Brewery Tour: Schlafly Bottleworks

The last time I was in St. Louis, I was sure to swing by Anheuser-Busch for a tour and tasting. Huge breweries like this have many interesting aspects, but I typically like smaller microbreweries because I think their beer is better. This last weekend, I took a side step and checked out one of the area's micro-breweries: Schlafly Bottleworks.

To begin my visit, I had lunch in Schlafly's dining area with my hosts!

At lunch I tried their APA, which was awesome... This got me very excited for the tour which was soon to come!

My beer was not poured from a keg. Oh no, no, no! Instead, it comes directly from one of these big guys! Schlafly is all about freshness! ROCK!

Schlafly is the first St. Louis bottling brewery to open since prohibition. It is fairly small and only distributes to a few neighboring states. Unfortunately, Wisconsin is not one of them... However, I do not blame them for wanting to maintain their integrity and commitment to good products by staying small!

Schlafly's claim to fame is their Pale Ale. I sampled this one at the end of the tour. It was a simple, amber-colored ale. It didn't have as much flavor as I had hoped for, but it was still a nice beer. It is quite light, so you can hit this one over and over again in one night. Plus, as you can read below, it pairs nicely with just about any sort of food.

My favorites were:

The No 15 This is a dunkel weisen, but doesn't look very dark. It is unfiltered and is a rich amber color.

The Dry-Hopped APA Popping with hops, this is a fun APA with a slightly spicy finish. It is a little bitter, but not too much. It is sure to please any IPA/APA lover.

The Winter ESB This was my surprise! I wasn't sure what to expect. I hadn't ever tasted an "Extra Special Bitter." It was extra and special! It wasn't bitter in the bitter sense, but more bitter in the Old English bitters sense - kind of malty and hoppy, too. Our guide failed to tell us, but apparently this is made with a small amount of Rye as well! In any case, this was an excellent beer!

The Pumpkin Ale Often times I am not a big fan of pumpkin spice beers. Not sure why, but perhaps they are a bit too sweet. Schlafly's Pumpkin Ale was very balanced. It uses real pumpkin and butternut squash for its sugar in the fermentation process, but since pumpkin itself it not sugary sweet, this beer keeps its edge. It also contains the typical pumpkin spices which make it taste like you are really eating a smooth, creamy piece of Granny's pumpkin pie!

The tour itself was nothing spectacular. I have been on many a tour, so perhaps it is tough to impress me anymore. You'll be happy to know, at least, that Schlafly holds the safety of their employees and guests as a top priority.

Our guide knew a decent amount about the brewing process, but very little about the Schlafly Bottleworks Company itself. The good news about the tour: it was free! Not to mention that at the end, each participant got three beer samples (again for free!) Since I was with two other of age people, we were able to sample each of the 8 brews available on draught that day.

As a tourist, I decided to hit up the gift shop afterward. I got myself a nifty t-shirt that says, auf Deutsch "Beer is not just for breakfast anymore." I love it!

If you are in town and looking for a way to spend a lovely hour or two, definitely swing by Schlafly Bottleworks or the Schlafly Tap Room.

Brewery Tour: New Glarus Brewery

When I have free time, I love to explore Wisconsin and all of its splendour! Recently I have done this through the lens of brewery touring. Great idea, right? Back in September I visited the new (and improved) New Glarus Brewing Company. In November, I made it to Capital Brewing Company and Tyranena Brewing Company. More info to come on the Capital and Tyranena tours in the near future! Stay tuned!

In today's edition, I will give you the abridged version of the New Glarus Brewery, its claim to fame, products worth checking out and myexperience on the tour!

Come with me!

New Glarus Brewing Company

This place is just 15 miles north of my home town Monroe, nestled in New Glarus' hilly landscape. For those of you who have not made it to New Glarus, it is known for its very traditional Swiss architecture and design.

Moreover, it is known for its Swiss-German influenced brewing expertise. The New Glarus Brewery recently built a new brewery which is fondly called the Hilltop Brewery as it is found... well... on a hill! I visited the old New Glarus Brewery several years ago. The new brewery is considerably larger. This makes sense, since this brewery's popularity has taken off and continues to grow to meet the needs of its customers!

New Glarus Brewery's claim to fame is Spotted Cow. Although Spotted Cow is, by far, one of my least favorite New Glarus brews, I hold it a special place in my heart. After all, this was the first NG beer I ever tasted. Furthermore, this beer probably is why I like beer and have become the beer snob that I am! I consider it to be a gateway beer for people who drink cheap, crappy beer (or who do not drink beer at all.) This is unfiltered and yeasty, so it is full of flavor, but is light and has a wheat-like fruity quality. If you haven't tasted it, you must! I am serious. It is really easy to drink!

My current favorites from the NGBCo include:

Hop Hearty Ale - a slightly bitter Wisconsin IPA
Stone Soup Ale - an all around fantastic Abbey style ale
Staghorn Octoberfest - an amber slow lager only available in the autumn

My brewery tour was with two Japanese families who were in the area for a wedding. It was exciting for me to share some of Wisconsin's beer culture with them. This is a self-guided tour. It is nice because you can take things at your own pace. However, I wish there had been more staff/us interaction. I like feeling like I am hearing something "personalized." When I went on the tour at the old brewery, it was literally a circle. There were handheld devices which led you through the brewing process, but for the ever-restless youth (like me) it is not fun to just listen. The brewery itself is beautiful! Brand new... shiny... great! The best part of any tour is, of course, the tasting. The weather was lovely on this day, so we grabbed some picnic tables and sampled all of the brews they had available while gazing at the farm spotted hills. Three 3oz samples sell for $3.50, and you get to keep the little glass.

If you want to tour the brewery, you can Monday-Sunday, 10am-4pm. For that extra-special treat, they offer hard hat tours every Friday at 1pm. You have to sign up for this one in advance, and it costs you $18.50 plus tax. I haven't made it on the hard hat tour just yet... but it is in the making. I will hopefully report back soon!

Cheers!

Weyerbacher: Slam Dunkel

On a cold Monday night in Wisconsin, I need a little beer to warm the spirits! At Barriques, a local wine store/cafe/snack shop, I decided to grab a bite to eat and a good (hopefully) beer.

Tonight I opted for Weyerbacher's Slam Dunkel. While I have heard of Weyerbacher (in Easton, PA), I was unfamiliar with the Slam Dunkel... a "Double Dunkelweizen Ale." It just so happens that one of my favorite beers of all time is the Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel, so I figured I'd give it a shot!

How does it measure up?

When pouring it, I wasn't sure if I should expect an ultra-foamy and cloudy brew (like the unfiltered Franziskaner) or if it would be entirely different. It pours with little-to-no head and, despite being a maple brown color, is quite transparent. (Let's pause for a moment to acknowledge my concern... eep!) It has a nice smell which is almost reminiscent of a nut brown... ever so slightly sweet, but robust and quite evidently dark.

The initial flavor is very good and quite closely matches its bouquet. It is incredibly smooth in your mouth and finishes nicely, sweetly, and with courage, but with no "yeasty" flavor (or nose tickle). I mentioned my concern before, upon seeing something with such little indication of sediment. At this point I am relieved because the beer is quite flavorful! Perhaps, even, a slam dunk!

According to the bottle:

-7% ABV

According to the Weyerbacher website:

-Initially a small batch release (but was popular enough to make the seasonal rotation)

-It is unfiltered (which was surprising to me)

-Over 50% Wheat Malt

-addition of pale, Munich and chocolate (for flavor and color)

-its bitterness is subdued to allow the Weihenstephen yeast to shine through with its hints of clove and banana

-available in March (although I bought it on December 7th, 2009)

I cannot say that this beer surpasses my adoration for the Franziskaner, but it is a really nice dark wheat which I would recommend to any wheat or dark beer lover!

Oktoberfest Results... belated.

Oktoberfest was an astounding success! Thanks to all who participated! We ended up with 31 brews from all over the world. Read on to see how my specially trained taste testers rated each of the beers regarding flavor, bouquet and finish!

Abita Fall Fest
Average: Flavor = 5.86 Bouquet = 4.86 Finish = 6.43
My score: Flavor = 3 Bouquet = 5 Finish = 5

Aucht Ochlenterla Rauchbier
Average: Flavor = 8.56 Bouquet = 9.13 Finish = 8.81
My score: Flavor = 9.5 Bouquet = 10 Finish = 9.5
There was one comment for this beer. "Tastes like smoke."

August Schell's Octoberfest
Average: Flavor = 6.18 Bouquet = 4.4 Finish = 5.9
My score: Flavor = 4 Bouquet = 6 Finish = 6

Ayinger Oktoberfest
Average: Flavor = 7 Bouquet = 6.64 Finish = 6.86
My score: Flavor = 7 Bouquet = 6.5 Finish = 4
There was one comment for this beer in each category. "Flavor :) Bouquet :) Finish :)"

Beck's Oktoberfest
Average: Flavor = 4.38 Bouquet = 5.25 Finish = 4.38
My score: Flavor = 4 Bouquet = 7 Finish = 4
There was one comment for the bouquet of this beer. "Skunk."

Bell's Oktoberfest
Average: Flavor = 5.38 Bouquet = 5.5 Finish = 5.63
My score: Flavor = 4 Bouquet =7 Finish = 6


MORE TO COME ASAP!!! Check back tomorrow for the remaining Oktoberfest tasting results!!!

Sorry!

Oktoberfest results on the way...

...as are the reviews from my recent brewery tours: New Glarus Brewing Co., Capital Brewing Co. and Tyrenena Brewing Co.

...furthermore, I will talk about Capital's special release "Eisphyre."

Stay tuned!