Cottleville brewer provides place for 'beer snobs'
http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-jou...5d1311a4d.html
Russell Korando
rkorando@yourjournal.com
Just after 4 p.m. Friday, customers are filing into Exit 6 Brewery in Cottleville and filling stools at the bar.
Owner/brewer Jeff Britton asks a young couple, who are regulars, what they'll have. In the land of Budweiser, Matt Brown orders a Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, which is 15 percent alcohol by volume. Britton pours the dark, thick beer into what looks like a brandy snifter. This isn't the kind of beer to be chugged. Brown takes a small sip.
"That's one of the really great, rare beers," said Brown, who regularly patronizes Exit 6 with his wife, Chris Brown.
Exit 6 opened at 5055 Highway N in July 2011. Britton, who lives in Wentzville, originally planned to open a pub in St. Peters, where the Planning and Zoning Commission approved a permit. But in February 2011, St. Peters aldermen voted 7-0 against the pub after residents complained it would be too close to an elementary school. Soon afterward, Britton said, Cottleville officials mailed him an invitation to tour their city.
"Cottleville is awesome," Britton said. "I'm so happy to be here. Cottleville is very progressive. They want their businesses to succeed as much as the business owners. They want Cottleville to be a place where people want to come."
Britton said cooperation among business owners makes his decision to open there seem like a smart one. Britton plans to brew a chocolate beer soon, with chocolate provided by VanBuskirk Artisanal Chocolate Bar, 5326 Highway N in Cottleville. Conor VanBuskirk, who owns the chocolate bar with his wife Stacy, said he gave Britton the chocolate so they could co-produce the beer.
Britton carries seasonal beers, but cautions, "Once they're gone, they're gone."
Britton's small brewery inside Exit 6 consists of three containers: a hot liquor tank, a mash tun and a boil kettle. On average, it takes about a month for the beer to go from the tanks to a customer's glass, Britton said. He can turn around one of his three flagship beers, vanilla creme ale, in two weeks. His other two flagship beers are Ryane's Red, named after his daughter, and his own India Pale Ale, or IPA. Britton said he always has on tap at least five of the beers he brews.
"Hands down my biggest seller is vanilla creme ale," Britton said. "People around here like lighter beers. It's sweet and has a nice vanilla character to it. It's my entry-level craft beer. Hardcore beer nerds are digging on the vanilla creme. Why do people like IPA beers? Because they love hops. When you drink a nice IPA it's bitter, it's citrusy, it's florally, all at the same time. We make a great IPA."
It takes six beer distributors to fill Britton's orders for unique craft beers not easily found in chain restaurants or grocery stores. He has 23 taps and 50 selections of bottled beer, which changes frequently. Four oak casks next to the bar are full of beers Britton will age up to a year. He said he is not in the business of mass producing beer, and all of the beers he makes are his own recipes. In one cask is Britton's Russian Imperial Stout, which he said is very popular.
"He's got a lot of variety here," Matt Brown said. "He carries a lot of craft beer, which we're into. We generally try to have a diverse beer taste when we come up here. We live pretty close and my wife's friend told us about this place, and we'd been going downtown, about 40 minutes from where we live, to fulfill our craft beer needs."
Those wanting a challenge at Exit 6 must face the Ghost Face Killah, a beer made by Twisted Pine Brewing Company in Colorado. The beer is brewed with six different chili peppers, including the ghost pepper, which according to
www.ghostchilipeppers.com is ranked by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's hottest pepper.
The challenge is to see how fast someone can drink three of the beers. Britton holds the record at 27.5 seconds. There are three rules to the challenge: drink all three beers, don't throw up, and if you do throw up, you have to clean it up. Britton said no one has completed the first part of the challenge without doing the second part.
"It's not for the weak of heart," he said. "It's hot as hell. It's uncomfortable to drink. Most people buy it as a novelty. It's the hottest thing you'll ever drink."
Tim Hayes helps Britton brew the beer. Britton started as a home brewer 17 years ago and said he still is trying to figure out if he's good at it. The 100 hours a week he works is a good indicator that his pub is busy and people like his beer. Britton said he hasn't had a full day off since February.
"Brewing is easy to do, but it's hard to do well," Britton said. "Anybody can make beer, but making it good is difficult. I've been drinking beer a long time and I know what it's supposed to taste like. If I hit those marks, I'm doing a good job. So far, so good."
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