One of St. Louis' newest brewing operations signed a distribution contract today that will allow it to start selling beer in Illinois as soon as next week.

Six Row Brewing Co., which opened in December at Forest Park and Spring avenues, will have beer on tap at about a dozen bars and restaurants in a swath of midcentral Illinois from Grafton south to Collinsville and east to Effingham.

Donnewald Distribution Co., a longtime Anheuser-Busch wholesaler, is working with Six Row to get its beer into places "that like craft beer," says Michael Rami, the brewery's president.

Six Row already received registration approval in Illinois for Whale, a wheat-pale ale hybrid that will be going out in next week's initial shipment, Rami says. 

The young brewery appears to be doing a good job of getting its beer in drinkers' hands. About 10 St. Louis-area locations carry Six Row products, which currently are available only on draft. Might bottles be on the way?

"Expansion for us is probably in the very near future," Rami says.