Schlafly No. 15 Ale

By John & Dad on April 1, 2008 @ 8 PM (No Comments)

The Schlafly No. 15 comes to us from the Saint Louis Brewery in Missouri, the same state that houses Grandmother and Uncle Beer Love. This is another in a series of Thursday night phone reviews between Father and Son Beer Love.

We poured the 6% ABV 12 oz bottle into an American pint glass and pulled a temperature of 45 F. This bottle had a bottled on date of June 26, 2007 (we reviewed on January 31, 2008). We got a large 1 3/4″ off-white creamy head that produced a good amount of lacing as it dissipated quickly. There was a medium amount of carbonation and the appearance was a somewhat murky amber color.

The initial aromas were caramel, wheat, citrus (maybe grapefruit), herb, bubble gum and spices. The initial flavor was lightly sweet, lightly sour, and moderately bitter – the taste bud trifecta. The hops are strong, but not bad – it gives it a definite character. The taste gave us some more fruity flavors and the fruitiness increases as it warms. The finish flavor was lightly sweet and harshly bitter, with a long duration. This biting aftertaste may have a touch of that grapefruit we smelled to it. The mouthfeel was oily and the body lacing was fair, not nearly as impressive as the head lacing. On a malt to hop scale this one slides over somewhere in the mid range of the hoppy side.

Overall it’s drinkable, but not repeatable, not memorable and we wouldn’t want to buy it again. It would probably be better with food. It’s a decent ale from Schlafly, but it could be much better.

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