Urban Chestnut Brewing Company Bier Garten Opens to Rave Review

I haven't actually read any reviews of the UCBC bier garten. That "rave review" is mine. UCBC announced yesterday on their blog that the bier garten would have a soft opening and I managed to stop by for a liter. The short of it is that this is an authentic Bavarian bier garten, an open courtyard with communal tables, a beer hut, 1/2 and 1 liter steins, the whole deal. That's great in its own right, but what's really exciting about the UCBC bier garten is that it's truly a "place".

We don't do beer reviews here at nextSTL, so I'll leave it at the beer being really, really good. But one of those "reallys" can be attributed to the new space. Just like you swear that margharita pizza you had on the shore of Lago di Como was the best ever created, the beer simply tastes better here. Place influences taste. This is where UCBC got their bier garten right.

Yet, even a few months ago, the idea was far from a sure thing. The Central States Life Insurance Company building (that white stucco Mission Revival place you would have sworn was a church) next door was for sale. It went into foreclosure and UCBC spent some time seriously considering purchasing it. For what, they didn't exactly know, but they wanted the parking lot for a bier garten. Still without plans for the building itself, they were ready to buy when they learned someone else has swooped in and bought it for $575,000.