[Editor's note: Schlafly Beer debuted its smart-phone app last month, and we asked two Gut Check bloggers, Robin Wheeler and Andrew Veety, to take it for a spin. Below, their respective reviews.]

Robin Wheeler's take:

​Everyone loves a good shiny thing. Press a button and receive yummy tidbits of information and we're rat-happy. Who doesn't want a free iPhone app?

Combine a free app with local food and beer? Even better!

All it takes to make an app is a relatively inexpensive piece of software and a little tech knowhow. There's no reason chains like Chipotle and Starbucks should own the market on apps. Maybe Schlafly's entrance into the app world will inspire other St. Louis restaurants and food companies to follow suit. We've gotta start somewhere.

Like at the top of the application's main page, and what's not so hot about it.

The newsletter link goes to the Schlafly website, which isn't optimized to read on an iPhone. A dedicated iPhone version of the newsletter would work so much better.

And what's the point of the e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook links, which go to the user's e-mail, Twitter and Facebook accounts? Users already have access to those features built into their iPhone. If these links took you to Schlafly's Facebook page, where you might post on their wall, send a Tweet or directly e-mail the company, they'd be a lot more useful.

Now the good stuff...

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This past Friday O'Fallon Brewery released its newest beer, O'Fallon Hemp Hop Rye, in bottles. O'Fallon president Tony Caradonna describes it as "an amber ale brewed with both toasted hemp seeds and rye."

Head Brewer Brian Owens' recipe contains three kinds of malted barley, two types of rye, three varieties of hops and toasted hemp seed. Rye isn't traditionally a common brewing ingredient, but it has been gaining popularity with craft brewers for the unique spiciness it brings to beer.

Dave Nelson

​And what about the hemp?

"Hemp is a botanical cousin to hops and we use one that's grown organically," Owens explains. "It's extremely nutritious and adds a wonderful nutty flavor in the finish. It's a perfect complement to the rye and to the Cascade, Hallertauer and Summit hops in the beer."

Kudos to O'Fallon for not playing up the marijuana connection in its marketing for Hemp Hop Rye (like so many beers that make use of hemp seeds).

Gut Check grabbed a six-pack on release day and spent some quality time with it over the weekend.

Hemp Hop pours a decidedly hazy light amber color. It smells of caramel malt, with a bit of butterscotch and a touch of spiciness. It's pretty heavy-bodied, with plenty of toffee and toasty malt flavors. There's enough hop bitterness to keep it balanced, but it's not a particularly hoppy beer in either taste or aroma. The finish is plenty long, and would pair with food much as a traditional English pale ale would: fish and chips, shepherd's pie or other classic pub fare.

Cheers! Drinkers celebrated 77 years of OK'ed imbibing on Saturday in Maplewood.

Schlafly's Repeal of Prohibition Festival, held Saturday at Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Avenue) provided 25 brews, from Schlafly and three Michigan based micro-breweries. $25 got beer-drinkers a festival glass with unlimited refills and a tasting guide.

The Michigan brewers at the event were all state-wide micro brewers, giving St. Louisans an opportunity to try flavors they may not taste otherwise. Mt. Pleasant Brewing Company, Short's Brewing Company and Kuhnhenn Brewing Company brought sixteen kinds of beer to the festival. The three breweries collaborate to get their goods to St. Louis. They rented a yellow Penske van and picked up the beer from each brewery.

Schlafly brought out twelve different beers, along with a very special brew that was made in combination with a German-based brewer. For more of that check out the photos below.


​Jilian Rappaport (left) and Edina Appelbaum, both Washington University students, enjoying themselves at the Repeal of Prohibition Festival. Their favorite beer was "White Devil" by Kuhnhenn Brewing Company.
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RFT Editorial Fellow Matt Kasper's final dispatch from Cicero's beer school. View a slide show.

Time to pour out a little liquor for beer school. It's over. No more I.B.U. updates, no more observations about smooth ale and bitter E.S.B.

Last night we, the graduates, received beer glasses with "Cicero's Beer School Class of 2008" pasted on the side.

We also received a card that allows us to purchase one beer per sitting at a discounted price -- not valid for specials -- until May 1.

Read more about what happened on our last class after the jump.

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Every Wednesday, from roughly 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Delmar Loop institution Cicero's hosts beer school. As part of a semi-regular account of the beer sampling and sudsy knowledge gained, RFT editorial fellow Matt Kasper will write about the beer he tastes and the people who present it.

The semester is almost over. After twelve weeks of note-taking, studying and balancing driving with imbibing, Beer School has come to a close. Graduation is next week. Lots of prizes and treats are promised...I'll try not to cry.

Last night we sampled four brews from the Left Hand Brewing Company based in Longmont, Colorado. Read more about these "phenomenally balanced" brews, as sales manager Mike Walters describes them, after the jump.

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Every Wednesday, from roughly 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Delmar Loop institution Cicero's hosts beer school. As part of a semi-regular account of the beer sampling and sudsy knowledge gained, RFT editorial fellow Matt Kasper will write about the beer he tastes and the people who present it.

If you are reading this at work and get thirsty, Matt apologizes. But maybe you shouldn't be wasting company time.

It was a night for the hopheads -- the second half anyway.

The Missouri Beverage Company showed up with a selection of four drastically different beers. The next time anyone tells you beer ain't diverse -- most likely not the most pressing concern for people, but an ugly stereotype nonetheless -- just offer them a little St. Peter's and Bear Republic.

The beers from St. Peter's included the English Ale followed by the Cream Stout. St. Peter's Brewery started in Suffolk, England in 1996 and bottles their beer apothecary-style. The tall, bulky, green bottle has shoulders a linebacker would envy, and is based on a 1770 design, according to Jim McGinn, field sales manager for the company.

It tastes unusual, I think. The hops are organic and come from Australia's twisted sister, New Zealand. McGinn described it as very light -- crisp, clean with a little citrus in it.

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Every Wednesday, from roughly 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Delmar Loop institution Cicero's hosts beer school. As part of a semi-regular account of the beer sampling and sudsy knowledge gained, RFT editorial fellow Matt Kasper will write about the beer he tastes and the people who present it.

If you are reading this at work and get thirsty, Matt apologizes. But maybe you shouldn't be wasting company time.

At this point, almost every St. Louisian knows about Schlafly. The seasonal beers are available at grocery stores. The Tap Room [See my review! -- Ian] and Bottleworks attract buckets of people. The beer is tasty, sometimes a little watery, always affordable. What I didn't know until Wednesday's class is that their brewers have an encyclopedic knowledge about brewing.

The tasting was great. We usually try four beers, sometimes only three. Last night we quaffed --count 'em -- five. No one beer sent me through the roof, but all of them were very good.

More after the jump...

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Every Wednesday, from roughly 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Delmar Loop institution Cicero's hosts beer school. As part of a semi-regular account of the beer sampling and sudsy knowledge gained, RFT editorial fellow Matt Kasper will write about the beer he tastes and the people who present it.

If you are reading this at work and get thirsty, Matt apologizes. But maybe you shouldn't be wasting company time.

Bell's Brewery came all the way from Kalamazoo, Michigan, to beer school last night to offer samples of its Amber Ale, the unique gold pale ale Third Coast and -- my personal favorite -- the hoppilicious Two Hearted Ale.

Jim O'Connor, a brewery representative for Bell's, started off talking about the history of the company, including how how a $200 donation from Larry Bell's mother in 1984 helped launch his investment in home brewing. The brewery opened in 1985.

The amber ale, 5. 8 percent ABV, is made with Munich and caramel malts. It offered a bitter, sharp taste that I wasn't expecting. O'Connor said Bell's sold 35 barrels the first year - for those keeping score at home, a brewer's barrel equals 31 gallons -- and used to be called Great Lakes Amber Ale.

(Remember: Kalamazoo is wayyyy up there.)

What the hell is a melange of hops? Find out after the jump...

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Every Wednesday, from roughly 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Delmar Loop institution Cicero's hosts beer school. As part of a semi-regular account of the beer sampling and sudsy knowledge gained, RFT editorial fellow Matt Kasper will write about the beer he tastes and the people who present it.

If you are reading this at work and get thirsty, Matt apologizes. But maybe you shouldn't be wasting company time.

From the first sip I was excited. Pete Larsen, of Wetten Importers, was talking about Belgian Ales -- the four different hops used and the fermenting process, which takes up to three years -- but I was already lost in a dry, crisp paradise.

I was drinking Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor, one of the four beers we sampled last night that was made in Belgium and shipped across the pond. At 8 percent ABV, this isn't the kind of beer you pound. After the tasting, I drank it in a wide, u-shaped glass -- trust me: it's something to savor. The pleasant sour finish reminds me of the hint of salt water in your mouth after returning from the beach.

It was good is what I'm trying to say. In fact, it might be best beer I've had to date at beer school. There, I said it.

Matt vs. the fruit beers, after the jump...

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Every Wednesday, from roughly 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Delmar Loop institution Cicero's hosts beer school. As part of a semi-regular account of the beer sampling and sudsy knowledge gained, RFT editorial fellow Matt Kasper will write about the beer he tastes and the people who present it.

If you are reading this at work and get thirsty, Matt apologizes. But maybe you shouldn't be wasting company time.

What O'Fallon Brewery lacks in creative naming (it is based in O'Fallon, Missouri, after all), they make up for in delivering delicious beer! Well, except for the Cocoa Cream Stout beer, which made at least a couple people cringe -- but I'll get to that.

The first beer of the night was the O'Fallon Gold, which O'Fallon representative Brian Owens described as a balanced golden ale that is "light, but not too heavy." Owens definitely has a way with words, likenening O'Fallon Gold's "soft, floral spiciness" to a German Kolsch. My only complaint was that it wasn't available on tap.

More O'Fallon brews after the jump...

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