Things To Do In St Louis: Budweiser Brewery Tour
As I began planning our trip to St. Louis, there were two “big” things I wanted to do while we were there. Obviously, see the Gateway Arch was number one, but the second was something I didn’t expect to find…a FREE tour with FREE beer! The Budweiser Brewery Tour was a great experience and I’m so happy we were able to learn so much about the Anhaser Busch company itself. It’s so smart to offer a free tour like this because I now feel a personal connection with this company and their beers….what a marketing team they have!
The brewery is a 5 minute drive outside of the city, and you can get a free shuttle ride from Ballpark Village which is right next to the Cardinals stadium. (Uber is also available and is about $5- they don’t have Lyft in Missouri) We were able to catch the shuttle back into the city, and learned some more history along the way. Something I thought was really cool is that the beer served inside of Ballpark Village goes directly there, so the kegs never touch the ground until the arrive.
We arrived right when the brewery opened, and were able to get onto the first tour. I have heard there is often a long wait, so getting there early worked out really well. The information desk was handing out tickets to the tour, and we were guided towards the back to wait for the tour to begin. As soon as it kicked off, we were nonstop for about an hour. We learned some history along the way, but I was mostly amazed by the size of everything and how beautiful it was! Many of the buildings are original, which means the brick is full of character and so well loved.
The tour started with the Clydesdales that were wandering outside, and then inside the stables others were being groomed for the opening day celebrations that were taking place the next day. Normally only a few are on the property, and they have a total of 250 clydesdales throughout the United States.
After visiting with the horses, we went on a tour through the rest of the brewery. There are so many various areas, and I was amazed by how many huge containers there were for each stage of the brewing process. When we moved onto the building where the hops get added, we were each given a sample to enjoy while we listened. I had no idea that a brewery could be so beautiful. I mean look at those tanks of beer- how magical does it get?!
Once the tour ended, we each were able to get a free beer of our choice from the beer garden. This was another fun addition to the location, they have an indoor.outdoor beer garden, with a kitchen and they hold events often. They just had a prohibition party the night before and it sounded like so much fun!
If you are ever in St. Louis and looking for something to do I highly recommend doing to the Budweiser Brewery Tour and spending some time on the property!
