ST. LOUIS – A new St. Louis beer and a beer maker originally from St. Louis are waiting for the Cardinals in England.

The Cardinals play the Chicago Cubs in Major League Baseball’s London Series this weekend. Fans will get quite a taste of the rivalry.

The new beer is called “The Birds and The Bears,” created by 2nd Shift Brewing of St. Louis. You can get it locally. You can also get it in London.

Cardinals fans are everywhere. They were out in force at the Mondo Brewing taproom in London on Wednesday night.

St. Louis native Tom Palmer is Mondo’s co-founder and managing director.

“We’re seeing St. Louis jerseys all around town right now. I would never see these 2-3 years ago,” Palmer said of the hype now taking hold for the upcoming ballgames.

He’s tickled to be pouring ‘Birds and Bears’ at Mondo’s taproom.

“It’s a nice, hot summer day beer, just a tart pale ale,” said Scott Pelizzaro of 2nd Shift Brewing. “Being able to send our beer to London, to be in all of (their) local pubs, and then to be serving out in the (Trafalgar) square (at the MLB fan zone festivities): Cards fans, Cubs fans, London baseball fans. It’s going to be really cool.”

2nd Shift has limited quantities in stock at area retailers and at its St. Louis brewery, with the draft version shipped to London to join Mondo’s ‘London Series Pale Ale’ and another specially brewed beer from Revolution Brewing in Chicago. Pelizzaro said score one for “Birds and Bears” in the St. Louis-Chicago beer rivalry.

“It’s definitely a little more bird than bear, for sure, for sure,” he laughed.

“I’m jazzed. I couldn’t be more happy about this: growing up in St. Louis. My father brewed at Budweiser,” Palmer said.

Palmer and his Red Sox fan business partner, Todd Matteson, first launched this idea with Boston and New York brewers for the 2019 London Series between the Red Sox and Yankees. MLB executives loved it and planned to do it again for the Cardinals and Cubs in London in 2020. COVID-19 pushed that back until now.

“We were lucky enough to get involved again this year for the Cards-Cubs series,” Matteson said.

“We were like, ‘What can we do as Americans living in London to celebrate baseball coming to the UK’,” Palmer said. “We make beer, so why not make more beer.”

It’s only natural: a St. Louis guy bringing together beer and baseball in London.