Side Project

Merci is a blended Missouri Wild Ale in which every blend has been unique. The foundation for this beer has always been un-fruited, blond Saisons and Wild Ales that focus on vinous characters that exemplify not only our love of wine, but that of the crew of The Wine & Cheese Place as well. The focus is simplistic blends that provide incredible depth and a fun, unique palate experience that showcases Side Project characteristics.

Blanc de Blancs started as a Biere de Champagne malt bill that was fermented in Chardonnay barrels with Missouri grown Chardonnel grapes. The native Missouri microflora that was present on the grapes provide the sour depth and funky complexity of this wild ale.Missouri Sour Brown that was cofermented with crabapples from the Angry Orchard innovation cider house in Walden New York. We brewed this beer with our great and long time friend Ryan Burk, the head cidermaker at Angry Orchard, before racking it to French Oak Puncheons to age a year before being bottled and naturally conditioned.

For the 2017 harvest, we also selected Chambourcin grapes from Noboleis Vineyards in the Augusta AVA along the Missouri River, located 32 miles west of our brewery. For this project, we used the same malt bill as our collaborators and co-fermented the wort with the must of the Chambourcin grapes. To extract as much color, body and complexity from the grapes, we allowed the hybrid to stay in contact with the skins for 4 weeks while the native microflora from the must and our Missouri cultures used in our brewing co-fermented the hybrid in stainless. The hybrid was then racked to French Oak 500L Puncheons and aged for 11 months before being naturally conditioned in the bottles and kegs.

European hopped Session Blonde Farmhouse Ale aged in Chardonnay Barrels for 6 months with Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus.

La Ruche is a delicate Missouri Saison fermented using a blend of our local microflora and a traditional Saison yeast. Blend #2 is brewed with Alfalfa Honey, fermented with our Native Microflora, aged in Missouri Oak and released in conjunction with the National Honey Beer Summit here in STL.

Missouri Sour Brown that was cofermented with crabapples from the Angry Orchard innovation cider house in Walden New York. We brewed this beer with our great and long time friend Ryan Burk, the head cidermaker at Angry Orchard, before racking it to French Oak Puncheons to age a year before being bottled and naturally conditioned.