We would like to thank all who are reading this right now. Because of you, Side Project Brewing and The Side Project Cellar have had some amazing years so far. We’ve experienced the growth and progress of not only our brewing operations, but also the expansion of our Side Project family.

2016 brought the opening of our brewing space at 7458 Manchester Road in Maplewood. The Side Project Cellar was honored as a James Beard Semifinalist in early 2016. We also added to our Side Project family with the hiring of Megan Knaus, Erica Ivers, Rachel Ogborn, Troy Bedik, and brewers Brian Ivers and Tommy Manning. We also are excited that Chris Hoertel rejoined us, and as always, a continued thank you to Katie Herrera, Shae Smith and Mackenzie Marks! Plus, we are so grateful for the design work, photography and creative talent of Tim Bottchen. Karen and I are incredibly lucky to have such a talented team working with us! As we discussed moving forward in all our ventures, we knew we wanted to figure out a way to work together & listen to the ideas of all these wonderful people in planning for our future growth. That is how the idea of Shared Brewing was born.

Shared is a collective of those who work for Side Project. Our two new brewers, Brian Ivers, our brother and formerly of Goose Island, and Tommy Manning, our friend and formerly of Perennial Artisan Ales, have both expressed interest in one day owning their own breweries in the future when they are ready and have developed a better grasp of what goes in to operating a brewery. Karen and I have made the decision that it would be beneficial to all if we facilitated these dreams and helped them make these future moves, all the while giving them an outlet to test, to push and to create beers under the Shared idea.

As with most restaurants, the talent isn’t primarily with the restaurateur, it’s with the chef. Most breweries are no different. So we wanted to create a new idea in which the brewers are given Shared to experiment, and we hope we can brew up something new for all our fans, both Side Project and Shared, that showcases the growth and movement in this industry. All of the Shared beers will be formulated, named and developed in a manner that if Tommy or Brian create something that they want to take with them to their future brewery one day, we would congratulate and encourage that. Any beers they create are theirs, not mine, and each brewer should own the recipe, the name, and the entire conceptualization he created. We hope that while they are helping us to grow Side Project, we are also able to help them find their place in this industry, give them an outlet to determine their brewing style and work on their own future goals.

Shared beers will be something completely different than what you are used to seeing from Side Project! Brian has an English Barleywine named Safe Terminal in bottles and I have a double dry-hopped NE-Style Pale Ale in cans named Proof of Concept #1 that will be released this Saturday, 2/18 starting at noon! We also have a Robust Porter named Base Weight and an Imperial Stout named Vibes in the tanks. A dry-hopped Saison named Table Nouveau and an all-stainless, mixed-fermented Saison named Saison Nouveau are currently bottle-conditioning for the Shared group of beers. Brian and Tommy are working on the next round of hoppy beers as well as a rotating group of Pilsners that will also see cans.

With all of these new ideas, I am sure that some are asking about the Side Project beers! Just as all previous Side Project beers, they take some time, a long time in fact, to mature, develop, and hit that spot when I think they are ready. As we are waiting, tasting and blending for Side Project, we will now use some of that time to write new recipes, to play around a bit and to hopefully make Shared a new St. Louis pillar for great beer.

For now, expect to be able to find Shared and Side Project exclusively at The Side Project Cellar, 7373 Marietta Avenue in Maplewood, and at Side Project Brewing, 7458 Manchester Road in Maplewood. Thanks to everyone for their continued love of our tiny breweries, and we hope you continue to enjoy and share what we do with your friends and family!

Cheers,

Cory and Karen King