More Schlafly News for Southern Hoosiers

If those of you near Louisville couldn't make it out, or didn't get your fill of Schlafly at the Schlafly Beer Dinner at L&N Wine Bar and Bistro on Tuesday the 13th of November, they're having another event on Wednesday the 14th:

WHAT: Schlafly Bourbon barrel-aged Imperial Stout release party

WHEN: Wednesday, November 14th, 2007, 8pm
WHERE: Bearno’s Little Sicily
1318 Bardstown Rd.
Louisville, KY 40204
502-456-4556

Louisville, KY – Join the Saint Louis Brewery, brewers of Schlafly Beer, and Bearno's Little Sicily on Bardstown Road as we introduce the 2007 vintage of Schlafly Bourbon Barrel-aged Imperial Stout.

This beer is our interpretation of a classic style. Around the time of the Louisiana Purchase, beer was not the mass-produced, light lager that most people consume today. Beer was darker in color, full-flavored, aggressively hopped, and had a high initial gravity. All of these characteristics would have helped the beer to remain fresh during extended periods at warmer temperatures while it was shipped in wooden barrels. If one had been lucky enough to receive a used Bourbon barrel full of Imperial Stout, this is what their happy taste buds would have encountered: roasty, rich, malty Imperial Stout with a strong dose of caramel, oak, and Bourbon character.

The event is Wednesday, November 14th and starts at 8:00 p.m. We will be tasting the 2007 vintage, as well as opening a few bottles of last year's vintage. This will be a unique opportunity for beer fans to taste what a year of bottle aging does to change the complexities of such a beer.

For more information about Bearno’s Little Sicily, go to www.bearnospizza.net. For more information about Schlafly Beer, call 314-241-BEER, or visit www.schlafly.com.

If you happen to make it out to the event, let us know how it goes - we'll be doing our own Knights of the Beer Roundtable comparison of these special edition (this year's and last year's) Schlafly beers in the near future.

A Detour to New Albanian

On my way to Kentucky last Friday, my cousin and I made a little detour on I-265 in New Albany to hit the New Albanian Brewing Company for some lunch and beer. Ever since tasting their Hoptimus at Brew-Ha-Ha, I've been really wanting to get down there to check them out.

The joint is pretty cool. They have an attached restaurant and catering facility, which is wierd, but the pub part is pretty kick-ass. It's like what the faux-Irish pubs try to do, but NABC succeeds at it. Leather chairs and couches, old style pub chairs, and even their famous "Red Room", which is, as you can see, named not only for the color of the wall, but also for all the Soviet and Chinese communist artifacts. It's actually quite a collection - for a history buff, it's pretty cool stuff. And the beer is pretty cheap. I mean, we were drinking imperial pints of Hoptimus, which comes in at 9-10% ABV, and only paying like $3.50 for them.

So it's obvious I love the Hoptimus. It's easily a 5 mugger. (Damn, I'm giving double IPA's really good ratings lately). I also tried their Elector, an Imperial Red Ale coming in around 7%. It was pretty good, too, but after drinking the Hoptimus first, it tasted bland. That's completely because of the high hops content of the Hoptimus, and is not a reflection of the Elector.

The food was pretty good, too. Both my cousin and I were happy with it. The service, while not horrible, did leave a little to be desired in the friendliness factor. But that's about the only non-positive thing I've got to say about the place. They also have a pretty extensive souviner area, with a cool t-shirt that says, "These machines kill facists" with brewing equipment underneath. Had to get one of those. Also, growlers are a great deal - $10.50. A half gallon of Hoptimus for $10.50! So I left with a full gallon of Hoptimus.

KOTBR #32 | Spencer's Stadium Tavern

Happy Halloween beer geeks.

For last Thursday night's Roundtable, several of the Knights met up at Spencer's along with some folks from Indy's chapter of Drinking Liberally. This was my first visit to the tavern and I thought the place was roomy while still being quiet enough to hold a conversation without having to yell (a HUGE plus in my book). I assume all of this goes out the window during Colts games, as it should. The place was very comfortable, even as we sat in the dark (the power to the bar and surrounding area went out for a short while).

The warmup all around (I think) was Ellie's Brown Ale from Avery Brewing Company. The coppery colored beer poured with little head and tasted metallic at first. As it warmed, something in the taste of this beer made me think of a cherry coke made from coke and grenadine. I would suspect it was the caramel malt but I can't say for sure. It's the usual as far as this style goes; drinkable, smooth, and malty.

Before I knew it, we were moving to the review. It's been a while since most of us reviewed a stout, so the choice was made for Bell's Special Double Cream Stout. I had to let this one set a while since it was served at about Budweiser temperature, but it worked out well since I hadn't yet finished my warmup. The nose on this was pretty amazing. It was incredibly complex, but also reminded me of an ashtray. The flavor was yeasty and a little earthy and also creamy and sweet. I really think this beer would be well served during the ugly parts of winter, (what part of winter isn't ugly?) so I think I am going to assign a tentative 3.25 mug rating on this and try again when the mug is warmer and the weather is colder.

*****
A side note about the Warbird brewery tour:

I am not going to rehash what Jason has so eloquently said, but I would like to say that the tour was awesome and I agree that this beer could really please any palate. I'm glad I had the opportunity to get some insight on this brewery and I took away a much greater appreciation for their beer. If you have passed up this beer in the past (like I reluctantly admit), you may want to take an opportunity to try it. The Warhawk Pale Ale is surprisingly hoppy and the Shanty Irish Red is really quite good.