Buffalo Brewing
July 7, 2008 11:21 am RestaurantsAfter constantly saying, “I really need to make my way down there.” Irene and I finally had the chance to visit Buffalo Brewing a couple of weeks ago, so I though I’d share some of my thoughts and some photos.
Buffalo Brewing Co.
3100 Olive St. (Map It)
St. Louis, MO 63103
314-534-BEER (534-2337)
Beers:
Obviously Buffalo Brewing’s biggest draw is the fact that they provide hand-crafted fresh micro-brewed beer on premises. Their current line-up is Buffalo Gold (a pale-colored ale), Chili Beer, Buffalo Drool (a brown ale), Buffalo Red, Hefeweizen and a Rye IPA. Since the Gold was currently out, I decided to go with a sampler line-up of the five remaining beers. I’m happy to say that they were all clean-well made beers.
Judging by the menu, the Chili beers looks to be the same base recipe as the Buffalo Gold but with chili added to the beer after primary fermentation. I don’t have much experience with chili beers, but I was pleasantly surprised by the subtle chili flavor. You would just catch a hit of the heat in the back of your tongue, but it was never overpowering. It always left you wanting more.
The Drool and the Red were both solid session beers, perfect for someone who’s looking to either bring someone into the craft beer fold or for the times you want to have 2 or 3 pints without having to worry about getting fall-down drunk. The stand out beer of the evening for me was the Rye IPA. It had a wonderful floral aroma and the hops matched well with the spiciness of the rye malt.
If I had one qualm with the beer it’s with the “hefeweizen.” True hefes feature a spicy clove and banana aroma which this beer had neither of. This is just another American wheat beer. There isn’t anything wrong with it, but it’s not a hefe. (And Buffalo, you’re not the only one guilty of this, you’re just the first for me to nitpick on this detail***.)
Food:
One of the things I couldn’t quite get over when reading through the menu was just how inexpensive things were. Irene and I had two beers, a five beer sampler, an appetizer and also two entrees and I don’t think we dropped more than 35 bucks. That’s a nice little respite over some of the prices we’ve been paying for food and beer recently. While the menu offers a lot of typical bar fare they also offer a lot of buffalo based choices if you’re looking for the taste of beef without all of the fat.
Intangibles:
Buffalo Brewing offers a large dining room with a western motif. One issue we noticed with the indoor dining was that because of the high ceilings it can get a bit noisy at times. Buffalo also offers a nice outdoor covered patio if eating alfresco is your thing. They also have a very large bar if you’re looking to just belly up and have a few beers.
One last quick note, I stopped by Buffalo last Wednesday for a beer and was disappointed to find out that a few beers were out and were temporarily replaced with a few O’Fallon beers. Hopefully the next time I show up I’ll be able to have another pint of that tasty Rye IPA.
*** So according to Dave Johnson, he used a true German hefe yeast, the banana and clove just didn’t come through. He’s going to try using a different yeast next time.
Tags: beer, buffalo brewing, irene, o'fallon, rye ipa
Shep :
Date: July 7, 2008 @ 11:50 am
Sadly, they’ve been out of the Hefeweizen every time I’ve been…
scotty p :
Date: July 7, 2008 @ 11:51 am
im itching to try that rye ipa
Sam H :
Date: July 7, 2008 @ 12:31 pm
Those black kegs look familiar…….
Can’t wait to try this place, have heard nothing but good reviews.
Dan H :
Date: July 7, 2008 @ 3:31 pm
Their beer types / names, menu and decor are eerily similar to the
long-ago-closed Yippie-Ei-O Grille brewpub in O’Fallon MO. Any relation ? Overall, I think the folks at Buffalo Brewing have a good thing going. I work right up the street from them and have had lunch there a few times; always to large crowds.
Drew Huerter :
Date: July 7, 2008 @ 3:44 pm
Dan H,
Same owner, same brewer, same equipment. Dave Johnson (of O’Fallon) is doing good work over there. The Rye is my pick, as well, and the drool was drinking very nicely last time I dropped in.
Jeff C :
Date: July 7, 2008 @ 4:06 pm
What’s the smoking situation like there? The last time I stopped in, I noticed that smoking was allowed everywhere(bummer). There are too many great smoke free beer joints to spend an evening sucking fumes. I would prefer to be able to taste the RyeIPA as well.
PolarOpposites :
Date: July 7, 2008 @ 4:27 pm
I stopped by there with some friends this past Thursday for lunch. On tap, t hey had Gold, Chili, Red, O’Fallon 5-Day, and O’Fallon Smoked Porter (I think?).
I too was hoping for the Rye IPA, but the Red was good and the 5-day satisfied my craving for IBU’s.
All around, the food and prices were good and the portions were large. Pass on the mac-n-cheese, but the sauteed veggies are dynomite!
Tim Cochran :
Date: July 7, 2008 @ 5:04 pm
I was on Columbia, MO last week. I had dinner at Flat Branch Brewing. They had a Green Chili beer which was very tasy. The waiter said it was their most popular beer. I catn’t wait to compare the two.
Dave J :
Date: July 7, 2008 @ 5:48 pm
As of Saturday the Rye IPA and the Drool are back on. The race for the cure 2 weeks ago killed us, ran me out of beer. I only have 3 fermenters and 6 taps. If we get slammed and every one wants Rye, it takes me 2 weeks to recover. We have been open for 4 months or so and it takes a little while to gauge what is selling, and when to get it in the tank.
I will be doing some different seasonals every month. The Hefe was the first. It was actually made with a German wheat yeast WLP380. I stepped it up from 3 homebrew batches. The clove and bananna didn’t come through like I wanted it to. The next one will be homebrewer Sean Sweeney’s award winning Belgian Dubble. I LOVE that beer and he will be brewing it with me next week. It will most likley age for a while and while that is going I am brewing my Rye-Hefe. This is a Hefe made with 50% barley, 25% Wheat, and 25% Rye. It’s hopped up a little bit more than your standard Hefe to complement the spicyness of the Rye. I am using a new yeast strain that adds some clove -bananna to the mix. After that I will brew my Octoberfest Lager.
If anyone would like to throw out some suggestions on what YOU would like me to brew go for it. If anyone has a award winning homebrew, bring me a sample maybe we can brew it.
Mike :
Date: July 7, 2008 @ 6:11 pm
How about that Pliny clone of mine, Dave? It did win BOS at Microfest.
Derek Bean :
Date: July 7, 2008 @ 7:20 pm
To answer Dan H.’s previous question, the owner, the brewer, the equipment and some of the recipes are all the same from the former Yippie-I-O Cafe formerly of O’Fallon, MO. And to confuse matters more for you, that brewer is Dave Johnson, who is also one of our brewers at O’Fallon Brewery!
*Don’t worry, there’ll be a quiz later!
Dave J :
Date: July 8, 2008 @ 10:28 pm
Mike your Pliny clone kicks ass, but it’s a clone (Russian River). If I am brewing a homebrewers beer it HAS to be original. I’m only going to occasionally do a homebrewers beer and it has to be a multiple prize winner. Seans Dubble placed in the top 3 of the National Comp. so that is why I picked it first.
Mike :
Date: July 8, 2008 @ 10:39 pm
Heh, I was just kidding around. The cost of the hops alone would break you guys.
Jonathan :
Date: July 11, 2008 @ 10:13 pm
I went there with a large group shortly after they opened and we were all pleasantly surprised by the value of the food and quality of the beer.
My personal favorite was the chili beer, and yes, it left me wanting more. Who am I to fight myself? I caved to the pressure and enjoyed a second pint.
Dave - how about a porter?