The old Lemp Brewery is home, once again, to beer making now that the Stable is opening at 1821 Cherokee Street in the Benton Park neighborhood. Never mind that it’s located next to another establishment kind of known for its own brew — Anheuser- Busch.

The Stable, a brew house/pizzeria, will feature two private label lagers from upstart Amalgamated Brewing that will be made on the premises, as well as hard-to-find beers on tap.

Friends Aaron Whalen, Jesse Jones, Paul Pointer, and Mark Naski are behind the Stable. “The guys at AB are geniuses at what they do. But this takes brewing in St. Louis to the next level,” says Whalen.

Lunch and dinner will be served, and live music takes place on the weekend.

 

Last Night: Grand Opening at The Stable
Sun Jun 22, 2008

What: The Stable
Where: 1821 Cherokee Street
Capacity: eventually will seat 175
Phone: 314-771-8500

Last night it seemed as if half of St. Louis arrived for the grand opening of Benton Park’s latest gem -- The Stable. Set in a recently renovated area once part of the Lemp Brewery, the impressive brick building actually did serve as a ''home to the horses that delivered their beer.'' After spending an evening dining and throwing back a few inside, it’s hard to imagine the sparkling clean joint filled with anything but table after table of folks just out for a good time.

Just like many opening nights, there were a few expected hiccups at the brew pub: A full house made for a 45-minute wait (or longer) to dine, and it took about 15 minutes to get a cold one at the main bar. The line wasn’t as long at a second bar in an adjacent, uncompleted room, which was opened last minute to provide more seating for an at times overwhelming crowd. Bartender Tonya Colombe tended the smaller, cash-only bar without a credit-card machine or any beer -- just a ton of liquor. “Give me a couple days to get my CO2 figured out back here,” she joked with another beer-seeking customer.

At one point, a rumor that the kitchen even ran out of food got out, but manager Bryan Boyer says that wasn’t the case. Clad in a button-down red shirt, Boyer was an omnipresent fixture inside the “eatzzeria” -- at some point it seemed like he was everywhere at all times, making sure every detail was just perfect.

Just Right: The mood. Everyone appeared genuinely excited to be a part of the first official night, as did the staff.
Not Quite: Talk about a warm welcome -- someone definitely needed to crank up that AC, even just a smidgen.
Overheard Quote: “A person could get sober waiting for a drink here,” says disgruntled woman waiting impatiently for her next pint.

The Setting: The historic building alone already gives the place a vintage vibe, especially since the menu points out that beer hasn’t been brewed here since Prohibition. Lining the walls are relics of that past time, with all sorts of interesting conversation pieces. This includes a cheerful yet macabre skeleton, which according to one bartender is real, dangling high above the thick, mahogany bar. And one can’t miss the elegant, fourteen-foot long chandelier that twinkles overhead. When the lights are dimmed later in the evening, it leaves three circular chandeliers, with only ten tiny lights on each, to illuminate main dining area, giving it almost a medieval feel.

The Crowd: A mishmash of the just-legal-to-drink crowd mixed seamlessly in with the older folks and the somewhere-in-betweens. A few groups had some sort of affiliation with Amalgamated Brewing Company’s initial project Rotten Apple, located in Grafton, Ill., which is currently closed due to flooding. Others came to scope out what the neighborhood buzz is all about or to hear rockabilly group Colonel Ford play everything from Elvis to Johnny Cash.

The Menu: It’s a combination of house specialty 16-inch pizzas, pastas, salads, social plates and sandwich and burger grinders, We’ll leave the verdict up to RFT food critic Ian Froeb, who will check out a few items at a later date.

Bottom Line: The Stable is a must-try for its vintage décor, lively ambience and its soon-to-be-on-tap original beer.

- Jeanette Kozlowski

 

First Look: Stable Restaurant and Micro-Brewery, Cherokee Street, St. Louis
Fri Jun 20, 2008

On Thursday night, Stable opened its doors for the media, serving a few free glasses of its micro-brewed beers to the press – a dead-on way to get the reporters to an event – for its media night.

The restaurant, micro-brewery and micro-distillery is housed in a mammoth brick building at the corner of Cherokee and Lemp streets in the Benton Park neighborhood.

The estimated $1 million renovation of the former horse stables for the Lemp Brewery (closed in 1922) took more than a year, and more additions are planned for 2008, says one of its owners, Jesse Jones.

Our photo slide show gives a first look at Stable, which has a soft opening tonight and a grand opening on Saturday night.

Jones is part owner of the Amalgamated Brewing Co., which also operates the Rotten Apple, a bar and restaurant in the Illinois river town of Grafton.

Look for a review of the grand opening on Sunday.

-Nick Lucchesi


 

Jones, Pointer invest $1 million in Stable microbrewery

St. Louis Business Journal - by Christopher Tritto

After a year of investment and preparation, a local trio is opening The Stable microbrewery, microdistillery and restaurant on property once part of the old Lemp brewery.

Jesse Jones, who leads the day-to-day operations, his wife Sara Jones, and Paul Pointer, owner of the nearby Lemp Mansion Restaurant and Inn, are the principals of Amalgamated Brewing Co. Together they have invested about $1 million in their latest project at 1821 Cherokee St. in Benton Park, Jesse Jones said. The Stable will open June 20.

Chef Aaron Whalen, who previously ran the now closed Bastante restaurant and has worked behind the scenes with several others, will man the kitchen.

In addition to producing two of its own microbrews on site and serving a total of 24 draught beers, The Stable will brew Lemp's Cherokee Lager, a Vienna-style red lager, under contract with Steve DeBellis, owner of the Lemp Brewing Co. name and trademark. This will mark the first time Lemp has been brewed in St. Louis since the end of Prohibition.

Initially, Lemp will be brewed and sold in kegs for distribution to area restaurants and bars, but DeBellis said he hopes to bottle Lemp here within a matter of months. DeBellis first revived Lemp beer in 2004, and since then it has been brewed under contract by Lion Brewery in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. and O'Fallon Brewery in O'Fallon, Mo. It is sold at several local grocery stores, including Schnuck Markets and Dierbergs.

The Stable also will feature the St. Louis area's first microdistillery where it will craft its own small batches of spirits.

Jones, who previously worked at the Schlafly Tap Room brewpub downtown, also runs the Rotten Apple, a ciderhouse and restaurant in Grafton, Ill., which he also owns with his wife and Pointer.

The Stable takes its name from its location in a building that once served as the horse stables and wagon house used by the Lemp brewery before that company went out of business in 1922.

 

The Stable opening doors to new brewing
By Kevin C. Johnson

The old Lemp Brewery is home, once again, to beer making now that the Stable is opening at 1821 Cherokee Street in the Benton Park neighborhood. Never mind that it’s located next to another establishment kind of known for its own brew — Anheuser- Busch.

The Stable, a brew house/pizzeria, will feature two private label lagers from upstart Amalgamated Brewing that will be made on the premises, as well as hard-to-find beers on tap.

Friends Aaron Whalen, Jesse Jones, Paul Pointer, and Mark Naski are behind the Stable. “The guys at AB are geniuses at what they do. But this takes brewing in St. Louis to the next level,” says Whalen.

Lunch and dinner will be served, and live music takes place on the weekend.

Look for the Stable to open at 6 p.m. June 21. Get more information at 314-771-8500.


 

Last updated: Wednesday, July 02, 2008