× Expand Courtesy of iTAP.

International Tap House (iTAP) is closing its flagship location in West County after 10 years of business and rave reviews.

The beer shop and bar announced the news this week on social media in a letter addressed to “Beer Friends.” iTAP will officially shutter its Chesterfield location on December 31.

“After 10 years of having the best beer selection, best beer drinking atmosphere and the best beer serving staff in West County the lease for iTAP Chesterfield is up. This location spawned four (soon to be five more spots) and we plan to look for another location out west but the time has come to bring iTAP Chesterfield to an end,” co-owners Sean Conroy and Brad Lobdell wrote in the letter.

The Chesterfield location garnered fewer sales than iTAP’s other stores and was in a more remote location, Conroy said, two factors that could have led to its demise. Still, Conroy and Lobdell are not deterred by their decision and already have plans for a new shop. The pair will open an iTAP store in Louisville, Kentucky, sometime in March, Conroy said. iTAP will move some of the fixtures and bar materials from its Chesterfield location to the new Kentucky shop.

The Chesterfield closing might come as a shock to local beer aficionados, who flocked there over the past 10 years for a wide selection of bottles and drafts. After a successful initial run in Chesterfield, the shop has opened locations across St. Louis and Missouri including in Soulard and the Central West End, and in Columbia, Missouri, and Kansas City, Missouri.

The original iTAP in Chesterfield won universal praise after opening. This magazine called it “Beer Paradise,” the Riverfront Times named it “Best Neighborhood Bar,” and Sauce called it “A Beer Lover’s Paradise.”

“I was sitting in the empty space in Chesterfield 10 years ago. I heard the distributors say under their breath, ‘Give them six months and they’ll be closed.’ Here we are, 10 years later with multiple shops. We’re going out on our terms and we’re really proud,” Conroy said.

Even though this is the end of one chapter for iTAP, there seems to be good things on the horizon.

“While it is sad, we’re always looking to the future. I would dare to say we’ll talk about another iTAP opening at the end of 2019 or 2020. We’re always looking and open to other locations,” Conroy said.