Denny Foster was a few days into an extended road trip through Florida that saw him and his assistant brewer, Brandon Bischoff, doing collaborations. In theory, it was about the beer and community, but he also wanted to get a closer look at some brewing equipment and see firsthand how other brewers were running their breweries and brewhouses.
Foster, the co-owner (with his father Barry) and brewer of Main & Mill Brewing Co. in Festus, Missouri, is getting ready to open up a large expansion to the business that he and his father opened two years ago in this small town south of St. Louis.
The original plan, designed to cater to locals—not necessarily the larger beer universe—revolved around a seven-barrel brewhouse tucked into 420 square feet, inside a rehabbed building from the 1880s, converted into a brewpub model.