Side Project Brewing
Cory King pours his saison over the skins that made a Missouri rosé, and the beer that comes out is called Loam Chambourcin.1
Why go
Cory and Karen King founded Side Project in 2013 and built it on oak.2 The Loam series takes its name from the soil of the Augusta AVA and its fruit from Noboleis, who grow the Vidal Blanc that goes into it.1 King's argument for Missouri grapes is a growing argument: the vines here take humid summers and freezing winters, so the fruit comes in funky and robust.1 Feast reported RateBeer ranking the brewery second in the world in 2019 and again in 2020.2 Adam Altnether came on as executive chef in March 2024 to build the food out.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Loam Vidal Blanc. King describes it as light and lovely,
like sparkling white wine but still beer.
1 - Order: Maplewood's Best if you want a lager. It is a rice lager and it is meant to drink like the beers everybody already knows.1
- Order: the lime Content Moderator, a corn lager made with actual lime juice.1
- Avoid: looking for these in a bottle shop first. King says they do not really distribute and sell almost everything on site.1
What locals & experts say
- Cory King on the Missouri fruit, to Cheryl Baehr, St. Louis Magazine (25 July 2024):
Our grapes here in Missouri have to be able to handle humid summers and freezing winters, so they are funky, weird and robust, and they are great in beer.
1 - King on who actually drinks here, same interview:
99 percent of our customers on any given night or weekend are people just like them, who simply want to explore and look around. Our sales online are mostly beer geeks, but people who come into our locations ... are not like that.
1
Good to know
- What is on: 19 beers on tap in 2024, with cans and bottles to take home at all three Side Project locations.1
- Which door: this is the brewery, tasting room and patio on Manchester Road. The Cellar is a separate room five minutes away on Marietta Avenue.3
Verdict
must-visit — Cory King built a brewery on oak and on Missouri wine grapes, and he can tell you exactly which vineyard the Loam skins came from. Feast reported RateBeer putting Side Project second in the world in 2019 and again in 2020, which is a community instrument and is written as one. The rung rests on the Loam programme and on the fact that almost none of it leaves the building, so the beer and the room are the same trip. It is held off the top of the ladder only because no bylined critic has said in print what a specific pour tastes like.