How a Start-Up Became the Largest Locally-Owned Brewery in St. Louis

The Presidents' Forum of St. Louis
February 12, 2009

Tom Schlafly
Founder/Owner
Schlafly Beer

Speaker Biography:
The beer's namesake and the principal shareholder is an attorney in downtown St. Louis. Tom was very instrumental in getting the laws changed to allow Missouri microbreweries to sell beer to other bars and restaurants.

Founder, Saint Louis Brewery
The title of his new book is A New Religion in Mecca. Indeed: Schlafly introduced microbrew to the land where consumption of Bud trumped that of water. He disproved the Eeyores who said St. Louis was too lame to support a microbrewery, much less one in then-desolate downtown. And then he turned Maplewood hip with the Bottleworks. The Business Journal is fond of naming him to its list of “100 influentials” year after year—and not just because he’s Phyllis’ nephew, a director of Citizens National Bank and a Priory alum. It’s because the guy’s equipped with that rare thing known as vision.

In 2007: His book (subtitled Memoirs of a Renegade Brewer in St. Louis) has gotten the official thumbs-up from Joe Edwards and Bill McClellan. Could a spot on Fresh Air—and a writerly career—be far behind?

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