1989

The Beginning
The Saint Louis Brewery, Inc. was incorporated in 1989.  The goal of Tom Schlafly and Dan Kopman at the time was to produce good, local, microbrewed beer for sale in the St. Louis area. They began to look for a suitable building and investigated and explored countless locations.

1991

First Brewmaster
A local brewing expert and author of several homebrewing books, Dave Miller, who had been instrumental in getting Missouri's laws changed to allow microbreweries to exist, was hired as our first Brewmaster. Our current Chief Brewer, Stephen Hale, was hired as Dave's assistant.

Grand Opening
Opening night in late '91,
the night after Christmas the fun had begun.
We opened the doors and all was off kilter,
the brewers were frantic still learning to filter.
With customers packed like sardines in a jar,
the servers all hollered for drinks o'er the bar.
No tickets, computers, no punching in orders,
we served Pales and Wheats, no Pilsners or Porters!

1993

Schlafly Beer Available at Bars and Restaurants
We successfully lobbied to increase the barrel limit associated with our microbrewery license. We also got rid of the prohibition against selling Schlafly Beer to other bars and restaurants. See where Schlafly beer is now available.

First draft account: Blueberry Hill.

Annual draft production = 1,293 barrels

1996

Schlafly Beer Available in Bottles
A lot of our customers began asking for Schlafly Beer in bottles. So, we entered into contract production with August Schell Brewing in New Ulm, Minnesota and successfully introduced our beer into the local bottled beer market.

Pale Ale and Oatmeal Stout bottles became available in July.

Annual draft production = 2,453 barrels
Annual bottle production = 429 barrels

1997

Schlafly Beer at Busch Stadium
Anheuser-Busch sold The Cardinals after the 1995 baseball season. In 1997, the beer monopoly at the stadium was loosened, allowing Schlafly Beer to become regularly available. Tom Schlafly and his beloved canine companion, Sparky, delivered the first keg.

To see where Schlafly Beer is served at Busch Stadium, click here.

Annual draft production = 2,802 barrels
Annual bottle production = 826 barrels

Moving and Shaping the Neighborhood
The remaining 50% of our building was renovated and the long-empty north building was opened. We gained increased tank capacity in the cellar and the addition of Daniel's Den bar and game room and the Eliot Room.

Schlafly Hefeweizen bottles became available in June.

Annual draft production = 3,483 barrels
Annual bottle production = 1,650 barrels

1999

HOP into Cyberspace
At long last, fans of Schlafly Beer could now spend hours gripped in Schlaflyland via the magic of the worldwide web.

As if that weren't enough excitement, we kicked off our annual beer festival, HOP in the City, featuring samples of each of the more than 30 beer styles we produce each year.

2000

Proof that Coffee and Beer are Soulmates
We launched what many regarded as the coolest coffeehouse west of The Arch. Those lucky enough to be on the cutting edge with us enjoyed fresh, local pastries and coffee in the atmosphere of our morning-sunlit dining room. Unfortunately, we were a little ahead of our time and the Schlafly coffeehouse had to be put on hold.

Annual draft production = 5,125 barrels
Annual bottle production = 3,314 barrels

2002

Schlafly Beer at Lambert International Airport
Great local beer finally made it to the local airport! Our bottled beers became available throughout the airport and at our brewpub (also named The Tap Room) featuring Schlafly Beer on tap, a full-service cocktail bar and a menu offering a limited selection of our specialty brewpub fare.

Annual draft production = 5,791 barrels
Annual bottle production = 4,309 barrels

2003

Schlafly Bottleworks Debuts in Maplewood
It had always been our desire to have more control over the quality and production of our bottled beer. This new location allowed us both to move the bottling operation from out of state and increase our draft production. Viva Maplewood!

Annual production = 11,766 barrels

2004

The Restaurant at Schlafly Bottleworks
We transformed an old grocery store into something special with some innovative thinking and the restaurant at Bottleworks debuted on January 12. Menu items are specifically designed to to pair well with beer and utilize provisions from local farmers and businesses.

Beers commemorating the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial (American Lager and American Pale Ale) became available in bottles in late-March. Raspberry Hefeweizen went into bottles in June, and Saison and Coffee Stout (made with locally roasted Kaldi's Coffee) debuted in late autumn.

Annual production = 14,422 barrels

2005

Changes at 2100 Locust Street
Improvements to The Tap Room brewhouse included a new structural floorr and re-installation of the entire brewhouse with new kettle. We also installed a second beer engine at the south bar.

Additionally, Locust Street, formerly one-way, became two-way; that was fun to learn!

Annual production = 14,908 barrels

2006

Oak-aged beers and A New Religion in Mecca
Tom Schlafly's book, A New Religion in Mecca was published and received rave reviews!

A new, small bottling line was installed at the The Tap Room to bottle Schlafly Reserve beers: Bourbon barrel-aged Imperial Stout, and Oak-aged Barleywine were made available in 750 ml. bottles late in the year.

Our 15th anniversary was celebrated on December 26!

Annual production = 17,108 barrels

2007

St. Louis is THE beer town
St. Louis Brewers' Heritage Festival will be the first event to gather all local brewers to host a beer festival in Forest Park, including the release of one beer style brewed by all participating brewers. Fifty beer styles will be served at the event over three days in mid-May.