2008 Repeal of Prohibition Celebration - a Recap

This last Saturday was spent at the Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood for the Repeal of Prohibition celebration, hosted by the St. Louis Brewery (Schlafly) and four fine craft breweries from across the border in Indiana. While the weather wasn't as nice as I had hoped it might be, the cold and wet conditions were more than compensated for in great craft beer and a great beer-loving crowd.

While Schlafly Beer from St. Louis and Three Floyds beer from Munster, Indiana were likely the most recognizable names at the celebration, terrific beers were on hand from each of the five breweries participating. Mad Anthony Brewing Company out of Ft. Wayne, Indiana brought along their Ol Woody Pale Ale, Auburn Lager and Black Squirrel Oatmeal Stout. I found the oatmeal stout to be particularly nice ... very smooth with a medium-light body, making it imminently drinkable.

New Albanian Brewing Company from New Albany showed up with some of the most intriguing beers at the event, hands down. I have to say I was impressed. If you enjoy "big" beers, this is the brewery for you. Their Elsa Von Horizon Imperial Pilsner and Hoptimus Imperial IPA made an appearance, along with a truly excellent cherry Imperial Stout they call Thunderfoot (one of my wife's favorite's of the day too!) The beer that arguably caused the most buzz at the event, however, was a strange brew called Phoenix Kentucky Komon. As New Albanian's website puts it,

"The Louisville area’s only indigenous beer style during the 19th-century heyday of local brewing was an everyday quaffer with adjuncts (often a percentage of sour mash from corn), generally dark, brewed and consumed quickly, and seldom spotted far from the source brewery."

This one contained both flaked corn and rye and was easily one of the more unusual beers on hand. Kudos to New Albanian Brewing for their adventurous and experimental spirit! I've quickly become a fan and hope to pay a visit to the brewery in the not too distant future.

Three Floyds gave us their popular flagship beer, Alpha King Pale Ale, which is always a hit. The Munster Indiana crew also graced us with Rabbid`Rabbit - a unique Belgian-style Saison Farmhouse Ale. While not as dry as I'd have expected from a Saison, this one was a welcome departure from the malt-heavy ales I'd been sipping all afternoon. Both "big" (9% ABV) and tart, this was definitely a stand-out.

Brugge Brasserie, coming from Terre Haute Indiana, made sure we got our fair share of Belgian-inspired ales as well. Their Brugge Black, which I'm guessing is probably classified as a Belgian Strong Dark, was really very good. Their Brugge White was okay (actually tasted a little skunky to me, but I won't attribute this to the beer as a whole, since these were certainly not optimal serving conditions), but the highlight was the Tripel De Ripple - a very spicy, yeasty tripel of excellent quality.

Last but never least were the beers from our esteemed host, Schlafly. Admittedly, the majority of beers available from Schlafly I had sampled before on numerous occasions, but as I hoped, the St. Louis Brewery boys brought out a few special treats that couldn't be missed. So while I reserved most of my sampling capacity for the guest breweries, I did enjoy a few rare (for me) treats like the Imperial Stout and Biere De Garde on tap, as well as the subtle yet flavorful Maplewood Ale - an American Strong Ale brewed with maple syrup - which I'd never tried before. Excellent.

The highlight of the day, however, had to be the arrival of the awe-inspiring device known only as "Confucius" - a dry-hop infusion filter of sorts, created by Schlafly engineer James "Otto" Ottolini, through which the Schlafly APA was filtered and then poured directly into the sample glass. Fresh hop heaven in a glass, my friends.

All in all, an excellent event despite the weather's lack of cooperation. A big thank you to Schlafly Bottleworks for hosting, Susan Haberer for the invite, the Indiana breweries and their beers for a terrific day of tasting, to Jim from the Aleuminati for the company - great to meet you! - and to our new friends Jim and Dianne - hope you can stay in touch!

For more photos, visit my recap on The Aleuminati. While you're there, register as a member for free.