Alpha Brewing Company

Really awesome beer. Very tastful.

I've been to Alpha twice now and tried most of their beers. Alpha's worth a look, especially if you like hoppy beers, but I'm not convinced it's worth more than that yet.

Alpha rotates through styles a lot, so while there's almost always something new to try it can be hard to know what your options are going to be. Hop-heads will be happy, as there are always several well-hopped beers on draft. On my most recent visit they offered a fresh hop IPA, an experimental hop IPA (it smelled exactly like a cantaloupe), and a Mosaic pale ale with a hop profile that put it in APA territory.

Non-hop-heads, however, will have a harder time. There are only a few options available for beer beginners - a blonde ale and an American wheat - and both are just okay. People who like dark beer should try the "storter," a combo of stout and a porter. Avoid the milk storter, however - I found it cloyingly sweet.

Instead of on-site food, you can order take-out from several nearby restaurants. They keep copies of several take-out menus at the bar, and many of the options are quite good.

My main problem with Alpha is that the beer just isn't all that good - and for a brewery, that's a big issue. They lack the "star beer" that draws me to other breweries - nothing like Civil Life's american brown, Perennial's Abraxas, or Urban Chestnut's... everything. I liked some of the beers, but I didn't love any of them, and a few of them I didn't like at all. There's potential here, especially in the hoppy experimental styles, but if Alpha really wants to shine it needs to work on refining it's offerings and getting up to the quality we lucky St. Louisans have come to expect from our microbreweries.

Located just off Washington on Lucas at 14th street, this little hidden gem is perfect for sampling local brews.  This brewpub or tasting room offers at least 10 varieties of beers ranging from blonde ale to IPA to a dark wheat beer. If you are a beer lover, I recommend trying the sampler of 10 different beers served in 5 ounce glasses.  Thankfully I live within walking distance! Food isn't served, but can be brought in or ordered for delivery from the nearby restaurants.  This is a nice addition to the downtown scene and well worth checking out.