You Pronounce Schlafly Like Laughly

Not like Mayfly
I learned this the hard way. While ordering it at a bar.

The Saint Louis Brewery (from the Missouri city of the same name) brews Schlafly. Dan Kopman and Tom Schlafly started brewing in 1989 and distribute to much of the Midwest and Northeast. I've noticed with many of these Midwestern brewers, that they expand east across the fruited plain to Appalachia with more ease than they expand south. I think the Ozarks and the Arbuckles form some sort of impenetrable barrier that makes beer shipment impossible.

Or it could be that special brand of Texas nationalism that scorns any beer not home brewed. In Texas you have three echelons of beer. You have the cold urine style which includes Lonestar and Corona (Mexican beers count as local beers in Texas since we used to be all the same place). You have the slightly better than cold urine beers: Shiner (from Shiner) and Ziegenbock (from Houston). Finally, for those with more refined pallates, you can always buy Texas craft beer from Saint Arnold's brewery (also from Houston).

I've always been a fan of Saint Arnold's, if nothing else for the packaging. Every bottle shows old St. Arnold, the patron saint of brewers, holding a beer and hailing a star in the sky. If you look closely, you'll see the star is shaped like the state of Texas. Brilliant.

Texans also drink Miller and Budweiser, but only in the vicinity of trailer parks and towns like Pasadena.

Back to Schlafly. The other night we picked the Schlafly Oktoberfest, spelled with a K so it looks more German. You can probably tell from the color, we're dealing with another Amber Ale. Like all Amber Ales, it tasted crisp, caramelly, and delicious.

Do what you want, but my suggestion: Give it a try.

Why do you drink so many Amber Ales, one might ask. Well, because that's pretty much the only beer Aine wants to drink. So Amber Ale it is. To be fair, she also like Brown Ales. But IPAs are right out.

Of course, for a well round dinner, we also needed, you know, food. And since we haven't mastered our fear enough start exploring the phenomenon known as Illinois Mexican Food, we just make our own.

Chicken quesadillas with black beans and corn. With the obligatory homemade salsa slathered over the top.

Pumpkin Beer
I need to talk to you about something serious. I don't know if this is a regional thing or the latest trend gripping the beer world. I don't remember seeing these last year in Austin, but this year, we've seen this explosion of pumpkin beers.

It's getting out of hand.

Wanting to keep ahead of any beer fad before it goes flat, we sampled some of the pumpkin beers available here.

First we tried Smuttynose, a brewery out of New Hampshire. Not exactly local, but this has been the best of the pumpkin beers we've tried. The pumpkin flavor was mellow, with nutmeg and cinnamon and all the usual spices. Also, for a mascot, they use the most adorable little seal. Give it a try.

The brewers named their beer after Smuttynose Island, the third largest in a group of islands off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire. The islands, collectively called Isles of Shoals, received their names from John Smith, hairy Englishman of Pocahontas fame, in 1614. Several years later, when the Puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony, they incorporated the islands into their claim. So much for the Algonquians that fished there. Aside from a legend about Blackbeard having his honeymoon on this island, most people who have heard of it, know it for the savage murders that occurred in the 1870s. German fisherman Louis Wagner killed two Norwegian sisters, Karen and Anethe Christensen, one by strangling, the other by hatchet. A third woman, Maren Hontvet escaped and testified against him. He escaped from the island, though, and fled to Boston. The authorities hunted him down, hauled him back, and sentenced him to death. Then he broke out of jail and escaped again. They found him in New Hampshire this time and promptly hung him to prevent any further shenanigans.

But that's not even remotely local or Midwestern, so forget I said anything about Smuttynose Island.

Next we tried the New Belgian pumpkin beer. New Belgian brews their beer in Colorado and when it comes to pumpkin beer, I think they should keep it there. This just tasted like mediocre beer with a gourdy aftertaste. Do not buy.

Then, for a poker night, we bought some of the Schlafly (pronounced like laughly, not like mayfly) Pumpkin Ale. This tasted like pumpkin pie in a bottle, which seemed a little alarming at first. However, we grew accostomed to the overpowering flavor very quickly, probably because it had an 8% alcohol content. Needless to say, I did not do well in poker that night.

Give it a try, if you have nothing to lose.