My friend Matt is a big fan of St. Louis and he’s raved about Schlafly beer, brewed by The St. Louis Brewery. This piqued my interest because I have a trip to St.Louis planned for later this year. The trip isn’t until August, but I’ve already been plotting my visit to either the SchlaflyTap Room or Schlafly Bottleworks. I was prepared to wait a few months to try Schlafly beer, but I didn’t have to – Schlafly has arrived in the DC area!

I first had Schlafly beer at Rustico in Arlington, Virginia. I was there for an office happy hour and saw seven Schlafly beers on the draft menu. Why so many? The bartender explained that there was a Schlafly event the night before to help launch Schlafly into the DC beer scene. I was sorry to miss the event, but happy that the Schlafly taps were still pouring. I went with the cask offerings and tried the:

• Pale Ale, the Schlafly flagship brew is smooth and sessionable at 4.4% ABV
• Dry-Hopped American Pale Ale, uses a hefty dose of American hops to create a bold, bitter ale (5.9%)
• Winter ESB, a delicious and balanced bitter (5.8%)

The cask beers were excellent and Rustico is an awesome beer destination. I had been to the Alexandria, Virgina location and was excited when a Rustico opened in Arlington near my office. I’ll be stopping in as often as I can.

Having whet my appetite with Schlafly on draft, I was ready to try more. I saw that there was a Schlafly tasting at Westover Market, which is an excellent beer store with an outdoor beer garden near my office. So I decided to stop by on the way home from work to see what they were pouring. The in-store beer tasting was part of the series of planned events to launch Schlafly in DC, and I tasted the:

• Pale Ale
• Dry-Hopped American Pale Ale
• Kölsch
• Quadrupel
• Coffee Stout
• Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

Now these pours were a bit too small to be able to offer detailed notes, but I can say that I enjoyed them all. The Coffee Stout had a strong coffee profile and the Quad and Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout were real treats. I brought home some bottles of the drinkable American Pale Ale and loved it.

Even though I can now find Schlafly here in the DC area, I’m really looking forward to my trip to St. Louis!