I finally made it to Ferguson Brewing Co. for the first time on Monday Night this week after attending the #BeyondFerguson panel hosted by St. Louis Public Radio at Wellspring Methodist Church.

After attending the event, it seemed right to hang around and support a local establishment that I’ve been meaning to visit for a while. It is among a large number of great spots in the area.

As a brewery, Ferguson Brewing Co. naturally prides itself on its beer. They had a good selection of regulars and specials on tap during my visit. I had a Hoppy Bock and a Habanero IPA which was one of the more pleasant chili pepper beers I’ve ever had.

The menu is pretty standard for a brewery. Pub food and flatbreads. What is it about breweries and flatbreads?

I had heard good things about the wings and was excited to give them a try. For $8.99 (very reasonably priced), the menu describes the Smoked Chicken Wings as “A pound of fall-off-the-bone, smoked wings tossed in BBQ, Buffalo, or Sweet Habanero sauce with ranch dressing on the side.”

This is what I’ve been missing in some of my more recent smoked wing reviews: Smoked wings that are sauced in the sauce, not served with it. Among the 3 sauce options, the Sweet Habanero was tempting but I was in a more traditional mood and went for the standard Buffalo on this visit.

The wings were served with the side of ranch (which I’ve been told is very good), plenty of celery and a couple wet-naps. Are wet-naps supposed to be classy or tacky? On the one hand, they allow you to clean up more quickly and thoroughly than a napkin alone (classy). On the other hand, Hooters (tacky). Either way, I don’t use them, but I think I am for their inclusion with a plate of wings.

The wings are exactly as the menu describes. They are smoked and they do indeed fall off the bone with ease. The buffalo sauce is a bit black-peppery, but otherwise fairly unremarkable. On a spice scale, these wings were not very serious.

The smoked flavor in the wings was enough to say that these were very flavorful. The meat was tender and juicy. The wings were smaller than the average smoked wing, and I am always for smaller wings. My one minor complaint is that things seemed just the tiniest bit dry at times.

On my next visit to Ferguson Brewing Company, I’ll get the wings again, but I’ll probably try the Sweet Habanero.