Millpond Brewing Co.

Bryan Schubert
Owner and brewer
Millpond Brewing Co. in Millstadt, IL
MillpondBrewing.com

The last really good beer I drank was… a Munich-style helles lager called Milkpond that we recently made through a collaboration with Little Lager, a Czech and German-inspired bar in St. Louis. We usually release it in May each year, and it’s a clean, crisp, crushable beer. 

We did another collaboration with Stubborn German Brewing Company in Waterloo, Illinois that was an Italian pilsner called 13 Mile — we were really impressed with what those guys did with that beer. Another Italian pilsner that I really like is Mambo Italiano from Mikerphone Brewing. They shared some of that with us when we worked with them earlier in the year, and I hoarded as much as I could. 

And someone who frequents Millpond brought in a Trappist Westvleteren 12 recently, and to be able to put my hands on something like that was really great. It was a bucket list beer with the nuanced flavors, the deep caramel and chocolatey flavor with raisins and nuts. So smooth and delicious. Pliny the Younger from Russian River Brewing is the same way. The ones you hope live up to the hype and then they actually they do. 

An Italian pilsner I really like is Mambo Italiano from Mikerphone Brewing. They shared some of that with us when we worked with them earlier in the year, and I hoarded as much as I could.

Blue Jay Brewing Company

What fellow breweries and specific beers have impressed you lately?

With us being so close to St. Louis, we’re exposed to a lot of great beer from that area. On that side of the river, there is a fairly new lager brewery called Blue Jay Brewing Company with a Jamaican lager called Little Birds that’s light, crisp and well balanced. 

White Rooster Brewery in Sparta, Illinois has some nice sours and barrel-aged stuff, and they’re cranking out some great lagers now too. Further upstate, anytime I can get my hands on a can of Extra-Medium Mild from White Oak Brewing in Normal is a good day. I really like those guys.

White Rooster Brewery in Sparta, Illinois has some nice sours and barrel-aged stuff, and they’re cranking out some great lagers now too. … And anytime I can get my hands on a can of Extra-Medium Mild from White Oak Brewing in Normal is a good day.

White Rooster Farmhouse Brewery

What are you most proud of at your brewery?

I think there’s two things. I have a 5- and 8-year-old and really try to stay away from the brewery on the weekends, so I have to thank my staff for being so educated about our beers and making sure the taproom is in top shape and the customers are happy and taken care of, because creating a great experience is what we’re all about.

I have to thank my staff for being so educated about our beers and making sure the taproom is in top shape and the customers are happy, because creating a great experience is what we’re all about.

In addition to that, with ramping up our production all winter and spring and then our increased distribution into Missouri this May, it’s been a long five months, but the brewing staff’s resilience, positive attitude and ability to approach any curveball with a smile was great. It’s very refreshing to have a staff that’s always prepared and willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. 

What do you have coming up that people should know about?

With our distribution expansion into Missouri, we are working in collaboration with the Danforth Plant Science Center to use Kernza, a wheat grass that’s a perennial relative of grain and better for the environment. We have a pilot batch this summer, and another when the Kernza harvest happens in the fall. We are working with Side Project Brewing and Blue Jay Brewing Company on this, and it should be a fun project using some different grains. 

Millpond Brewing Co.