Schlafly Hop Trial 12Pk

Schlafly Hop Trial 12Pk is a craft beer variety pack featuring four distinct SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) golden ales, with three cans or bottles of each style. Brewed by the largest independent craft brewery in St. Louis, Missouri, this pack isolates individual hop varieties against an identical base beer so drinkers can taste how a single ingredient reshapes flavor, aroma, and bitterness.

Quick Facts: Style: SMaSH Golden Ale (4 varieties)  |  Origin: St. Louis, Missouri  |  Format: 12-Pack Variety  |  Brewery: The Saint Louis Brewery (Schlafly)

Production & Heritage

The Saint Louis Brewery, widely known as Schlafly, operates as an independently and locally owned craft brewery with locations including the Schlafly Tap Room in downtown St. Louis and Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood, Missouri. The Hop Trial pack uses a straightforward SMaSH brewing approach: each of the four beers shares the same simple base of 2-Row malted barley, and a single brewer-selected hop variety is the only variable. This stripped-down method removes blending complexity so the character of each hop — whether floral, spicy, fruity, or piney — stands front and center. Past iterations have featured hops such as Hallertau Blanc, Bramling Cross, Enigma, and Eureka, though the specific varieties may rotate with each release.

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Because each beer highlights a different hop, the aromatic range across the pack can shift from delicate floral and herbal tones to bold tropical fruit and resinous pine. Comparing glasses side by side reveals how dramatically a single hop shapes the nose of an otherwise identical golden ale.

Taste: The 2-Row malt base delivers a clean, lightly bready sweetness that serves as a neutral canvas. Each beer's mid-palate diverges according to its featured hop: expect anything from peppery spice and stone fruit to citrus zest and earthy bitterness. The malt never competes, keeping hop expression honest and transparent.

Finish: Finishes range from crisp and dry to moderately bitter depending on the alpha-acid content of the featured hop. Across all four beers, the clean malt backbone ensures the lingering impression belongs entirely to the hop variety.

How to Drink Schlafly Hop Trial

Pour each variety into identical glasses and taste them side by side — the educational payoff is the whole point of a SMaSH pack. Serving temperature around 42–48°F keeps hop aromatics expressive without muting malt subtlety. The more hop-forward selections can stand in for a standard pale ale in a Shandy (mixed with fresh lemonade for a warm-weather drink), a Beer-a-Rita (substituting lager with one of the citrus-leaning varieties alongside lime juice and a salted rim), or a Hop Spritz (topped with sparkling water and a grapefruit twist for a low-ABV alternative).

Best For

• Homebrewers studying how individual hops influence flavor
• Hosting a guided beer tasting with friends
• Gifting a craft beer enthusiast who appreciates hop diversity
• Casual weekend sessions where variety beats committing to a full six-pack of one style

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Schlafly Hop Trial taste like? Each beer in the pack tastes like a clean, lightly bready golden ale with a distinct hop character — one may lean floral and herbal while another delivers tropical fruit or resinous pine. The shared 2-Row malt base stays neutral so hop differences are easy to identify.

How does Schlafly Hop Trial compare to a standard IPA variety pack? Most IPA variety packs blend multiple hops and malts in each beer, making it difficult to isolate what any single ingredient contributes. The Hop Trial uses a SMaSH format — one malt, one hop per beer — which is more of an educational tasting exercise than a showcase of finished recipe styles.

Is Schlafly Hop Trial good for beginners? Yes — the golden ale base is approachable and not aggressively bitter, making it a useful introduction to hop flavors without the intensity of a double IPA or heavily hopped pale ale.

Where is Schlafly Hop Trial made? It is brewed by The Saint Louis Brewery, known as Schlafly, in St. Louis, Missouri. The brewery operates facilities including the Tap Room in downtown St. Louis and Bottleworks in the Maplewood neighborhood.

What foods pair well with Schlafly Hop Trial? Grilled chicken or fish tacos complement the lighter malt body. Soft pretzels with mustard echo the bready base malt. Mild goat cheese lets floral hop varieties shine. Lightly spiced Thai noodles work alongside the fruitier selections, and a simple arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette mirrors the crisp, herbal character of the more delicate hops.

What sizes does Schlafly Hop Trial come in? The standard format is a 12-pack containing three each of four different SMaSH beers.

Is Schlafly Hop Trial worth the price? It positions as a mid-range craft variety pack, but the SMaSH format adds genuine educational value that typical variety packs lack — you are effectively getting a guided tasting of four isolated hop profiles rather than just four different finished beers.

Why Schlafly Hop Trial?

The SMaSH brewing method is what separates this pack from the crowded variety-pack shelf. By holding the malt constant at a simple 2-Row base and changing only the hop, Schlafly turns a casual 12-pack into a comparative tasting that teaches drinkers to identify specific hop characteristics. Few commercially available packs commit this fully to the single-variable experiment. For anyone who has ever wondered why one pale ale tastes like grapefruit and another like fresh-cut grass, this pack provides the answer in the most direct way possible.