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Come January, we could care less about low-alcohol session beers or crisp pilsners. With the eyeball-numbing winds blustering outside, we crave a brawny brew to warm us just like a liquid radiator.
For this, we turn to the geographic heart of American brewing. Since 1991, St. Louis Brewing Company has appeased Midwestern microbrew lovers with its line of Schlafly brews, including a British-style pale ale, a righteously roasty oatmeal stout and bottle-conditioned Belgian brews. But caught in the icy clutches of winter, we only swoon for the Schlafly Reserve Imperial Stout, a concoction fit for icicles season.
"The ideal condition for drinking this beer is that it's snowing outside, there's a fire going and you've hung up your car keys for the night," chief brewer Stephen Hale says of his imperial stout. To avoid a cloyingly sweetness, the big, robust beer was brewed with a bitter edge (about 50 IBUs, owing to chocolate malts and a hearty dose hops), then aged in bourbon-drenched Jim Beam barrels for several months.
While Hale says you can further age this release ("Keep the bottle away from light and heat and store it at a steady temperature"), it's fit for drinking today. After warming the bottle to about 50 or 55 degrees (making the aromas of charred oak and vanilla more pronounced), pour this dark-brown potion into a snifter. Swirl it, and you'll sniff some fudge and caramel, making this a perfect mate for chocolate cake. But the Reserve is dessert enough: It drinks creamy and rich, with flavors that flit from cherry to bourbon and a smoldering warmth fueled by the 10.5 percent ABV.
Who needs a sweater or scarf? Schlafly Reserve will keep us toasty as we outlast Old Man Winter.
Do you relish rich stouts that are as dark as midnight? Spill it in the comments.
Joshua M. Bernstein has written about brews, bars and booze for New York Magazine, Time Out New York, ForbesTraveler.com and the New York Times.
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1-18-2010 @5:34PM Just curious said... I wonder if this is any relation to fellow St. Louisite Phyllis Schlafly the crusty, old conservative bigot, misogynist (railed against ERA) and homophobe?
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1-18-2010 @6:21PM mikesweeney said... Just a quick disclaimer, I want to get out of the way that I am a part-time employee of the St. Louis Brewery, makers of Schlafly Beer. But I'm not speaking on behalf of Schlafly, I'm just a guy expressing my own opinion.
Two things: First, Phyllis Schlafly married into the Schlafly family, she's not a blood Schlafly. Second, Tom Schlafly (the co-owner of the St. Louis Brewery) is a life-long Democrat and the St. Louis Brewery supports a ton of local causes and is very environmentally conscious.
1-18-2010 @6:22PM mikesweeney said... Just an additional link for that comment I just put up, it's an interview with Tom Schlafly done with St. Louis Magazine.
http://www.stlmag.com/media/St-Louis-Magazine/January-2007/A-Conversation-with-Tom-Schlafly/
1-18-2010 @6:26PM schlaflybeerfan said... Schlafly Beer and Tom Schlafly couldn't have less to do with Phyllis Schlafly (the crusty, old conservative bigot, misogynist and homophobe.) They brew great beer and as mikesweeney said, they do a lot for their community.
Reply
1-18-2010 @6:36PM Duff said... Free State Brewery in Lawrence, KS is hands down a better micro brewery. http://freestatebrewing.com/about
Reply
1-18-2010 @7:06PM Pylon said... Really? Based on what? You've extensively sampled all the products of both, certainly, to make such a bold statement, so I'm interested in hearing some specifics about what makes FSB "hands down" better.
1-18-2010 @9:02PM Duff said... I'd be glad to expand on my claims, Pylon! Yes, i have tried alot of what Schlafly has to offer. They do offer a decent Saison but i feel their mainstays are a bit hit or miss. What they have over Free State is a larger bottling facility. I have also had a vast amount of Free State brews ranging from barrel aged stouts, an impressive Oktoberfest and my favorite IPA, copperhead pale ale. here is their beer archive; http://freestatebrewing.com/beer/archive
Free State was also the first KS brewery to open since Prohibition in 1989 and is closer to the "geographic heartland."
of course reading about beer on the internet isnt as convincing. Come to Lawrence and ill buy you a round.