E-Malt.com News article: USA, MO: Rock Bridge Brewing Co. launches with three new beers

Rock Bridge Brewing Co. is Columbia's first wholesale brewery. It is counting on the city's "craft beer culture" to embrace its three beers: the Cysquatch, the Sif's Blonde and the Farmer's Daughter Peppered Rye Saison, Columbiamissourian.com reported on April, 11.

Rock Bridge Brewing produces its beer at a warehouse on Big Bear Boulevard and will distribute it to local bars, grocery stores and restaurants. In contrast, brewpubs such as Flat Branch Pub & Brewing and Broadway Brewery make and sell their own beer on the premises.

Eric Peterson, executive vice president of Rock Bridge Brewing, said Bengals Bar & Grill, Shiloh Bar & Grill, Bleu Restaurant & Wine Bar, 44 Stone Public House and 1839 Taphouse are among the local bars that have inquired about the new beers and say they will soon have them available. Shakespeare's Pizza already has the beer on tap.

"The beauty of our product is you can go to your favorite bar or restaurant and buy our beer," Peterson said. "That's our market niche."

Brewmaster Stu Burkemper said the Cysquatch is unfiltered, which results in an opaque quality.

David Brouder, president and founding partner of the brewery, predicts the Cysquatch will become the company's trademark beer.

"It's just got a really big, smooth balance and complex kind of taste," he said. "If you're a hoppier craft-beer drinker, you can really appreciate the taste and what goes into it."

The idea for Rock Bridge Brewing emerged about two years ago when three long-time friends — Peterson, Brouder and Dan Clay — decided to make a local business out of their shared passion for both beer and Columbia. They realized it was a college town without its own craft beer, and they wanted to give locals something to call their own.

"We decided, 'Let's look into it and see what it would take or why someone hasn't done it already,'" Brouder, 41, said. "We just started going down that path, and it keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger."

"(Columbia) supports breweries from basically all over the country," he added. "We thought it was time Columbia had their own."

After months of planning, the owners decided to look for a place to install the brewing equipment and store the beer. Last year, they found a warehouse that could be converted into a brewery to meet federal requirements so they could obtain the proper licenses.

The owners started with two four-barrel tanks. After talking to local bars and getting enthusiastic reviews of beer samples, they realized they needed more equipment to meet the interest. In early March, they purchased three larger tanks to ramp up production.

The warehouse-turned-brewery soon became the birthplace of the Cysquatch, an India Pale Ale.

The beer — whose name combines Cyclops and Sasquatch — is the brainchild of head brewer Burkemper, 27, who worked at O'Fallon Brewery for five years before he was laid off in 2011.

If the brewery finds success in Columbia, the company plans to take business across Missouri — Jefferson City, St. Louis, Kansas City and Lake of the Ozarks — all places that have already expressed interest in the beers.

"We want to put Columbia on the map," Peterson said, adding that the company has limited its products to 12 local restaurants and bars until the owners purchase more equipment and find more space.

"It's been challenging, but at the same time it’s been extremely rewarding," Brouder said. "We're just excited for what the future is going to bring."

Kurt Mirtsching, the general manager of Shakespeare's, said he was excited about the new beers.

"Our managers got together, and some of them are beer guys, and they said it tasted great, so we're gonna give it a shot," Mirtsching said.

By the summer, Brouder said the company will try to introduce two additional beers.

"My philosophy with our beer is it doesn't have to be really edgy," he said. "It just has to be something that's really good quality, maybe a little different than what's out there."


13 April, 2012