This article is presented in partnership with Visit Columbia.
Columbia breweries and distilleries are reopening their doors, kegs and barrels to offer the experience their guests have come to expect. While on-site service is still challenging for some, here are a few lifting spirits for their customers.
The sunset at Les Bourgeois Vineyards, 14020 W. Hwy. BB, on the bluffs along the Missouri River in Rocheport hasn’t been affected by the pandemic. The A-Frame patio is perfect for finding a socially distant spot to share a bottle of wine or a signature Captain’s Cooler while you enjoy the view. Wine is sold by the bottle, and you can bring your own glass or purchase a keepsake glass while you’re there. Though the view and the libations remain the same, the dining options are currently curtailed. Outside food is discouraged, but guests can enjoy a pre-packaged picnic or other specials available for purchase on-site. The Bistro dining room is set to reopen in mid-June.
At Broadway Brewery, 816 E. Broadway, two new summer beers, Flora Blanco, a Mexican-style lager, and Summercut, a Berlinerweiss featuring raspberries, blueberries and black currants, await along with 12-14 other handcrafted brews on tap for adventurous taste buds. Open with limited dine-in seating, this cozy brew pub is a local favorite for more than its in-house brewing and cool summer vibe in a Broadway basement locale. It’s known for its farm-to-table dishes as well. The chefs source ingredients from the company farm nearby or from local farmers’ markets to put that local stamp on everything Broadway Brewery does.
To help during the Covid-19 outbreak, DogMaster Distillery, 210 St. James St., switched part of its operation to producing hand sanitizer for the community it serves. Back on track now, the craft distillery, located in the North Village Arts District, is doing what it does best, crafting new American spirits and specialty cocktails in the tasting room, which reopened during the June First Friday event. The distillery’s offerings include whiskey, Missouri bourbon whiskey, rum, gin and vodka, all of which are the main players in their standard and seasonal cocktail menus. Combined this year, the spring/summer cocktail menu features a Blackberry Gin Sour, Cucumber Mint Spritzer, Bohemian Passion and Sunny Side Up — DogMaster bartenders get to let their imaginations run wild.
Logboat Brewing Co., 504 Fay St., is a family- and dog-friendly (outside only) microbrewery located in northeast downtown Columbia complete with a taproom and large, fenced-in park setting. While the brewery’s taproom has not reopened yet, the team is staging weather-dependent curbside pickup: their very own Brew Thru, complete with masks, gloves and socially distant procedures in place to load customers’ cars with growlers of beer. On average, Logboat has 15 options on tap to fill growlers for curbside pickup. Currently they include a new release, Neon, a blonde ale, that is light, refreshing, crisp and perfect for summer, along with seasonal favorites like Flybye Farmhouse ale.
During its Covid-19 closure, Flat Branch Pub & Brewing, 115 S. 5th St., went through a facelift outside and in, along with a deep clean. A steam beer, a Dortmunder lager and a cream ale are waiting in the cellar for a free tap, and there will also be a new summer fruit beer soon. These will complete the 11- to 12-beer complement on tap for dine-in enjoyment and growler and crowler to-go options. (What’s a crowler, you ask? It’s their new 32-ounce can filled to order.) Limited dine-in service resumed in May, and the patio is open as well, weather permitting, but you will need to call ahead and get on the wait list so you can show up, sit down and enjoy their local libations.
