Heather and Jeff Hardesty, owners of Narrow Gauge Brewing Co., began brewing in the basement of Cugino’s – a Florissant restaurant known for its housemade comfort food – in 2016. To the delight of their fans, they’ve now opened a taproom next door, where imbibers can enjoy a robust lineup of lagers, ales, IPAs, porters, stouts and sours.
“We started with hazy IPAs, which weren’t readily available in the St. Louis market at the time,” Heather explains. “They became popular, and sales were good, so we started to expand.”
The new taproom has allowed Narrow Gauge Brewing Co. to brew more beer and distribute throughout Missouri and Illinois. While its flagship pint remains OJ Run, an imperial hazy IPA dry-hopped with Citra, Galaxy and Amarillo for a citrusy flavor and floral aroma, curious quaffers might also consider the mixed fermentation bottles – each with its own intricate and exciting story.
The Begin Anew Blend #5, for instance, is a sour blonde ale, foeder-fermented and wine barrel-aged for 15 months. It was then aged on a bed of boysenberries and red and black currants for an additional nine months before it was bottled.
In the bright, open taproom, lagers are also a focus – think Downside, a traditional German-style Schwarzbier, and Third of the Way to März, a traditional Märzen released for Oktoberfest.
“We added horizontal tanks designed for lagering to our operation,” Heather says, “so we have more space to let the beer ferment while we keep up with our regular production.”
Eye-catching and crowd-pleasing, sour beers also flow from some of the taps. Don’t overlook A Currant Affair (a sour IPA brewed with chamomile and lactose and aged on black currants and vanilla beans), Double Raspberry Meersalz (a gose-style ale brewed with coriander and sea salt and aged on raspberries) and Saft (a Berliner Weisse aged on passionfruit, pink guava and mango).
St. Louis has more than 65 craft breweries, and like the best, Narrow Gauge Brewing Co. prides itself on quality and creativity. “With our attention to detail, we can brew just about any style – and brew it well,” Heather says. “We aren’t pigeonholed as a certain type of brewer.”
The Narrow Gauge taproom is open Wednesday through Sunday. What will you try on your first visit?
