Tues Night

Last night after Troy finished work, we all had dinner at the Schafly Tap Room where Troy works most of the time. (The rest of the time she can be found at the Schafly Bottleworks.)  Dinner was delicious, but the real treat was after dinner.

After dinner Troy took us down to the cellar, we all donned a pair of safety goggles, and she gave us a tour of the brewery (which was closed for the evening). The Tap Room is the original Schafly brewery in downtown St. Louis. A few years ago they outgrew this location and moved to a much larger facility in Maplewood called the Bottleworks (which is closer to our house and if we've taken you to Schafly, it was to the Bottleworks). At the Tap Room downtown, they have a small operation where they brew just their specialty beers.

At the Tap Room, Troy is responsible for kegging the beer. (They do very little bottling here, and what little bottling they do is all in 750 ml bottles.) In the photo above, Troy is leaning on the kegging table. She sets the keg on that black surface and uses the hose to fill it. I asked her what piece of equipment she uses to get the keg down once it's filled. Her answer: she has to pick it up and set it down herself. (Are you impressed? If not, you should be!)

This is the room where they do their barrel-aging.

Brad's in a big cooler where they keep the kegs. I guess I didn't need to tell you any of that as the picture pretty much speaks for itself. What I do need to tell you is why Brad is holding a big mallet. But I won't. You'll just have to ask him (or Troy) sometime.

Mary proves that safety goggles can be a fashion statement.

And here we ALL prove that safety goggles can be a fashion statement. Thanks Troy for a fantastic tour!