USA, IL: Perennial Artisan Ales brewer plans to open Rockwell Beer Company in St. Louis soon

When Andy Hille was first falling in love with the craft-beer scene, he lived on Rockwell Avenue in Chicago, and he and his friends jokingly called their home brew the Club Rockwell Beer Company.

This fall, Hille's joke will become a reality in his native St. Louis, STLToday.com reported on April 5.

Hille, currently a brewer at Perennial Artisan Ales, has announced plans to open Rockwell Beer Company, a 15-barrel production facility with a 2000-square-foot tasting room and a retail store. Rockwell's beer will be available mainly on tap in its tasting room and in 500-milliliter bottles and 16-ounce cans sold in its retail store.

Hille said Rockwell will strike a balance between the sort of experimental beers for which Perennial has become renowned and classic styles.

"We want to make a really solid pilsner and have a good oatmeal stout," Hille says. "Our goal is to find something for everyone."

Hille, who been with Perennial for three and a half years, will continue to work there through this summer's St. Louis Craft Beer Week. Perennial owners Phil and Emily Wymore have been "incredibly supportive" of his plans, he says.

Of St. Louis' craft-beer scene in general, Hille says, "There's so much opportunity still. No one's even stepping on anyone's toes in terms of styles."

The brewery's exact location is not yet final, but Hille has targeted the Vandeventer Avenue corridor in Forest Park Southeast. Hille believes that this stretch near the new Ikea and the booming Grove is ripe for transformation.

"Our goal is to be an example of what can happen for that neighborhood and to be a catalyst for that kind of development," Hille says.

07 April, 2016