Interview with Schlafly’s Brewery
33 Books Cider Product Line
December 3, 2016
Is Hard Cider Healthy?
January 10, 2017
When you think of St. Louis & it’s drinking culture, a distinct beer giant comes to mind. But, like many of the cities across the US, smaller craft breweries & cideries are popping up. St. Louis can offer more than an arch and watery beer and that is when we meet Schlafly beers. Since 1991, Schlafly’s Brewery have been making quality beer with quality ingredients for the masses. With a blast of obviousness, they have succeeded & become the largest independently owned craft brewery in all of Missouri.
As Schlafly has healthily grown into the beer market, they have one hidden treasure you may not know of just yet, and it lies just outside their hoppy zone. Cider! Yes, they have explored a newly received relationship with an English cider company. And, this is where we come in to tell you all the sweet details.
When I (Trevor) was going down to St. Louis for work, I reached out to Schlafly and was able to meet with the brand specialist Wil Rogers. Wil and I sat down to discuss Schlafly and, of course, sling back a few ciders. Our conversation started with an English course. We went over the proper way to say Schlafly which always seems to be an issue with newcomers to the brand. Let’s get it out of the way for you, too. It is pronounced SHH-LAUGH-LEE, to make it simple. Once we got that out of the way, I discovered the real reason a brewery is making cider in the first place. Wil said it came down to opening a second location and the backwards, old-school laws of the area. They were not able to open another brewing location, so they had to open their second location under a wine license, which fermented apples fit snuggly under. Thus, they had to create a certain amount of cider to keep the license and the other location open.
Ever since, they have been creating a variety of ciders through trial and error and releasing them on limited release on tap at their locations. They have a standard, year-round cider they keep on tap that is a 7.2% crisp and traditional American cider(http://schlafly.com/beers/styles/hard-apple-cider/). Wil said there are no plans to bottle up their ciders but they have seen an increase in cider interest, and this helps drive some of the creative flavor experiments.
Our conversation turned towards the new exciting partnership they have with Sandford Orchard in Devon, England. Sanford Orchards is run by Barny Butterfield who has been making cider in England for a long time. On a train ride across England, Schlafly co-founder Dan Kopman met Barny and they began to speak about their business’s and practices. This relationship grew and the Schlafly team visited the orchard to learn the old techniques of making cider and the unique varieties of apples they source. In return, Schlafly showed their experience and know-how of working with hops to create some unique ciders. The result was the Proper Cider pack created by Sandford Orchards and imported to the US via Schlafly as a collaboration. This means the cider is more to American tastes but has the advantages of cider culture in England and English cider apples. The 4 pack includes: vintage cask, dry-hopped, scrumpy, and raspberry.
As Wil and I continued to talk, he popped open each flavor, bottle by bottle, for us to drink and discuss. We started off with the Scrumpy’s. With low carbonation, high tannin, and a nice dryness, this was a great starting point. This was about as traditional of an English cider as you can get and opened the pallet for sampling. We then went to the dry-hopped which had solid hoppy notes, but I was intrigued by the flavor of the hops which were quite different. Wil explained that they use an Australian hop which is not as “piney and direct” but has more fruity notes and tropical flavors. The vintage cask was our next selection and it was very different from other casked ciders I have tried in the past. The oaky notes were toned down and there was a subtle vanilla flavor. The casks they used is aged with 100+ years on it so the oaky notes are more subtle, letting the apple flavor still pop through. Lastly, we got to the raspberry which was a nice fruit finish of tart raspberrys that tasted fresh from the field. We will be reviewing each cider in the future so stay tuned for those reviews.
As we finished up our last drinks, Wil said they would likely do this again next year as a limited release if everything fairs well this year. You can pick up your own 4-pack for $17.99 at any of the main Schlafly locations and you can learn more about the company and the cider at their website www.schlafly.com. Make sure to visit them and have a cider or two and a beer to wash it all down. Cheers to Schlafly and their introduction to cider production in the St. Louis market, we salute you!
