Very knowledgebale staff. Very good selection of brews/samples. Food was local, limited selection, but not bad for finger foods. Very good sampler, would visit again. Looking forward to Hopfen Festival at end of March 2011. Met one of the Founders, nice to talk with about history of area and building. Really hope they go a long ways.

comfortable chairs, friendly staff, good selection of beers across a range of styles. Proper glassware. Only thin that would make it better is a real food menu (they do have some heavy snacks available), and a little less loud.

Got to go here on opening night-started off a bit slowly around 5 then picked up quite a bit when I left around 6. Nice selection of German style beers with what will seem to be a different take on the original styles. Hope to see these beers on tap around the city soon.

St. Louis has a new gem in Midtown. Urban Chestnut is on Washington between Compton and Grand, just a few blocks north of SLU’s athletic complex and east of the theatres. The building is an old auto garage, and the high ceiling in the brewing area allows for an impressive setup. There are huge windows in front with a very cool UCBC neon at the top. Limited parking is available in front but there is plenty on the streets. The pub area is on the right, and features an exposed brick interior with dark wood furniture; there are a couple glass doors leading to the brewing operation. There are 10 taps up front and 5-6 more around the side of the bar, and lately UCBC has kept 15 different beers on at once. The beers are very good, with a Reverence series devoted to traditional beers brewed to style and a Revolution series devoted to seemingly classic styles with a wrench or two thrown in. There is some variance between glasses, so not every beer is the best value ($4-$5.50 usually, depending on the beer). Always well-staffed, with friendly service. The menu is limited- pretzels, sausage, chips, cheese, et al. Shirts and other merch are already on sale on a rack in the bar. St. Louis has a lot of brewpubs I’d recommend if you have time, but this one is a must-visit.