O’Fallon Brewery - 5 Day IPA

O’Fallon’s 5 Day IPA was the first locally brewed IPA in the St. Louis area, and is so named due to its extended five days of dry-hopping with Cascade and Glacier whole-hops, which helps amp up the hop profile without increasing bitterness. Pouring an attractive medium amber color with an off-white head, it offers a good look and plenty of engaging aromas as it rests in the glass. We really enjoyed the aroma, which offers a mix of soft citrus notes, floral tones, stone fruit impressions, and some light herbal and earthy touches. On the palate, the caramelized and toasty character implied by this beer’s rich amber color comes forth right away, as the seven malt varieties offer a satisfying depth of flavor with a dash of sweetness. Look for the contrasting hop notes to provide more than enough balance, with moderately firm bitterness and a delicious expression of luscious citrus, stone fruit, and herbal, somewhat pine-like resinous notes. For pairing options, we’d steer toward roasted meats with fruity elements, like pork loin with a nectarine sauce, or citrus marinated chicken thighs with Mexican rice. Cheers!

The story of O’Fallon Brewery began in the late ‘80s when the husband and wife team of Tony and Fran Caradonna saw the microbrewery trend picking up steam on the West and East Coasts and decided to go all-in on bringing the beer renaissance to St. Louis with the founding of one of the region’s first craft beer distributors, Signature Brands. It was a bold move at a place and time dominated by Anheuser-Busch, but they managed to make inroads distributing beers like Schlafly and Pete’s Wicked Ale. Eventually, their dream evolved into making their own beer, and after selling Signature Brands the duo opened O’Fallon Brewery in 2000. For the first two years they did everything themselves: brewing, packaging, marketing, delivering. It paid off and the brewery grew.

Sadly, when the Great Recession hit around 2007-2008, the brewery fell on hard times as growth leveled off. Things picked up a couple years later, but by that time they needed an infusion of cash to stabilize and grow the business. It’s then that Jim Gorczyca, a 20-year veteran of Anheuser-Busch, bought the brewery from the Caradonnas, though they stayed on as employees. In fact, Fran remained all the way until she took a job as CFO at Saint Louis Brewery (Schlafly) in 2019. Jim wanted to strike out on his own in the growing craft beer scene, and under his leadership the brewery flourished. In 2015, they moved from their original location to a new 40,000 sq. ft. brewery about 20 miles closer to St. Louis, in Maryland Heights. Currently the brewery produces about five year-round beers as well as a wide array of rotating seasonals. For more info on the brewery or their on-site O’Bar taphouse restaurant, visit ofallonbrewery.com.