{"id":1108,"date":"2016-05-03T03:58:03","date_gmt":"2016-05-03T03:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/?p=1108"},"modified":"2020-10-21T04:14:37","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T04:14:37","slug":"the-civil-life-brewing-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/2016\/05\/03\/the-civil-life-brewing-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Craft Brews in the Lou: The Civil Life Brewing Company"},"content":{"rendered":"

A gem tucked away in St. Louis\u2019 historic Tower Grove, the Civil Life microbrewery certainly isn\u2019t hidden. The Civil Life is a destination brewpub, offering good beers served by a welcoming and knowledgeable staff that is passionate about its brews.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the main draws of the Civil Life is the raw simplicity of its beers \u2014 they might not be flashy or loaded with a million different flavors, but they craft smooth-drinking beer with care. Malt-driven, sessionable, well-crafted beers are the Civil Life\u2019s signature.<\/span><\/p>\n

Principal Owner Jake Hafner founded the Civil Life during 2011 alongside \u201cHead Beer Magician\u201d Dylan Mosley and co-founder Mike Bianco.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hafner previously owned 33 Wine Bar in Lafayette Square but he says he was looking for another venture to put his energy toward. That\u2019s when he says he attended a homebrew party that forever changed his life.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hafner talks about Civil Life\u2019s roots, beers, accomplishments and goals.<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The metal gate greets customers at Civil Life’s Tower Grove brewpub. Owner Jake Hafner says he enjoys the symbiotic relationship between The Grove community and his brewery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Right around the time Hafner decided he wanted to sell 33 and was searching for his next food and drink venture, Hafner says Dylan Mosley, his soon-to-be \u201cHead Beer Magician\u201d at The Civil Life and then 33 Wine Bar employee, threw a basement party.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mosley provided his home-brewed creations, and Hafner says the consensus of everyone in attendance was that the beers were very good. The party sparked Hafner\u2019s interest, and Hafner says not long after, he, Mosley and Bianco were working at 33 Wine Bar together one night and decided they should open a brewery together.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWithin an hour or two of that, we [purchased] this consumer-type homebrew system,\u201d Hafner says. \u201cAnd then we started home brewing with the intention of opening up the Civil Life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Preparing the line of beers that would end up comprising the Civil Life portfolio involved a lot of testing of ingredients, yeast strains and hops until they found recipes that worked, Hafner says. He says this process was just about learning the art of brewing in general.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNone of us had ever worked in a brewery before, so you can call us the unlikely story of three guys that never worked in a brewery who opened up a brewery,\u201d Hafner says. \u201cIt kind of captures a bit of our spirit, too \u2014 that we\u2019ve been successful and we\u2019ve come at it with a slightly different approach than people who have in in the industry do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why a community brewery sells<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Customers<\/a>
Customers stand in line at the Civil Life’s cash-only bar. The Civil Life is known for its malt-driven, sessionable and well-crafted beers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Civil Life is more than a brewery \u2014 it\u2019s a community hotspot. People move to Tower Grove specifically to be within walking distance of the brewpub, Hafner says.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Civil Life has been community-oriented since its first day of business during 2011. The day it opened, the owners hosted a parade from Tower Grove Park to the brewery. Hafner says about 200 people showed up at the park, and there were another 300 waiting at the brewery. He also says he thinks the overall shift in thinking away from major corporations and toward local businesses has contributed to the community\u2019s overwhelmingly positive reception to the brewery.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think people are connected to this more local approach to things, whether it\u2019s in eating at small restaurants or supporting breweries where they\u2019re in your community rather than other places,\u201d Hafner says. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s a way that we\u2019ve really benefitted from that general move back to more local \u2014 we obviously see that more in food and restaurants and then obviously in beer, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hafner says the parade was the first time he felt community support behind his business, and he says he enjoys knowing the Civil Life contributes to the stability and growth of his section of Tower Grove.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat kind of makes all the stress and all the loans and all that stuff worthwhile when you know that people not just live in the neighborhood, but the neighborhood itself does [benefit] \u2014 the neighborhood is really supportive, and that\u2019s been a really big deal to us,\u201d Hafner says.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why craft beer is a craft<\/b><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Civil Life brews all their beers in a room visible from the brewpub. Owner Hafner says he and several of the other principal members developed all the beer recipes together, though none of them had ever worked in a brewery before.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hafner emphasizes while brewing craft beer is a business, it\u2019s important to remember it is first and foremost a craft.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is an art to replicating a beer recipe so it tastes the same each time, regardless of factors such as yeast and temperature that quickly can make a batch turn out differently, Hafner says. \u00a0Because everyone on the Civil Life team except Mosley was new to brewing, Hafner says there was a major learning curve in perfecting recipes and the art of brewing. Hafner says he tries to make sure each batch he serves is up to the Civil Life\u2019s high standards.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s kind of the strides \u2014 you make really big gains in the beginning because there\u2019s a few things you do that make drastic change[s] and really improve things, and now we\u2019re really looking for that, like when the craft becomes a precision focus on producing these great beers every single time,\u201d Hafner said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot. Every day you come into work, you have to approach your job in a certain way, and my staff does that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hafner says the key to being successful in his craft is hiring a great staff, striving to improve and reflect every six months about how far the brewery as come, and how it can improve going forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Plans for the future\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The Civil Life owners have some big plans in store for this year \u2014 they purchased the property next to them during October and are planning on adding a canning line or another bar onto their pub.<\/p>\n

Hafner says no formal plans have been made yet, but he says he is excited to do a few mobile canning runs during the next six months to test it out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re draught-only right now in St. Louis,\u201d Hafner says. \u201cThe hope is that when we add on, we\u2019ll add a canning line.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Civil Life’s beer portfolio features simple, malt-driven beers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tell us about the beer<\/b><\/p>\n

Trademark: <\/b>\u201cWe\u2019re mostly known for our English and American styles that<\/span><\/p>\n

are of moderate ABV, so not anything too high in alcohol,\u201d Hafner says. \u201cWe<\/p>\n

also focus more on malt-driven beers rather than hop-driven beers. And, because of the way the craft beer market is, there\u2019s not as much of a focus on some traditional styles. So I think that\u2019s one thing that separates us in a traditional sense. It\u2019s not that we\u2019re separated because we\u2019re making more interesting or crazy beers that really draw attention, but we\u2019re making really true, traditional beers that have been made for hundreds of years in different brewing regions around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A gem tucked away in St. Louis\u2019 historic Tower Grove, the Civil Life microbrewery certainly isn\u2019t hidden. The Civil Life<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":1112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[188,20,33,56],"tags":[257,256,258,118,259],"class_list":["post-1108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destination","category-food-drink","category-missouri","category-tri-state-area","tag-brewing","tag-civil-life","tag-microbrewery","tag-st-louis","tag-tower-grove"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1108"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1129,"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1108\/revisions\/1129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}