2nd Shift Brewing

I normally don’t rate craft breweries. Although we visit a lot of them, making it a tourism thing, I’m not qualified to do so. We have had 2^nd Shift on our St Louis area list to try for some time, but it took seeing two of their IPA’s on a recent list of top IPA’s published by Paste. Ms T is the quintessential hop-​head, so we made the nearly hour and a half drive on a Saturday to sample their beers and to have lunch.
2^nd Shift is located on the grounds of the Cedar Creek Conference Center. It was easy to find with GPS, but when you get there, it is not really obvious what building is the tap room. The tap room itself is pretty low key. They are a pretty small brewer and are only open to the public on weekends. They serve samples and beers in plastic cups, which is a little off-​putting, but tolerable. We just sampled at the tap room, discussed the beers and when we knew what we wanted, we went next door to Town Hall for lunch. The beers are served in real glasses at Town Hall.
2^nd Shift is brewing some great beers in a range of styles. It is just such an obscure place, you have to wonder if they are captive of the conference center. It seems that business could be better elsewhere.

I came here over the weekend to watch the first Cardinals vs. Dodgers playoff game. We really lucked out and had PERFECT weather, which made Second Shift the ideal spot to watch the game.
When we first arrived, our whole group tasted each of the 5 beers they had on tap. Being able to try all of their beers before deciding what to order was nice. My favorite of the 5 was the hibiscus wit, so once we sat down at a table to watch the game I ordered a glass of that. It had a pretty pink tint to it and had a nice light flavor since I am assuming it was a wheat beer.
The setting here is a little quirky. It looks like it was a leftover mock Western town that they decided to turn into a brewery. They have 2 separate buildings, one seems to be just a tasting room and the other is more of a fully-​stocked bar and kitchen. The second building has an awesome deck, where they had a band playing when we were there. This building also has a pool table that is free, which was fun!
Second Shift is worth the drive, at least once. I would recommend stopping by when the weather is nice. I imagine the views will be even better when the fall color starts to turn!

This is truly one of the finest craft breweries in the country, let alone Missouri! The tasting room is one of the most fun places to visit, set in an old wild west town high atop the Missouri River bluffs. All of the beers, from the delicious, red-​hued Hibiscus Wit to the collection of delicious IPA’s will leave your palate in a happy state and make you want to keep coming back for more and more! Brewmaster, Steve Crider, has a fantastic array of intensely flavored beers that are second to none. Lisa in the tasting room will give you a tour through the entire line-​up, providing interesting commentary about the funky names of their beers and expert tasting notes for the most decreeing beer-​geek! This brewery should be on everyone’s A list of places to visit and beers to try, you won’t be disappointed!

I’ve been a fan of 2^nd Shift Beers for some time now. So I figured it was time to go head back to the brewery and partake in beers from the source. Now this is a bit of a drive. The brewery is in New Haven, so plan on making a trip out of it. Located back off the main drag, it’s located next to a conference center. The exterior is a bit shall we say old west themed. My first trip out the tasting room was in the same building as the brewery. Since then they have expanded and opened up a second larger tasting room. Six beers are always are tap, all 2^nd Shift too, no guest taps. The beers make it worth the drive. Most of their beers are Hop Heavy, but they do have stouts and lighter beers. Staff is always amazing and very knowledgeable about the beers. Tasting room is only open on the weekends, but it’s worth a drive to check out some of the best beer in the STL area.

I shouldn’t really be allowed to rate a brewery since I don’t drink beer, but my husband, who does, loves this place! I believe the Brew Cocky is his favorite.
From what I saw, the staff was very friendly and accommodating, and even took him back to where they brew the beer to have some nerdy «beer talk.» He came back considerably drunker than when he left, so I believe they also gave him a number of free samples at that point!
I did actually order some food and remember the sandwiches being quite tasty. Nothing spectacular, but a good option for a non-​beer drinker.
Regardless of my beverage tastes, it’s good to see some more local craft breweries making headway in and around the St. Louis area!

A friend of mine is from New Haven and invited us out to 2^nd Shift for a Trivia Night. I’m not sure if their brewing facility is generally open to the public but it was a neat place. Off of a gravel road there’s a gravel lot and then this row of old buildings that look like you’ve stepped into the wild west. (Supposedly they host retreats out at this facility, as well). The saloon of this little town was pouring glasses of freshly brewed Cat Spit Stout and my new favorite, Hibiscus Wit.
I-​Tap and Bridge are among some of the places that have their beers on tap in the St. Louis area. I think they have a lot of potential to grow and hopefully start bottling. If you like beer, 2^nd Shift is worth a try.