I was almost done with my visit to the lovely city of St Louis, Missouri, but there was one other famous landmark that I wanted to see while I was there — the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, home to Budweiser beer.  Please realize that I like a good beer… but I don’t consider Budweiser a good beer, unfortunately.  But it’s famous, and the Budweiser Clydesdales are kind of awesome, so I thought it would make a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

If you’d like a sound track to this post, feel free to check out this YouTube video of the original Budweiser Clydesdale commercial.  But I warn you, it’s the most annoyingly catchy beer jingle you’ll ever hear, and it’s nearly impossible to get out of your head.  I was still humming it days after the tour.

There are several types of tours you can take at the brewery, including a Beer School, but most of them were fully booked.  There were still tickets available for the free tour that I wanted though, and that’s the one that most people take anyway.  The visitor center also contains a gift shop, bar, restaurant, and a few displays.

We started out with a bit of a history lesson about how the brewery was founded, how it operated during prohibition, and roughly what we would be seeing on the tour.  The first stop after that was the horse paddock and barn, to meet the Clydesdales.  There are only a few kept here at any time, as most of them are at the breeding and training farms, but they are big, beautiful, powerful animals!

And this is the horse barn.  Really.  I don’t know how much of this is really used any more, but it certainly looks beautiful on display.  There are several carts and wagons from different eras, the door on the right leads to the tack room, and the door on the left leads to the open stalls.  The gold chandeliers and stained glass windows are just for show, but what a show!

This is the tack room, with each harness in its own display case.

The open stalls have the most beautiful ironwork, with each horse’s name above his stall.  In case you’re wondering about the names, all of the horses that pull the wagons are male.  They also have to have standard markings to make it into the show hitch, such as a white blaze, four white feet, and a black mane and tail.

Bruce was getting a brush down while we were there.  Notice the steps beside him that were used by his groomer.

Lloyd was just hanging out in the biggest box stall I’ve ever seen.

Ok, so eventually we all stopped taking pictures of the horses and went on with the rest of the tour.  Here in the aging cellars we saw the huge vats where the beechwood chips are added to the brew, the hallmark of Budweiser.  There are three levels of these vats, with a total capacity of 3,600 barrels.

We were told about the process while being offered a free sample of the final product.  I declined to taste.

The main brewhouse was next on the tour, and it was spectacular!  Out guide Connor was telling us something about the brewing process here I’m sure, but I was too busy taking pictures of the building to listen much.

These chandeliers are formed to look like hops vines and flowers, and they really are beautiful.

Even the brew kettles, seen here through a glass window, are separated by lovely columns and accessed by stairs covered with ironwork.  Everything was beautifully clean and polished.

It was a gorgeous campus, with the brewhouse and it’s historic clock tower as the central feature.

Back in the visitor center I explored the gift shop.  They had a bin full of stuffed Clydesdales and Dalmatians, which seemed to be big sellers.

They had everything from bathing suits to chess sets emblazoned with the Budweiser logo, but I particularly liked this shirt.  Bear + deer = beer.  Makes perfect sense.

I had lunch while I was there, including a soft drink that I got instead of my free beer.  But check this out… deep fried pickles!  I had to try them, and they actually weren’t at all bad.

All in all, the visit to the brewery was just what I had hoped it would be — mildly entertaining and a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.  And hey, Clydesdales and deep fried pickles!