Beer of the Moment: Schlafly White Lager

The Saint Louis Brewery announced back on March 20—the first day of Spring—that its seasonal White Lager would be upgraded to the year-round lineup. The unfiltered lager was developed as part of the brewery’s Small Brews program, a weekly small-batch experiment at its Bottleworks location, before appearing as a late-year seasonal release in 2015 and 2016. As the weather warms up and we’re assessing our go-to summer options, it’s our latest Beer of the Moment: a deftly structured German-style lager with firm hops and a hint of mint.

Schlafly’s White Lager pours modestly hazed, with a bright golden-straw color, well-formed white foam and solid lacing. Hay and toasty pilsner malt lead the aromatics, accompanied by pepper and mineral notes—a snappy, clean lager with the subtlest backdrop of fruit. Its hop character feels reasonably traditional: herbaceous, spicy, with the aforementioned mint. The bitterness (given as 25 IBUs) plays out well against the counterbalance of toast and honeyed malts, keeping things both refreshing and complex—perfect for multiple pints. Rousing the yeast at the bottom of the bottle adds further almond notes, while tempering the bitterness. This sample arrived a bit ago, but was refrigerated since receipt and showed no sign of age.

White Lager is now available year-round in kegs and six-packs across Schlafly’s distribution territory (which, sadly, doesn’t include our NorCal offices). For dedicated fans of unfiltered lagers: Oregon’s 10^th annual, multi-weekend Zwickelmania will be coming up in early 2018.

About Beer of the Moment:

All About Beer Magazine’s Beer of the Moment series aims to find that compass heading in the endless sea of new beers. Whether classic or the current cutting edge, these are fresh releases that inspire, that challenge, that stand for something. They’re why we’re All About Beer.

Think you’ve got something good that might fit the bill for Beer of the Moment? Get in touch via @allaboutbeer on Twitter or Instagram, or email us at [email protected]

Ken Weaver is the beer editor of All About Beer Magazine

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