Schalfly is sold again, this time back to where it all began!!

The Schlafly Logo

Schlafly has been sold again, this time back to where it all began. In 2012, the brewery was sold to Sage Capital, a private equity firm. After seven years, it is now coming back to the family. Original owner Tom Schlafly now owns 17% of the brewery and his cousin David Schlafly has “an equal or slightly greater” ownership share.

I was getting philosophical and nostalgic with the Myces Brothers at Flint Hills Beerfest in front of the Schlafly booth, wondering if they were becoming the next Tallgrass. I used to see their tap handles at several bars around town, but now they are being replaced by Martin City, KC Bier, Crane, and the other usual suspects due to the hyper-local beer world we live in. Unfortunately I’ve probably seen more Tallgrass tap handles in KC over the last year than those of Schlafly. I will still snag an occasional sixer at the liquor store, and do appreciate their Kolsch and Octoberfest. Their Pumpkin Ale also seems to be a good seller, and they were one of the first Missouri breweries to hop on the pumpkin train, along with O’Fallon.

Per Brewbound Schlafly production peaked at 60,000 BBL in 2015, then dropped to 45,000 in 2017, and “declined even further in 2018.” Hopefully the original owners can turn the brewery around. They aren't too far removed from another scandal last winter when a “senior executive” wrote an anonymous newsletter criticizing local competitor 4 Hands. Just days prior to a joint press release between 4 Hands and Schlafly their CEO abruptly resigned. I’ll let you guess who the “senior executive” was.

You can get more reading here from STLToday and River Front Times.

Here is the original article for this inspiration from Brew Bound.

Cheers,
Brett A. Myces