Anheuser Busch Christmas Lights!

Back in November, Laurie and I stopped in St. Louis to visit her family while in route to visit our son David II and his family for the Thanksgiving Holiday.  One night in St. Louis Laurie and I accompanied her sister Bonnie and Bonnie’s husband Bill on a Christmas Holiday visit to a St. Louis Missouri Landmark…

Here Bonnie is listening to the Anheuser Busch Eagle telling her about the fabulous Holiday Lights display and tour at the historic Anheuser Busch Brewery in St. Louis.

The towering Germanic style red-brick buildings that comprise the brewery complex, as well as the trees, fences, etc., were all festooned with thousands and thousands of lights!  This is an annual event in St. Louis and a similar display has now been initiated at the company’s Fort Collins Colorado facility.  

Laurie loves horses…and who doesn’t love the magnificent Anheuser Busch Clydesdales!?  One of the highlights of our little tour, (and a break from the unseasonable cold weather), was our stop in the stables.  FYI…these stables are cleaner and more luxurious than most homes!

 The Clydesdale is a breed of draft-horse derived from the farm horses of Clydesdale, Scotland, and they were named after that region.  The breed was developed from Flemish stallions imported to Scotland and crossed with local mares.  While they were a much more compact horse in the early days, Clydesdales now stand as much as 16 to 18 hands (64 to 72 inches) high at the withers and they can weigh up to 2,200 pounds. 

FYI, the ‘withers’ is the ridge between the shoulder blades of all four-legged mammals and it’s the standard point of measurement for both horses and dogs.

Bonnie took this photo of Laurie and me in front of one of the classic advertising signs for Budweiser…

I must tell you that our tour coincided with an unusual early cold snap in St. Louis.  The wind was howling and the chill was extreme.  Warming stations were scattered throughout the venue but it was so cold that you had to stand right up against these contained natural gas units to get any warmth!

This is a view down Pestalozzi Street in the middle of the brewery complex. 

I didn’t take any remarkable photos of the beverage sampling stations that were set up along the way.  All guests 21 or older receive a wristband redeemable for samples of the company’s products.  Available beers included Budweiser, Bud Light, Stella Artois, Stella Artois Cidre and Bud Light Lime-A-Rita offerings.

To call this facility a brewery would be a disservice.  This is a brewery complex!  It was opened in 1852 by German immigrant Adolphus Busch and it’s so big that it has been designated as a National Historic Landmark District.

The landmarked area includes 189 structures spread over 142 acres, including many red brick Romanesque buildings with square crenelated towers and decorative details.  The Brew House itself was built in 1891-1892, and according to Wikipedia it is particularly notable for its "multi-storied hop chandeliers, intricate iron-work, and utilization of natural light".

Then finally we came in from the cold!  The Biergarten (indoor beer garden) was very busy…with a few folks running back outdoors t0 make s’mores over an open fire. ($2.50 per s’mores kit) Bill and I gave it a try…but it was so cold that the s’mores were burnt or just never melted.  

There were 5 food stations scattered around the beer garden/visitor’s center and we visited them all!  These pretzels with mustard sauce were very tasty!

Of course there were brats as well!  Beer and brats is a combination that is hard to beat. 

The 5 food stations served St. Louis-style Holiday Favorites including Chili, Chicken Tenders and chips, Brats and chips, Toasted Ravioli, and Pretzels with dipping sauces.  Food tokens were $5.00 each.

Bill and Bonnie also opted for a couple of flights of different beers.  I’m not much of a beer drinker but Bill and his son are really into trying different brews… Ales and lagers were featured in flight named Dawn to Dusk, Wild Wheats and Around the World.  In addition to the usual Anheuser-Busch brands, such options as Shock-Top, Mixx Tail, Hoegaarden, Goose IPA, Chelada and Brewmaster’s Choice were available.

While it was much warmer in the Biergarten, the doors were constantly opening and closing so we just kept our coats on.  Only Bill noticed when I took this photo of Bonnie, he and Laurie…

This very eye-catching old Anheuser Busch delivery truck is on display  in the middle of the reception area leading to the Biergarten.  I think that it’s a Ford… Note the big gift shop for visitors right behind the truck.

Bonnie and Bill’s son Kyle and his wife Melissa joined us in the Biergarten later in the evening after making their rounds outdoors in the freezing cold. It was their anniversary!

Laurie captured this nice photo of Bonnie and Bill.  We had a great time but it would have been even more enjoyable if the weather hadn’t been so frigid!

If you would like to preview the Christmas scene at the St. Louis Anheuser Busch Brewery, you will find a plethora of photographs at: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=anheuser+busch+christmas+lights&qpvt=anheuser+busch+christmas+lights&qpvt=anheuser+busch+christmas+lights&FORM=IGRE.

I will admit a bit of frustration when putting this posting together.  No matter what I did or how I did it, I could not gain access to the Anheuser Busch website.  It requires you to enter your date of birth but for some reason, it wouldn’t accept my entry! (Maybe I’m too old!) Frustrated, at 11AM (10AM CST) on a Tuesday I called their customer service line as listed on the website.  I was informed that the offices were closed.  Interesting, since I was calling in the middle of their posted hours.  

In any case, perhaps you’ll have better luck.  To learn about this Holiday Lights event, you can go to http://www.anheuser-busch.com/index.php/anheuser-busch-st-louis-brewery-holiday-lights-display-opens-friday-nov-16/.  Perhaps this event will fit into your calendar this coming Holiday Season.

 

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by and reliving the Christmas Season with us!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave