HISTORY

From Midtown to Maplewood to the Main Streets on both sides of the river, we believe in neighborhoods.

Beer is more than an emblem of solidarity. Producing it locally leaves a significant impression on the surrounding community. We’ve experienced this first hand.

At 2100 Locust, we opened the first new brewpub since Prohibition in 1991. And in Maplewood at the turn of the 21st Century, we established a landmark for the area and a cornerstone of local commerce. On the historic corner of Main Street in St. Charles, we’ve become an anchor where friends and neighbors come to gather around a pint. And on Main Street in Highland, IL, we’ve come full circle to the immigrant roots of the Schlafly family. These locations stand as unique testament to the heritage of a region and the strength of a community.

Local suppliers make it possible.

Everything from farm-fresh food to packaging and marketing comes from our hometown. We like growing our business where we live. And seeing others grow theirs.

We minimize the environmental impact of travel.

100% renewable energy drives our entire operation. Solar energy produces 32,000+ kilowatt hours per year from the 105 photovoltaic rooftop solar panels.

Environmental stewardship influences each decision we make. Buyers know farmers by name. And livestock seem to appreciate the spent grains that find their way into troughs around the region.

Our brewpubs have also been a dedicated 5-star original member of the Green Dining Alliance. Find out more about them here.

Being the original family-owned, independent craft brewery in Missouri comes with a welcome responsibility.

Our brewers work to keep up with demand but never seek to outgrow their neighborhood roots. You can even monitor our distribution and see why we maintain a thoughtful footprint that insures quality and extends our ongoing commitment.

As Schlafly continues to define the craft movement, we invite you to learn about the art, the science and the soul that goes into everything we do.

Each beer from Schlafly comes with a commitment.

Whether rolling off the lines at Bottleworks or aging deep below the Tap Room floor, every beer we pour, package or raise is made by hand and with heart.

Our brewers curate over 60 unique styles, utilizing 102 hop varietals, 77 malts and grains, 59 different spices and fruits and 10 separate yeast strains from all over the planet.

A commitment to quality is cornerstone. Our in-house quality lab insures every barrel of Schlafly beer is free from impurities and consistent in taste, color and composition from batch to batch. You can be assured your first Schlafly beer will taste just like your 1000th, no matter where you drink it. And we have the science to back that up.

THE SAINT LOUIS BREWERY HISTORY

THE HISTORIC
SCHLAFLY TAP ROOM
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Our Tap Room brewery and restaurant was officially established in 1991. The original flag that was planted remains our flagship Schlafly experience.

And its history stretches back even further than our occupancy.

Samuel L. Sherer, the building’s original designer and self-taught architect, studied Ruskin, Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement in England and later became the first Director of the St. Louis Art Museum. The two original adjoining buildings have better than good bones. They have steel girders put in place to support the weight of printing presses of the early 1900’s for the Swift Printing Company. He came to the realization that “architecture is the most useful of the fine arts and the finest of the useful arts.”

We feel similarly about beer.

After 65 years, Swift Printing relocated their operations, leaving this structure uninhabited for the next 22 years.

The following years found the buildings in such disrepair that the makers of the movie Escape From New York felt that filming Kurt Russell walking past 2100 Locust Street would give moviegoers the impression that Snake Pliskin really was walking in a post-apocalyptic Manhattan.

Nowadays, the Tap Room puts out a very select 2,000 barrels per year.

Our Ibex Cellar series is brewed exclusively at this facility. Or, more accurately, in the hallowed workshop below.

This sacred room, quiet in space and undisturbed by light and motion, sees the brewmaster’s most-favored batches from inception to limited-edition bottling.

Part laboratory, part workshop, the Cellar fuses new concepts with ancient techniques. Aromas and subtleties fill the still, cool air. Exotic hops and rare grains convene. The unfinished wood of small barrels laid end-to-end soak and exchange characters as the perfect beer ensues.

THE SCHLAFLY
BOTTLEWORKS
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In our quest to meet increased demand, we remained focused on quality craft beer. Since 2003, Bottleworks has more than exceeded that standard.

Everything inside the Bottleworks has been designed with beer and the environment in mind. We worked closely with Energy Solutions to make sustainable decisions throughout the six-month design process.

This is now where we brew over 60 styles (batch sizes ranging from 20 to 30 barrels – this is equivalent to 180 kegs) for packaging in 12oz bottles, 16oz cans, 12oz cans and draft kegs (50 liter and 1/6th bbl.) for distribution to our thirsty Schlafly loyalists around St. Louis, throughout the Midwest region and on the east coast – about a third of the US in total.

The location was perfect.

Just as we sought to revitalize an industrial-age printing house for the Tap Room, we wanted to find a place of local significance for Bottleworks.

An abandoned supermarket was not only the perfect footprint but also a great symbol for sustaining the surrounding community. Fittingly today, this location hosts a community market encouraging patrons to support local vendors and also the surrounding businesses.

Though meticulous with consistency, we’re also in a constant state of exploration. 

Every Schlafly beer style goes through three comprehensive levels of testing – physical chemistry, sensory and microbiological – all from our full-time laboratory staff.

We’ve always known that beer is the perfect blend of art and science. Now we have irrefutable proof.

Eleven months after commencing demolition and construction, we opened our doors on the 70th anniversary of Prohibition’s repeal. And we still consider this an appropriate tribute from a brewery founded by lawyers.

THE HISTORIC
SCHLAFLY BANKSIDE
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The historic Schlafly Bankside was officially established in 2020 as we looked to expand our community-focused brewpub philosophy.

The riverside structure’s history is rooted in the story of Westward expansion, sitting just a few steps from the original launching site of the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition.

The site was originally identified as an ideal site for a gristmill in 1769 and was improved upon in 1788 by Pierre Choteau (a famed St. Louis name). After a devastating flood, the building was converted into St. Charles’ first woolen mill in 1851. Over the next century, it saw many different occupants and uses, including a Union prison and a tomato canning facility. After a fire in 1966, the building was restored to what it is today.

 A national cornerstone.

You now walk the brick-lined streets just as the early explorers and pioneers did 200 years ago.

Though it’s seen many uses, we think the building is at its best as a brewpub. In the early 1990’s it stood as Trailhead Brewing Company for 25 years. Trailhead was one of the few brewery friends in the early years of the St. Louis craft beer scene along with Schlafly Beer.

Since friends from the very beginning, it’s only fitting to continue the legacy of our brother.

We were honored when we were approached by their team in late 2019 and asked to takeover such a crucial piece of the St. Charles community.

This place has been and will be a community brewpub for friends and neighbors to come together around a pint. Schlafly Beer is dedicated to establishing community hubs to help nourish and grow the neighborhoods around our brewpubs. We’re honored to be pouring pints where so many American stories have come to pass. All the best stories are told over a pint anyway.

THE HISTORIC SCHLAFLY
HIGHLAND SQUARE
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Much like the Schlafly ancestors did 170 years ago, Schlafly Highland Square helps establish community with its brewpub opened in 2021.

The Schlafly family’s American dream began here after immigrating to the United States from Switzerland in the mid-1880s. The Schlaflys first landed in New Orleans in May of 1854, and then made their way up the Mississippi River to finally put down roots in the town now known as Highland, Illinois.

Thirty years after Schlafly Beer became the original St. Louis craft brewery just across the river, we are now able to give back to the same community the Schlaflys began in so many years ago. Some of their ancestors are buried here and it’s those deep roots that bring us back.

It’s a homecoming.

We’re honored to come full circle, pour pints and help reinvigorate a community where so many Swiss German families started their American dream.

In 1891, a charter was obtained from the state for the new “Highland Bank” in the building we now occupy at 907 Main St. The Highland Bank operated for a dozen years, then converted to a national bank charter on March 3, 1903, and it became the “First National Bank of Highland.”

After a 1943 fire, the renovated interior is what we pay homage to today.

We’ve maintained the architectural integrity of the former bank’s Art Deco style by refurbishing much of the original structure, including columns, molding, light fixtures and color scheme. Even the bank’s safe has been preserved, occupying a position of prominence behind the Schlafly bar, as well as, the original inlaid bank logo tile work at the entrance.

After being vacant for three years, we were proud to partner with the City of Highland to continue our mission of revitalizing spaces and communities that will serve its residents for years to come – just as we’ve done for the past 30 years.