New St Louis Brewery Announced - Urban Chestnut

It seems a new brewery is getting announced in Saint Louis almost every day, which is awesome.  The Urban Chestnut Brewery just submitted a massive press release to BeerAdvocate and there is excitement over at STL Hops as well. Scheduled to launch in late 2010, UCBC is operated by two former Anheuser-Busch employees: Florian Kuplent, UCBC's brewmaster, and David Wolfe, UCBC's marketing and sales principal.

 UCBC says they will have a 'unique' brewing philosophy that they call "Beer Divergency"

A 'new world meets old world' brewing approach wherein UCBC contributes to the 'revolution' of craft beer through artisanal creations of modern American beers, and pays 'reverence' to the heritage of beer with classically-crafted offerings of timeless, European beer styles.

UCBC Brewmaster, Florian Kuplent, uses his nearly two decades of brewing experience to develop this philosophy. Born in Munich, Germany where beer culture is a national pride, Florian developed a passion for artisan craft beer.  In 1994 he was accepted as a 'brewer's apprentice' at Brauerei Erharting, the first apprentice in decades. From there he enrolled at the Bavarian College of Food and Beverage Science, and later at the prestigious brewing University of Munich-Weihenstephan, where he earned a Master’s degree in malting and brewing science.  His dedication to the brewing arts eventually lead to Anheuser-Busch, where he was influential in developing the Michelob craft beer series.

In addition to brewing and bottling, UCBC will also have a Beergarten, "a casual place to hangout and experience a selection of local craft beers accompanied by small plates of cheeses, meats, and other little eats that pair well with beer." To enhance the authentic German beer drinking experience, they have imported beergarten tables from Europe.

UCBC is using the philosophy of Beer Divergency to brew two different lines of beer.  The Reverence Series is a celebration of beer’s heritage—brewing classically-crafted, timeless European beer styles. The Revolution Series is their contribution to the renaissance of craft beer—brewing artisanal, modern American beers. The initial plan is to bottle and distribute around the Saint Louis area.  No beer styles or names have been announced yet, so stay tuned for those announcements.