A former chimney sweep, urchin diver, and long-time homebrewer, moved from Maine to St. Louis in 1991 to help open The Saint Louis Brewery. His background in the Classics made him an obvious choice. Stephen attended the Siebel Institute's Short Course in Brewing Technology in 1993.

Stephen jumped ship in June of 1994 to move back to his beloved state of Maine and help open The Casco Bay Brewery. Four-and-a-half months later, Stephen packed his truck back up and returned to St. Louis as Chief Brewer, in October 1994.

Otto began working at The Tap Room in 1992. When Stephen announced his departure in 1994, Otto was quickly trained in the brewery. His constant loitering in the brewhouse to ask Dave homebrewing questions and his degree in French Literature made him the obvious choice.

Otto quickly became an invaluable employee by being able to accomplish anything in any area. He attended Siebel courses in Brewery Engineering, and Quality Assurance and Quality Control, and the MBAA course on Brewery Packaging Technology, thanks to two scholarships from the MBAA. In 1997, Otto spent two months in Alaska, building and opening the Skagway Brewing Company.

Neal, whose first name is really Thomas, came from Birmingham, Alabama. For some reason we haven't figured out , he has the nickname "Red." When Neal came in for an interview in October of 1999, we immediately put boots on him and put him to work. By the end of the day, we offered him the job.

Besides the fact that he doesn't stand idle and he's a very quick study, his being an English major made him impossible to pass up.

Neal found more than a career here at the brewery, he also found true love! In December of 2002, Neal proposed to former Schlafly Marketing Director Gretchen Fox and they entered into marital bliss in October, 2003.

A hoosier hailing from The Back Road Brewery in LaPorte, Indiana, Matt joined our crew in May of 2000. Matt was big into the sciences, studying biology, social-cultural anthropology, and other ologies. Now he's into fermentology! (And, more importantly, he's a Taurus).

Nick claimed that prior to being tutored by our master brewers, he couldn't even brew a pot of coffee. Besides the food & beverage industry, his background includes carpentry and his interest in earth science makes him a prime candidate for filtering since diatomaceous earth is the filter media for our beer.

Nick is no longer working in the brewery but for the brewery as a member of our sales team! Perhaps you'll catch him at one of our accounts or on the airwaves as his "Vic Nickery" (the smooth-voiced star of Schlafly Beer radio commercials).

Joseph was (still is?) a friend of Steve Sloan's. We figured that any friend of Steve's was a friend of ours, so we hired him in late 2002.

Joseph's background is in liberal arts & brewing great beer.  He started having a passion for beer in late '93, and has been brewing beer ever since. He's brewed in Fresno, CA, Denver, CO and Chicago, IL.  His favorite beers that he doesn't brew are Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Anchor Liberty Ale. 

Best and favorite quote:
"Everybody thinks it's so easy"
-Steve Sloan.

Jason has forgotten more about lubricants than most men could ever hope to know. Although quiet and modest, he exudes confident airs as he has by far the largest toolbox amongst any of the brewers. However, he is always generous with it as long as his tools are handled with the utmost care and respect and always returned after being given a good, hard workout. He is great with his hands and is not afraid of getting dirty.

Jason hails from Mount Olive, not far from the vowel-hungry Benld and is a Libra who likes long, lazy walks with exotic animals.

Eric is a South City native who studied mechanical drawing in college, so we knew he'd be pretty good at drawing conclusions – a must for the art of brewing. Being the only brewer on staff with a child, we figured we'd finally found someone who would take responsibility for a change. Just, kidding – we really hired Eric for his winning smile. Well, OK – we just wanted someone with whom Matt could play guitar.

Eric brewed in Denver for six years at Wynkoop Brewing Company before returning to St. Louis with his wife Julie and their adorable daughter, Sophie.

Brennan is our most recent addition as a brewer, and does most of the brewing at our downtown location The Tap Room. Brennan graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BA in philosophy. Having no idea what to do next he decided to pursue a career in the one thing he knew he loved, good flavorful craft beer. Brennan decided to attend the World Brewing Academy, The Siebel Institute in Chicago as well as Doemens Academy in Munich, Germany, where he received his international diploma in brewing technology. He came to us in June of 2006 and has been brewing away ever since, living the dream.

Chris was born in 1947 in Myanmar, Burma, and is a Libra who believes in balance for himself, but not for others. Early achievements include being awarded “Most likely to waste life” by his graduating class (Ha! Were they wrong!).

Turn-ons include: climbing trees, pinball, drinking and reading, barfights and chickens (alive). Turn-offs include: authority, obedience, movies and John Ashcroft.

He sports a size nine boot and is not afraid to put it where the sun don’t shine.