O'Fallon Brewery Tasting at Gomer's South

Tony Caradonna of O'Fallon Brewery brought his beers to Gomer's South yesterday evening, and I met two of my beer-loving friends there to sample the line-up. (If you're from St. Louis, you'll want to know that Tony granduated from St. Mary's High School in 1975. If you're not from St. Louis, you don't understand the fascination with high school provenance, but it means a lot to those of us who are. If you think that's just a personal quirk of mine, note that it appears in the second line of his bio. If you look at his staff profiles, everyone who grew up in St. Louis mentions his or her high school at the top, while none of those from out of town mentions the name of his or her high school. What can I say? It's a regional thang.)

As beer-tastings go, this was a casual affair, standing around a counter sipping samples from tiny mouthwash cups. We sampled 6 beers, and they were placed in a thoughtful order. No formal presentation, but the brewer was there to answer questions.

First came O'Fallon Gold. Obviously intended to be a crowd-pleaser, it is lightly hopped, smooth and, frankly, kind of bland. It's not a bad beer at all - I didn't find any flaws with it, and it might be kind of interesting to taste it alongside other brewers' "entry level" beers. An ounce or so of this was plenty to get the idea, though, and then it was upward toward the more interesting offerings.

Next up was O'Fallon Wheat, and it was a clean, basic American wheat beer. Obviously intended to be a crowd-pleaser, it is lightly hopped, smooth and, frankly, kind of bland. It's not a bad beer at all - I didn't find any flaws with it, and it might be kind of interesting to taste it alongside other brewers' "entry level" beers. An ounce or so of this was plenty to get the idea, though, and then it was upward toward the more interesting offerings. Yes, I know I just repeated myself, but the shoe fits. In this case, it might be interesting to try it in comparison to Boulevard Wheat.

On second thought, American wheat is one of my least favorite styles, so why attempt to differentiate between two very competently made, commercially successful beers made by great Missouri brewers? I am thankful that each of them brings in revenue to subsidize the more experimental beers that thrill beer geeks like me. So what if I don't like American wheat beers? Lots of people do, and Missouri produces two excellent, well-brewed versions.

The third beer of the evening was O'Fallon 5-Day IPA. This is the one I bought to take home - well-balanced with hops and malt, it is a great example of an excellent beer that isn't trying to set any records. Too many brewers use their IPAs as entries in a hops arms race, competing to melt your face with overwhelming hop bitterness, flavor and aroma. 5-Day IPA brings a little detente to the IPA world, with a tasty but balanced approach that leads you to say, "I think I'll have another," instead of simply, "Whoa, what just hit me?". This is a really good beer, and it could easily become one of my regulars.

O’Fallon Smoked Porter came next, and it came as a jolt. I'd reviewed this beer 3 years ago in my "99 Bottles of Beer on the Blog" series, and I think I enjoyed that bottle more. The smoke in the beer last night was overwhelming - it tasted like liquid barbecue. Perhaps the bottle I reviewed earlier had aged a bit - aging tends to smooth out strong flavors, and my prior review mentions a slightly tart and acidic aftertaste, which could be a sign of age, and which would have been overwhelmed by the smoke in last night's sample. Even though the beer didn't rank among my favorites last night, it's great to see brewers trying new things and expanding the catalog of beer tastes we can find in our stores.

The fifth beer was O'Fallon Whiskey Barrel Smoked Porter. I wish I had bought a bottle of this to try by itself. As it was, coming right on the heels of the super-smokey Smoked Porter, I was unable to give it a proper tasting. There was definitely smoke there, but I couldn't tell how much of it was due to overlap from the prior beer, and how much was in the sample I was tasting. I picked up on vanilla and maybe even a little honey flavor, but that's about all I'm going to say about this beer until I get a chance to really experience it. I will say, though, that it seemed to have a lot of complexity and that it's a beer I look forward to trying again.

Finally, we closed out on one of O'Fallon's seasonal offerings, O’Fallon Cherry Chocolate Beer. This tasted amazingly similar to those chocolate covered cherries my mother used to get when I was a kid; I wonder if Tony's mom shopped at the same store. I'd never want to plow through a six pack of this beer, but it's a pleasant surprise and, once again, O'Fallon is pushing the limits of what you might expect a bottle of beer to hold. It was also interesting to me that the base beer on this confection is actually a dark wheat, instead of the more typical porter or stout. I would love to see how he makes this beer!

O'Fallon Brewery has a 15 barrel system, which they are using to produce 3,000+ barrels a year. They've been quietly building their reputation and they're the second largest American brewery in the St. Louis area (now that AB has been sold to foreign interests). They recently got their license to produce stronger beers, so look for them to start experimenting even more in the coming years.

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