Schlafly Ibex Series: Lazy Ballerina debuts at tasting event

In an effort to post my beer articles here, I’m re-running some that I originally ran on the Examiner; this event was back in April and was posted to the Examiner on April 21st…

The St. Louis Brewery, also known as Schlafly, released the first beer in their Ibex Series on Saturday: Lazy Ballerina.  The Saison style beer features Chambourcin grapes from Chandler Hill Vineyards in Defiance, Missouri, and was aged in Chambourcin barrels in the Ibex Cellar.  The cellar is located under the Schlafly Tap Room, which typically houses the more unique beers that require barrel aging, non-conventional souring and hopping techniques, and their more inspired brewing styles.

“We’ll always be exceedingly proud of our traditional, true to style brews, but we founded The Saint Louis Brewery with a spirit of fun and adventure and it’s exciting to now share with the public our private collection that offsets our sense of tradition,” said Dan Kopman, co-founder of the brewery.  “Lazy Ballerina represents just that.”

The brewery offered a sold-out tasting event Saturday afternoon, where people could try and buy Lazy Ballerina and some of the other beers in the Ibex series, including American Sour Sale with Persimmons, Wild Lazy Ballerina, Blackberry Berliner Weisse, and others.  At this time, only Lazy Ballerina is available for sale ($18 per bottle) and is limited to 2100 large sized bottles.

So, how was Lazy Ballerina?  I got to sample the beer at the event.  The beer poured a dark red, almost purple color; it was medium hazy with a finger of foamy head.  I didn’t care for the taste much; the beer tasted like a mix of beer and wine together.  Some might like the taste, but I don’t like wine.  Granted, this is something that I could try a few times and start to enjoy.  The ABV is 7.35%, but seems lighter than that.  There wasn’t much of a hoppy aftertaste, which would appeal to some; I like hoppy beers though, so that was another miss for me.

The event was very well done; Schlafly knows how to put on a tasting and take care of their fans.  There was very little waiting in line and the live music helped to keep the atmosphere light.