Ferguson Brewing Company

Ferguson Brewing Company is a leader of sustainable restaurant practices in their neighborhood. They avoid Styrofoam – instead they use nearly 100% compostable and recyclable to-go ware, served in recyclable paper bags. They even use 100% compostable straws, eliminating notorious single-use plastic items from their restaurant!

They’ve established partnerships with Foundation Grounds for their coffee beers and the Ferguson Farmer’s Market to make fruity beers made with berries and watermelons during the summer months. Ferguson Brewing Company also partners with a local cattle farm, giving them the brewery’s spent grain to help feed the livestock.

They are located in the extremely bikeable center of downtown Ferguson, just a few minutes from the Ted Jones Trail, right off the St. Vincent Greenway and the UMSL North Metrolink stop. They have a bike rack out front to support their customers’ cycling habits.

Ferguson Brewing Company has a great sense of community, from their obvious role as a friendly neighborhood meeting place to partnerships with local companies and farms to their sourcing of products. Their breads come from Companion and Fazio’s, they serve Fitz’s root beer and they get their sweets from Ferguson’s own Cose Dolci Deserts. During the growing season, a good deal of their produce – lettuce, beets, squash, asparagus, eggplant, peppers, watermelons, berries, green beans, and tomatoes – are sourced locally. This is in part due to the management of Ferguson Brewing Company’s decision to discuss their environmental commitment to their vendors and ask for better options whenever possible.

Their brewer loves the beer community in St. Louis and works hard to pull people not directly-related into the beer scene into the family, which helps support the local economy and builds relationships that make our region stronger. He is working with local providers for honey, and is scheduling partnerships with EarthDance Farms for his summer beers! The brewmaster does not use extracts, only using real ingredients for their rotating beer list – that’s because he believes that using extracts cheats the flavor out of beer and cheats the customers out of flavor. He told the GDA, “If you’re going to have a nectarine beer, there had better be real nectarines in it!”

They get involved with their community in so many ways, including a partnership with UMSL! UMSL collaborates with Ferguson Brewing Co. for a brewing class – they even put beer concocted from the class on tap at the brewery!

Ferguson Brewing Company’s extensive menu has something for everyone, including plenty of house-made vegetarian options, like their delicious house-made veggie burgers, gluten-free beers, and N/A beers!