St Louis: Anheuser-Busch InBev Brewery Tour

Learning about and tasting one of the oldest drinks in the world.

The huge red-brick façade facing the highway announces the destination clearly: Anheuser-Busch in large letters. Below is a colorful bas-relief of the famous Clydesdale horses. The odor of brewer’s yeast permeates the warm air from the parking lot, leaving no doubt in our minds that we have arrived at the headquarters of the largest American brewing company!

We get free tour tickets in the Visitors’ Center, which has displays about the brewery and of the brewing process, an array of the whole family of products made by the brewery, an old, shiny, red, delivery truck, and a Gift Shop. One of Anheuser-Busch’s slogans says that “Making Friends is our Business”, and the tours certainly bear that philosophy

out.

We have done this tour a number of times and it’s always fun and informative. On one tour our guides were Amanda and Jim, who were friendly and knowledgeable, even though it was a Saturday afternoon and the tour group was large. Jim was very nervous as it was his second day, but the group was very supportive. We learn some background information at the start of the tour: This flagship brewery of Anheuser-Busch started in the mid-1800s; two Busch descendants are still alive and involved with the brewery, so there’s a long family tradition, and both live in the St Louis area.

Adolphus Busch came to the USA from Germany in 1857 and worked as a dockhand on the St Louis waterfront, while also becoming involved with a brewing company. Eberhard Anheuser purchased a struggling brewery in 1860. He soon met Adolphus Busch, who married his daughter Lily and joined the brewery in 1864. In 1869 Busch purchased half-ownership in the Anheuser Brewery, and by 1879 it was re-named Anheuser-Busch (AB). Busch and a friend created Budweiser in 1876, a wildly popular lager beer. Busch was President of the company for 33 years and is considered to be the “father of AB”.

Much has changed since then, but the spirit of the original brewery remains. InBev, one of the world’s largest beer companies based in Belgium, bought AB and they merged in November 2008, creating the world’s largest beer company. Budweiser is now joined by other popular brands, such as Stella Artois and Becks.

The very clean brewery compound with huge buildings and beautifully manicured garden areas covers 70 city blocks and employs 6,000 so is an important part of the economy of St Louis. The company has control of the domestic market, with 50% of USA beer production, and employs 24,000 people across the USA. A big part of their mission is to transport fresh beer throughout the USA, hence the “born-on” date. AB is very proud of the fact that the brewery was until recently American owned and that the beer is still “Born here. Brewed Here”. The biggest seller of all their products is Budweiser, which is popular around the world. The “Get to Know Your Bud” slogan is obviously successful!

We walk first to the paddock next to the stables to meet one of the majestic Clydesdale horses. Today Rick is out---he is one of 250 Clydesdales, 50 of which are here at this brewery. The rest are at two of the other 11 breweries around the USA, and a few are at AB-owned Grant Farm just outside St Louis. These gentle giants originally came from Scotland and even though they don’t have to actually deliver the beer in carts today they are still an important part of the Anheuser-Busch tradition.  The babies are around 150 pounds at birth and stand 3feet high. Adults weigh around 2,000 pounds and are 6 feet at the shoulder. Their tack weighs up to 150 pounds, and they eat 50-60 pounds of hay and drink 30 gallons of water per day. Impressive beasts!

The stables are in a circular building with high ceilings and stained-glass panels, and an almost church-like air. It seems a fitting place for these superb examples of retired utilitarianism. That day, we see Bruce and a cute Dalmatian dog snuggled in the hay.

As we continue on the tour we get an idea of the combination of state-of-the-art technology and historic architecture that is typical of AB. One building was a train depot in 1871, and another building was a school for workers’ children whilst their parents were busy in the factory.

We see Stockhouse 18 in the cool (50°F year round) Beechwood Aging Cellars, one of the cellars where secondary fermentation takes place in enormous lager stainless steel tanks holding the equivalent of 200,000 6-packs. A fun fact to try and comprehend the size and volume of one of these tanks: If a person drank one bottle of beer each hour of every day of his/her life, they would have to live 137 years to finish the tank!  Here in St Louis alone there are 375 such tanks.

(pic at right)

The Mash Tanks Hall is much warmer, with huge copper kettles. Here the main ingredients are being mashed, or mixed, and then “cooked”--- malt, rice, and hops from Germany, Washington or Oregon. The architecture inside is ornate Victorian and really gorgeous. Suspended over the high atrium is an enormous chandelier, commissioned for the St Louis World Fair in 1904 (pics below).

During Prohibition, 1920-1933, the brewery survived by making ice-cream, soda and yeast. Two stone elephants on pillars remind us of this time---the elephants have scales on their backs, which symbolize the scales used to weigh the yeast. One of the more famous non-alcoholic drinks produced during this sad era, was called Bevo Fox, based on the Brer Fox stories. Cheeky stone statues of Bevo still grace the four corners of the Bevo Packaging Plant, a highly automated place where 1270 bottles are washed per minute, and 850 labels are applied per minute. When Prohibition was repealed, the brewery sent out the first Clydesdale delivery to President Roosevelt at the White House to thank supporters. Another interesting fact is that AB figured out how to pasteurize beer, in order to keep it fresh, 20 years before milk was routinely pasteurized.

The tour takes about an hour and a quarter, and at the end we catch a trolley, which takes the group back to the Visitors’ Center Tasting Room. Everyone can taste two free beers (sodas available for designated drivers and children), from a wide range on tap. We’ve tried the Amber Bock, a darker, heavier beer, which had satisfying weight on the palate; and the Stella Artois, a lighter French beer. The tour and the free tasting are part of the efficient AB marketing machine, to draw people in and keep them loyal to the big family of beers and other beverages available. Profits are made at the overpriced gift shop, and the well-oiled AB machine continues humming.

Practical Information:

The brewery is at 12th and Lynch Streets, St Louis. Go south on I-55, take exit 206 C and follow the brewery tour signs.

TIMES:

Tours are on the hour, every hour, and are ADA accessible. However, on busy days (weekends)

tours run every 40 minutes.

March-May, Sept-Oct, M-Sat 9am-4pm, Sun 11:30am-4pm

June-Aug, M-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 11:30am-5pm

Nov-Feb, M-Sat 10am-4pm, Sun 11:30am-4pm

COST: Tours and tasting are free. Parking is free.

AGE: Must be 21 to taste beer, but children can go on a tour if accompanied by an adult.

Tel: (314) 577-2626

www.budweisertours.com (must be 21 to enter the web site)