Ahead of its 30th anniversary, Schlafly Beer is unveiling its fourth brewpub, the brewery’s first location in Illinois.
Schlafly Highland Square in Highland, Illinois, is the brewer’s first establishment in the Metro East, located in a 71-year-old building on Main Street that most recently housed the town’s Chamber of Commerce.
The Highland pub will open for business Wednesday, Dec. 22, with grand opening festivities planned for Sunday, Dec. 26, the actual date of Schlafly’s 30th anniversary. A ceremonial ribbon-cutting will be held on Sunday from noon to 1 p.m. with Schlafly Beer founders Tom Schlafly and Dan Kopman, along with founding brewer Stephen Hale.
Schlafly Highland Square will seat 80 people in its main dining room; a three-season patio will seat an additional 80 guests. Over the past year, the building has undergone renovation, expanding the space 3,420 square feet, while preserving many of the property’s historic design elements, including the massive safe behind the bar. There’s also a new kitchen, as well as a small experimental pilot brewery upstairs.
The new location will have a menu offering Schlafly’s signature pub fare, along with 14 beer styles on draft. Schlafly has also created a Highland Lager exclusively for the Illinois pub.
Schlafly Highland Square joins other locations in the St. Louis area, including Schlafly Tap Room in downtown St. Louis, Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood and Schlafly Bankside in St. Charles. Schlafly Beer opened in 1991, making it the first new brewery of its kind in the St. Louis area for more than 50 years. It preceded the area’s craft-beer boom of the 2000s, and has since grown to become the area’s largest independent craft brewery. For Schlafly’s 30th anniversary celebration on Dec. 26, all locations will offer $3 pints as a throwback to 1991 prices, along with commemorative merchandise available for purchase at all brewpubs. Visit the Schlafly Beer website for more information.
