To celebrate National Homebrew Day this year on May 2, the Saint Louis Brewery—better known as Schlafly—is releasing this homebrew-size recipe for its longtime flagship, the classic Schlafly Pale Ale. This session-strength, English-style pale ale has been a mainstay of the brewery since it opened in 1991.
For local homebrewers in the St. Louis area, the brewery also offered ingredient kits with everything needed to brew the beer at home. (They sold out in three hours.)
Alex Clifton, a brewer at Schafly, says the idea was a collaborative effort. “We thought, because National Homebrew Day is coming up and people are staying at home, why not put together something like this?”
Schlafly Pale Ale is an old-school, traditionally molded English-style pale ale of a type that used to be relatively common at American microbreweries but has since become rare. It balances bready-caramel malt character with subtle fruit and spice from the hops and yeast, and it’s at a strength that encourages multiple pints.
“Really, when you sit down and just want to have a beer, it’s a go-to for us here,” Clifton says. “Especially from the brite tank. It’s definitely underappreciated.”
Note: For the recipe below, we have made some adjustments to the ingredients to account for typical homebrew efficiency. Adjust as needed for your own system.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch Size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.047
FG: 1.013
IBUs: 25
ABV: 4.4%
MALT/GRAIN BILL
8.3 lb (3.8 kg) pale malt
13 oz (369 g) Caramel/Crystal 60
0.4 oz (11 g) chocolate malt
HOPS SCHEDULE
0.35 oz (10 g) Pilgrim [9.9% AA] at 60 minutes
0.16 oz (5 g) Bramling Cross [6% AA] at 60 minutes
0.64 oz (18 g) Northdown [6.4% AA] at 5 minutes
1.81 oz (51 g) East Kent Goldings [4.9% AA] at 5 minutes
YEAST Wyeast 1968 London ESB
DIRECTIONS Mill the grains and mash in with about 2.4 gallons (9 liters) of 165°F (74°C) water, to mash at 153°F (67°C) for 60 minutes. Lauter and sparge with enough water to get about 6 gallons (22.7 liters) of wort—or more, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 60 minutes, following the hops schedule. After the boil, cool the wort to 68°F (20°C), aerate, and pitch yeast. Ferment at 68°F (20°C) until completion.