So I made it out to the NSBE national convention this past March, and the locale was St. Louis. The only things I knew about St. Louis is that they were trying to extend Pujols' deal and what I read on
Byron Crawford's blog . That and the highest crime rate in the country. I land in the city and I have a couple of panel discussions I'm supposed to do this time, one of them with a US Congressmen on the panel, and lo and behold I did not have time to get my hair cut. So I ask the sistahs at the hotel and they direct me to this nice place in the hood. It was about 10AM so no need to worry about some bullish going down.
Anyway, after getting hooked up, I head over to the first of several brewpubs in the Lou, first up
Schlafly Taproom . I made this one my first stop as I heard about them through the Brewing Network. I get there smackdab at 11AM when they open, and belly up to the bar. The place smells of wort and grain (nice) and is spacious yet cozy. The chalk board has a ton of beer and the man working the bar knew his baseball. So I order up a flight along with some mussels and fries and have at it...
Beer Log: March 22, 2011
State: feeling good, got a new empty beer diary, ready to roll son
Hefeweizen
Good banana and orange peel nose. The taste is high banana and yeasty esters. It's kind of lemony for my taste and has moderate carbonation. This is certainly Bavarian and very well done, however the lemon knocks it from a 4 to a 3 star.
Pilsner
Good strong hops taste and kinda gritty on the tongue. Crisp, cool, high carbonation. Similar to Pilsner Urquell with all those saaz hops. Managed to forget to put down a rating.
Oktoberfest
Gold-amber-copper color without much of a scent. Not bad with the malty taste but I'm not in the right season for it. No rating
Altbier
Now I'm really looking forward to this one, as I love alts but rarely get them. Kinda fruity and plain with the taste (the thing that sucks about flights is that you lose the head and thus a larger portion of the scent to enjoy it. And unless you are boning the bartender will someone bring out a several 3 oz samples every few minutes.) I could see the style here more like an amber lager which I typically love, hello Eliot Ness. Very clear with a low butter and corn, slight acidic. Low 3 Stars.
Dry Hopped APA
Finally an American Pale Ale. Very smooth, good crisp hops. There is a great light biscuity flavor to go with the hops. I wish they ramped it up on the malt, but otherwise drinkable. 3 Stars.
Oatmeal Stout
Pitch black and delish. Very English with the smoothness, big chocolate and coffee. to make it all come together nicely. 4 Stars.
They had an American Amber on Cask of which I ordered a full glass to go to the mussels (which were killer by the way). Warm, soft, and kinda caramely like my favorite strippers. Nice hops but very mellow. High 3 Stars.
