Schlafly APA

Brewed by Saint Louis Brewery
Style: American Pale Ale
Maplewood, Missouri USA

Sep 06 bottling (Expedition APA). Head is initially average sized, frothy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is light amber. Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain), moderately hoppy (herbs, grapefruit), trace yeast (dough). Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, watery/velvety texture, lively carbonation. Almost a good quaffer, but there is just a bit too much lingering sweetness in the finish, which becomes kind of annoying. Not bad though.

Mostly just average. Not much in the hops department for an APA, but a decent beer overall.

Bottle. Poured a golden amber with a one-finger head. Malt base immedietly evident along with a strong hop flavor. Good pale ale.

Come on everyone, this is a pretty good pale ale! One of the best brews to come out of Schlafly in my opinion. Pours nice dark golden yellow with great carbonation. Mild flavor to appeal to a wide variety of tastes. This brew is some on here call a "session" beer...meaning easy to down a sixer without a second thought!

Dead ringer for Mirror Pond Pale Ale. For all you flatlanders, MPPA is the benchmark of American Pale Ales. And murawski (138), it is not the same beer, can’t you taste the cascade hopps and the malt differences? Too used to Budwieser, huh. This is the best beer I could find in the Midwest since I moved here, next to the Bridgeport IPA imported from Portland OR.

Bottle. Amber in color with a one finger head, obviously filtered. Nice citrusy hop aroma, not too strong. Flavor had some decent hop bitterness to it. I was a bit disappointed with the malt base though; not very much too it. A simple APA, nothing spectacular.

Bottle. Poured clear copper color with an average frothy off-white head that was mostly lasting with good lacing. Moderate cour citrus hoppy aroma. Medium body with a smooth texture and lively carbonation. Medium balanced flavor with a medium bitter finish of moderate duration. Solid drinkable beer.

Well, I was tricked into thinking that my "Expedition Reserve" was some sort of special limited release by Schlafly -- but no, come to find that it’s just their standard boring American Pale Ale is a different bottle with a fancy label. I loath when breweries do this -- shameless marketing. When you sell a Reserve, it had better actually be that. OK, about the ale. I was fooled by the aroma (which actually has nice hoppy nose). The color isn’t bad either. But the flavor lets me down every time. Very dull on the hoppy flavor. For Schlafly beers overall, I just don’t like their palate or mouthfeel. A bit too fizzy for me, and it’s the same with every beer. Now that you know my opinions about Schlafly, you should also know that I drink their beer quite frequently (Reason: I’m in St. Louis, and I refuse to drink Budweiser unless I’m watching a Cards game). By the way, GO CARDS! WORLD CHAMPS 2006!