Schlafly To Release The Variant II on December 8

Schlafly Beer announces today the upcoming release of The Variant II, the next Ibex Rare and the most exclusive series from the largest, locally owned craft brewer in St. Louis. The Variant II will be the only Ibex Rare release for 2018. On Saturday, December 8 at 11 a.m., Schlafly Beer will release The Variant II at the Schlafly Tap Room (2100 Locust), and a limited number of bottles will also be available in the market.

The Variant II follows its predecessor Ibex Rare: The Variant, which was released in Spring 2017 and met with great fanfare with a line around the block. The Variant II is a blend of two different variations of the base 9.4% Imperial Stout, offering a multi-layered experience. While The Variant was aged in port barrels with cocoa nibs, The Variant II is a blended stout that is both aged in brandy barrels as well as aged with sour cherries. The brewers aged a portion of the stout with the sour cherries for four weeks and another in the brandy barrels for six months. After the aging process, they developed the ideal blend of the two liquids.

Lead Brewer Jared Williamson oversees the Ibex Rare program and explains how the brewing team developed the brew. He states, “We were blown away with the response to The Variant so we wanted to be sure that the next variation was something special. The conversations started amongst our brewing team, and we are getting really inspired by cocktails at Schlafly with a lot of our beers (such as our Cellar Series Kentucky Mule and Paloma Gose) so we started kicking around ideas about flavors inspired by classic cocktails like an Old Fashioned or Manhattan. The combination of the brandy barrels and cherries was the perfect blend to evoke those flavor profiles with our base Imperial Stout.”

For tasting notes, Williamson says, “Rich notes of sour cherries are the first aromatics to jump out of your glass, followed by luxurious dark malts and candy-like booze notes from the brandy barrels. As your glass warms, you will find more barrel character and nuances reminiscent of a classic Manhattan.”

The Variant II continues the values of the Ibex Rare series: to showcase the Schlafly brewers’ commitment to the artistry, ingenuity and passion for craft beer. The series showcases what happens when the brewers take a no-holds-barred approach to brewing beer. The series predecessors include: Lazy Ballerina, The Eleventh Labor as well as Devil’s Farmhouse.