Breweries across the St. Louis region and nearby Illinois are filling their tap lists and cooler shelves with a crowded set of fall and early winter releases, according to a roundup from St. Louis Magazine published 2026-10-29. The list spans light lagers, hazy IPAs, dark stouts and heavily barrel-aged specialty bottles.
Several of the biggest names are marking milestones. Perennial Artisan Ales is celebrating its 15th anniversary with Mandarin Star, a hazy Double IPA brewed with Side Project Brewing at 8% ABV. Perennial calls it the hoppiest beer it has made, double dry-hopped with twice the usual amounts of Citra, Eclipse and Nelson Sauvin. Narrow Gauge Brewing Company is marking 10 years with King Ten Years, a 10% hazy Triple IPA, while Side Project is honoring its 13th anniversary with a 17% ABV barleywine blend that includes components aged from eight to 57 months in bourbon, whiskey, Amburana and Grand Marnier barrels.
Perennial is also offering Calabaza en Tacha Abraxas, a 13.5% barrel-aged barleywine brewed with pumpkin, cinnamon and orange and inspired by the traditional Day of the Dead dish. It includes beer aged in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels for 66 months, Willett rye barrels for 36 months, and Russell's Reserve and Four Roses bourbon barrels for 12 months each. Presales for the four-bottle Abraxas package ran through Oct. 28, with pickups beginning Oct. 29.
Stout season is clearly under way. 4 Hands Brewing Company brings back its Imperial Hot Chocolate Milk Stout, brewed with real hot cocoa and marshmallows, along with The Devil's Invention coffee stout. Both arrive at all three tasting rooms on Friday, Oct. 30. Modern Brewery is pouring a two-year barrel-aged version of its Looted Art Imperial Stout at 12% ABV, available only on draft. Modern is also returning its Munich-style Dunkel, After Dark, and adding a nitro, vanilla version of its blackberry and raspberry kettle sour, Disco Punch. The nitro ABV has not been confirmed.
Lighter options are in the mix too. Springfield Beer Company has introduced Golden 95 Light Lager, a 3.8% ABV beer with 95 calories and 4 grams of carbohydrates per 12 ounces. It is on draft now, and six-packs are expected in local stores soon. Anvil & Forge Brewing and Distilling in Springfield is bringing back Honey, I'm Home, a 5.7% honey lager made in collaboration with Harvest Market. It is on draft at the brewery and in cans at Harvest Market.
Collaboration is a theme as well. Thirty-five Missouri breweries joined forces on Tried N' True ESB, a 5.5% English-style Extra Special Bitter brewed at Springfield Brewing Company, with toasted bread, light caramel and biscuit malt notes. Shoehorn Brewing in Belleville, Illinois, has made a salted cucumber Kölsch as its official Belleville Main Street Marathon beer for the third straight year. DESTIHL Brewery in Normal, Illinois, has released Normal Beer, a 4% all-malt American lager.
Beyond the headline releases, the roundup lists many smaller offerings. Mississippi Culture Oak Fermented Ales in Staunton, Illinois, has a single-barrel saison aged five months in oak, offered on draft and in bottles, including just two 1.5-liter magnums. Millpond Brewing in Millstadt, Illinois, has a 13.6% imperial stout aged 19 months in a Green River Cask Strength bourbon barrel, and its nonalcoholic golden ale, Maurice, has returned on draft.
Many of the beers are available in limited quantities or only at specific taprooms, so drinkers may want to check with individual breweries before heading out.
