I want to know what’s up with the hair-splitting going on with the “#1 Publicly Traded Brewery” thing I’ve seen going on since the AB/ Inbev thing.

Pabst Brewing sells around 5 Million barrels of beer a year in the U.S. Sure, they no longer own a brewery, but they do still employ a Brewmaster and other production/ QC folks at the Miller Milwaukee plant. Their 5 M barrels has to count for something, no?

Believe me, I there’s no love lost between me & Pabst. I just don’t care if a brewery is publicly traded or not.

Ah, was just at the 141/Big Bend Schnucks and the APA was 7.99 a sixer.

The O’Fallon was up to 7.99 a sixer as well.

As a brewer I enjoy reading comments about our beers. I try not to read too much into comparisons between beers. In Europe all beer labels must show the abv and stronger beers are taxed at higher rates. I am not advocating a change to our tax structure but the flat structure is part of the reason that American craft brewers are pushing abv’s higher and higher, with some brewers making their “session” beers at over 7%. it is interesting to note that at Young’s in London our Old Nick Barleywine was just over 7% abv. Comparing this to one of the new generation American barleywines…

New regulations that are coming in the next few years will really help retailers and consumers to make better comparisons. For example, the comparison between Schlafly Dry Hop APA and Bells Two Hearted can be made but there is over 1% difference in abv. I would expect someone looking for “more” or “bigger” to draw the same conclusion. The Schlafly abv equivalent would be our Export IPA. However, the Bell’s is a showcase for some specific American hop varieties and the Export IPA is made to showcase UK East Kent Golding hops. Again the comparisons are difficult.

Once the new regulations are in and the “serving facts” have to go on the label this will benefit the retailers and consumers. Once they are in and consumers think more about abv in relation to price it will be interesting to see if brewers adjust recipes to meet “category expectations”.

Keep the comments coming.

Dear Paul,
If you picked up Schlafly for $6/ 6 pk at Schnucks, it must have been a special buy that the store manager had over-ridden in the system. I believe that Schlafly is $6.99/ 6 pk currently at Schnucks, with the exception of their Special Release beers.

And Sam is right that we are $7.99/ 6 pk this month at Schnucks. Of course, you can get get us at Shop N Save for $7.39. Look for us to be $6.99 next month at all three local chain stores.

Currently, though, everyone can get us on sale at both Whole Foods locations and at Lukas Liquors for $6.99–for a limited time, of course!

Wow, how refreshing to read a beer article in the mainstream press written by someone who’s done their homework! Thank you Lauren Chapin and the KC Star!

The thing is, Schlafly seems to focus on English style beers, and authentic interpretations of classic styles, thus comparing them to a lot of American-style breweries is not quite fair.
Either way, I think they make a solid product.
Would I love to see an American IIPA from them? Sure. But, that doesn’t fit their style though.

See, I have to disagree with scottyp here. I see 2 hearted as a more balanced IPA that while does have a lot of hops, i tend to get more malt in the mouth and aftertaste. The APA (and 5 day) are hop bombs in my book (drinking an APA as I type), both have that nice citrus hop aroma and taste, the malt are second thoughts.

Schlafly does tend to follow english styles, but I think a lot of that has to do with Dan K’s previous work with Youngs.

Maybe we should have a “St Louis King of the Hops” where we put the 5 Day against the APA or Export IPA and see who comes out on top.

I’d actually like to see a IIPA from both O’Fallon and Schlafly, but with the shortage as it is, I doubt I see this until the crop stabilizes or a local hop farmer shows up.

wait, isn’t there a local farm showing up…………

one of the schlafly guys said that the APA is an IPA but they chose to call it an APA. that being said, i want some. im going to lukas to build a sixer of APA’s and 5 days.

After reading a few posts, I went to my Schnuck’s. They had both O’Fallon and Schlafly sixers for $5.99. I only picked up the Oktoberfest, but I might have to go back for a 5-Day and APA. I support both!

I just got some 5-day at Straub’s in Clayton for $5.99. Unfortunately, when I got home I noticed a date of January. Still tastes pretty good though.

Derek,

I am glad you addressed the date situation on the 5 day. I have bought several 6 packs over the past few months and many of them had a January 08 stamp. I suspected that something was amiss, but part of me thought that maybe the 5 day was not selling as well as I thought it should.

Thanks for clearing that up, but keep in mind that not everyone that buys beer in town realizes that it was a simple oversight. In the land of “born on dates” it looks like old beer.

Dear JP,
Thanks so much for the message. I totally understand and completely agree.

This is why I e-reprimanded Dave in the earlier post! Again, DAVE, look at what people other than me are saying on here; and, please make sure to put the right year on our 6-packs next time Brian goes on vacation!!!

Bill, believe me, I am all for you and anyone else picking up our beer as least expensive as you can, as long as you can. I just want you all to know that the stores should probably catch their mistake pretty soon and change it. The weird thing about it all is that the way chain-store pricing is set up, it is nearly always chain-wide in a given market. And, in order to extend a sale price longer, the manager would have to go in to his store’s system and manually over-ride the chain’s pricing. Incorrect sale tags and price signs can remain up after the sale is over, but usually the beer will still ring in at the correct price. All I can say is, enjoy it while it lasts!