beyond the equipment to recruiting a master brewer. Ashton Lewis obtained his graduate degree from the well-known University of California, Davis program, worked with Dr. Michael Lewis, taught brewing at Davis and the American Brewers Guild, and has published in trade publications.

Mueller's Munich Lager won a gold medal at the 2004 Great American Beer Festival. The rich gold color opens to a profound maltiness carrying a slightly toasted character similar to that expected from a Vienna. Moderate and clean bitterness takes a backseat to the malt presence and, combined with temperate alcohol, makes this beer perfect with meals or when the evening is going to run long. Unfortunately, this beer and the Mueller line can be difficult to find outside of a few Springfield retail locations and the Brewery, but can be purchased there in kegs and bottles.

SOURCES

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/othercities/kansascity/stories/2010/04/12/daily38.html
http://www.springfieldbrewingco.com/brewery/
http://www.charlevillevineyard.com/?location=microbrews
http://www.ofallonbrewery.com/