Good News Brewing has 4 locations in St. Charles County

Good News Brewing's location in Augusta, Missouri.

When Matt Fair and Dan Tripp began to connect over their mutual interest in homebrewing beer, they had no idea that their shared hobby would launch them into operating four successful breweries.

Good News' brewers.

With locations in O’Fallon, Defiance, Augusta, and St. Charles, Missouri, Good News Brewing has established a familiar presence in St. Charles County. The breweries specialize in offering a variety of craft beer along with wood-fired pizzas.

The idea took root after Fair and Tripp met in a Bible study. Both homebrewers, each took inspiration from the other in crafting an electric brewing system. “My system was pretty rickety,” co-owner Dan Tripp says. “It was a messed up little system that I put together. Matt saw it and said if he could do it, I could do it better. So he went home and built his own system. I was very impressed. I took all of my equipment over to his house, and we started brewing in his basement all the time.”

Along with connecting to the community and creating a gathering space, the two began sharing their beer with others by hosting brew parties. “We thought that we would use our gifts and talents of brewing and planned to have a brew party once a month just by brewing beer in our basement,” Tripp says. “We would invite our Bible study friends, other friends and strangers. We would hang out, make beer and eat pizza.”

Over time, Fair and Tripp’s skills improved. They ended up producing an excess of beer, which they donated to various charities and events. After receiving positive feedback, the pair’s ambitions began to translate into a profession.

Good News serves wood-fired pizzas with a housemade sourdough crust.

In 2017, the duo went on to open their first brewery in north O’Fallon, Missouri. With limited space, they kept the menu simple and offered wood-fired pizzas (made with a housemade sourdough crust) and beers like the Belgian White, Local 636 Hazy IPA and Hazelnut Coffee Milk Stout. The response from the local community was overwhelming, and Good News soon outgrew its one-barrel brewing system.

“When we opened up our O'Fallon location, it was the perfect everything,” Tripp says. “It was the perfect time, place and size. Eventually, we were selling more beer than we could physically make.”

Good News' location in Defiance, Missouri.

The brewery’s smash success allowed them to expand to a larger location in Defiance, Missouri, right along the Katy Trail. In addition to the bigger size, the venue features a rooftop deck and patio. Although there were setbacks due to COVID-19 in 2020, the location remained popular as people flocked to enjoy outdoor activities. “Once we opened back up, we were flooded with people,” Tripp says. “Because of a lot of the regulations in St. Louis and Illinois, people were coming to wine country and the Katy Trail to ride bikes.”

Good News' chicken bacon ranch pizza.

The pair found themselves with even more demand for their beer: This resulted in the purchase of the Augusta Brew House in Augusta, Missouri, which became Good News' primary brewing facility. The brewery's newest space can be found in Frenchtown St. Charles, where the two partnered with the local Frenchtown Heritage Museum to create a ‘brewseum’ – a brewery-museum combination.

Good News Brewing's newest location in Frenchtown St. Charles.

“We wanted the space in St. Charles, but we did not want to be on Main Street St. Charles,” Tripp says. “We wanted more of a neighborhood community place [where] people [could] walk their dogs and drive their golf carts. … We’re trying to be eclectic – [in a] a place that's more of an art district.”

The vision for Good News Brewing extends beyond the craft of brewing beer for Fair and Tripp. The value placed on the community is what inspires the pair to keep going and eventually expand into St. Louis County. “Distribution is not our goal,” Tripps says. “A lot of breweries have a focus on packaging and distribution. … Our goal is creating gathering spaces: a pub where people can hang out and we can share good news.”

Good News Brewing Co., multiple locations, St. Charles County, Missouri, goodnewsbrewing.com

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