If you’re a senior you might be realizing that you only have one semester left in this beer capital we call the Lou. Instead of lying in bed next weekend, grab some friends and start undertaking this list of 10 drink must-do’s before graduation. 10 more reasons to fall drunk in love and make your goodbye to STL even more bittersweet. (21+ only, have your IDs ready.)
1. Wine Tasting
Everyone needs some sort of wine background if you want to succeed in the real world. Okay, that’s not exactly true, but downing some grape drank is a good effort to culture yourself. In Clayton check out Wine Merchant Ltd. for classes and tastings and in the Central West End stop by The Vino Gallery. Supposedly The Wine and Cheese Place on Forsyth gives out wine samples Saturday afternoons. Interesting…
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2. Anheuser Busch Brewery
I think it’s time we start taking advantage of St. Louis being the beer capital of America. Stroll, aka drive, over to the Anheuser Busch Brewery and take a $10 beer school class or a free brewery tour. See what goes into your favorite AB beer and enjoy 2 free cans at the end of the tour (gluten free kids, they have Redbridge!). Stop by the Biergarten on your way out for good food, drinks and specialty beer tastings.
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3. Moolah Theatre & Lounge
If you haven’t seen a movie at the Moolah yet you are definitely missing out. Get there early enough and you can enjoy your film from the comfort of a leather couch. But it doesn’t end there. The Moolah has a full bar available with a special drink menu tailored towards the film currently shown. I mean, who doesn’t want a Her flavored drink?
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4. Microbreweries
St. Louis is full of hipster microbreweries that produce and distribute their own beer. Check out Square One Brewery & Distillery, Urban Chestnut Brewing Company, Civil Life Brewing Company and 4 Hands Brewery Co. Want to try them all? Check out the STL Brewery Hop.
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5. Cicero’s Beer School
Every Wednesday Cicero’s on the Loop hosts a free – yes FREE – beer school. You get to taste and learn about 3-5 beers in an hour session at 5:30pm or 7pm. If you get there early you can take advantage of Cicero’s Happy Hour from 4-7pm with discounted appetizers and $1 off all 55 draft beers. Okay so Loop, beer, friends and free. What are you still doing here?
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6. Iron Fork
The Riverfront Times is hosting its 8th annual Iron Fork Event on Thursday, March 20 from 6:30-10pm. For $40 you get to sample food and drinks from local St. Louis restaurants and wineries. The price is a little steep but the taste and the buzz will be well worth it.
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7. St. Louis Bar Cycle
Do you love Soulard? Do you love alcohol? Do you love those bikes people ride on the Boardwalk in Disney World? Then this is the event for you. Grab 15 friends, hop on a bike and go on your own personal pub crawl. You can choose the bars and you get special drink rates. Pedal on, children, pedal on.
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8. Schlafly
Okay, so you have two options: Schlafly Bottleworks or Schlafly Tap Room. Bottleworks offers free tours, good food and beer. Tap Room offers music, over 16 Schlafly beers on tap and a European pub feel. Schlafly is known for their festivals so keep an eye on their event calendar. Next month is the Cod & Cask Festival at the Tap Room.
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9. Centennial Beer Festival (February 20-22)
The Sixth Annual Centennial Beer Festival arrives February 20-22 with over 200 St. Louis beer brands in tow. Possible events include multiple beer tastings and a (somehwat pricey) Brewmaster Dinner. Standard tickets start at $26.50.
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10. Chocolate and Wine Pairing (February 19)
If you’re free on February 9 at 7:00 pm head over to St. Louis Public Radio and Sauce Magazine’s event titled “Chocolate Uncorked: Pairing Chocolates with Regional Wines.” For $10 in advance or $15 at the door you can learn which chocolates perfectly compliment specific wines, bringing happiness to your palette. Book tickets here.
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