By Precious Kenney
The Scene staff
Modern Brewery has come a long way since its early days in a small garage with no air conditioning and a clientele largely limited to middle-aged men.
Owner Philip “Beamer” Eisele moved the business to a larger space on Oakland Avenue, a block east of the Forest Park campus, in August. Its artsy atmosphere, full menu and home brews attract a diverse crowd with people of ages.
“It’s like an entire family,” said Eisele, 38. “You have everything from newborns to grandparents. It is vast. It is very diverse. Fridays and Saturdays are our busiest nights.”
Eisele was sitting at a table in the giant kitchen, surrounded by stainless-steel appliances and the sound of customers talking and laughing in the tasting room. He was dressed casually in basketball pants and a King’s Oak T-shirt. (That’s the little-known name of the neighborhood.)
The bar and restaurant offers 12 beers on tap that Eisele makes himself at his former location at 5231 Manchester Ave. He focuses on small batches with quality ingredients and interesting flavors.
Two of the most noteworthy beers are the American Flagship IPA, called Citrapolis, and Disco Punch, which also is served in other St. Louis bars.
“We make what we know and like,” Eisele said. “… We’re not copying anyone else. We just try to stay true to us, and that is what makes us different.
“We’re spending time perfecting things we have been making since Day 1. Citrapolis today is not exactly the same as when we first made that beer. We try to make it better. That doesn’t include cutting costs. (Our beer is the) lifeblood of this building. Whatever we can do to make it the best, we do it.”
Modern Brewery has received accolades for its IPAs, including a Best IPA award from St. Louis Magazine and recognition on the magazine’s A-List in 2022.
As for food, the bar and restaurant offers soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers and pizza, as well as Cajun-inspired specials such as grilled oysters and gumbo poutine.
Eiselle is a St. Louis native and a proud Lindbergh High School alumnus. He ventured into the brewing industry in his 20s, driven by a desire to escape the confines of an office job.
The fear of a conventional career path motivated Eisele to pursue his passion for creating exceptional IPAs and other beer for people to enjoy. He didn’t want to sit in a cubicle from 9 to 5 every day.
“Some days, I would take that in a heartbeat, but having to settle or do something that you don’t necessarily want to do is not how you build your dream world,” he said.
Eisele established Modern Brewery in 2014 in the Manchester Avenue garage. It was closed to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic and became strictly a brewing operation.
Eisele reopened the business in August at its current location at 5200 Oakland Ave. The space formerly housed the Bloom Cafe, a restaurant operated by Paraquad, a nonprofit organization that employed people with developmental disabilities.
The reopening was a symbol of Modern Brewery’s perseverance. On July 26, 2022, severe thunderstorms with excessive rainfall had caused a 100-foot-wide, 8-foot-high retaining wall around the building’s patio to collapse.
A new stone wall is now under construction. Eisele hopes to reopen the patio within the next eight months.
Beyond the brewery’s St. Louis success, Eisele hopes to someday get global recognition for original cocktails with help from employee Diego Gonzalez, a master mixologist who formerly worked at the notable New York City bar Attaboy, which also has a location in Nashville, Tennessee.
“We’re working on a cocktail program, pop-ups, social media (and) techniques,” said Gonzalez, 30. “We’re working up the cache. We want to put St. Louis on the map.”
Eisele also brought in Maria Hernandez, 30, for her ice-making expertise and her years of experience working at another bar, Dutch Kills, on Long Island, New York. Eisele’s favorite part of the job is the strong bonds he has formed with co-workers, but he admits that running a brewery isn’t always “rainbows and butterflies.”
“My advice? “Don’t be afraid to work for a little longer,” he said.
Modern Brewery
Where: 5200 Oakland Ave.
Hours: 3 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, noon to
10 p.m. Friday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sunday. Closed Monday.
Website: modernbrewery.com