Ask A St. Louis Expert: Fall Beers To Try
Schlafly Tap House
2100 Locust St.
St. Louis, MO 63103
(314) 241-2337
www.schlafly.com
When it comes to brewing beer in St. Louis, Dan Kopman knows his craft well. He is the co-founder and CEO of Schlafly Beers. While some brews are appropriate to drink year round, there are a few he would recommend specifically for drinking during the cooler outside temperatures of the fall. Ask him, and he will tell you not only what ingredients go into the beer, but he will also provide you with a brief history that led up to the flavor and the naming of each brew. Stop into Schlafly Tap House to enjoy the finest of the fall flavors in these top picks for fall.
Drink a bold and aromatic flavor joined with pine and citrus aroma. The APA is short for American Pale Ale which follows the English Pale Ale style with a bold taste rich in American hops. This year-round beer has a slightly hazy, golden amber appearance. It goes through an unfiltered dry hopped process using Cascade and US Chinook hops and pale with caramel grains.
Pour a strong, aromatic variety rich in citrus and pineapple flavor. The IPA stands for India Pale Ales which were first brewed in England in the latter part of the 1700s and were used to send to British soldiers in India. To ensure the beer stayed fresh during transport, they used natural preservatives including more malted barley and hops. Keeping the tradition alive, this bright, golden brew is processed as a single hop or single malt beer through a dry hopped process using Galaxy hops from Australia and pale grains.
Oktoberfest began as a Bavarian celebration when the last brew of the previous season, which had been stored in cellars and caves during the summer, was served. Stop by during the months of September or October to experience the bright amber brown beer named after this fall festival. Taste the slight caramel flavor of this smooth, crisp beer as you enjoy the toasty malt aroma. This is a traditional German Lager brew using pale, caramel, Munich grains allowing the lager yeast to ferment cold and slowly.
Get ready for the crisp coolness of fall with this rich beer nicely accented with sweetness. Relish the apricot and allspice aroma styled after the tradition of the farmhouse ales of Northern France where beer would be brewed in early spring and then stored in cold cellars during the heat of the summer. This burnt orange and slightly hazy drink is processed traditionally in French farmhouse style as an artisanal ale. Enjoy the toffee sweetness with a subtle flavor of spice from its pale, Munich, Caravienne and Biscuit malts with Strisselspalt and Marynka hops.
Fall is harvest time, but since malt was hard to come by during the early days of America, colonists used squash and pumpkin instead to help in the fermenting process. Pumpkins and fall go hand-in-hand, so try a beer that tastes like liquid pumpkin pie. This ale is brewed with pumpkin squash, blended with spices of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, and served only from August through October. Enjoy its bright copper color that comes from the pale, Crystal, Munich, Wheat and Chocolate grains with Marynka hops.
Related: Top Pumpkin Treats in St. Louis
