The Big Lebowski – more specifically, The Dude – has inspired a lot of things since its release 21 years ago. From festivals to craft beers, if you can dream it, you can Dude it. This time around, Saint Louis Crafted Cocktails (which is produced by The Saint Louis Brewery, which makes Schlafly Beer) is using The Dude as a jumping off point as they launch their new line of crafted malt beverages.
Starting with White Russian Wheat Ale, the company will be releasing brews that are not quite cocktails and not quite beers. While it’s not an oat soda, (or any of the aforementioned craft beers inspired by the movie), we think The Dude would approve.
Coming in at 7.5 percent alcohol by volume, this malted beverage has flavors of sweet toffee and coffee, just like the cocktail. The addition of lactose adds the milky layer to really bring the cocktail flavors together. If it’s anything like we’re expecting, it’ll fall closer to some of these cocktail-inspired beers that we’ve tried before. We’re hoping it, and the future releases, will do just that.
Sold in 330ml apothecary-style bottles (costing around $12 per four-pack), the company hopes that the bottle (as well as the simple text labels) evoke an air of experimentation, to exude that idea that it’s not quite a craft cocktail, not quite a craft beer.
In addition to the White Russian Wheat Ale, the brand is looking to launch four more cocktail-inspired malt beverages over the course of 2019, with inspiration coming from everything from the Paloma to the Old Fashioned.
There is a bit of a caveat with this release, however — if you’re the biggest Lebowski fan in the world (read: people know that you’re going to quote it at some point in the night, because that’s what you do), you might want to start looking at trips to Saint Louis. For now, the beers are only being distributed in the Saint Louis area.
The good thing is that while you’re there, there is plenty of other delicious drinking you can accomplish. Not only can you visit Schlafly, but you can check out StilL 630, winner of The Spirit Award’s Best American Rye 2018. Heck, Missouri is also home to some pretty great vineyards as well.
To find out more about the White Russian Wheat Ale or any of the upcoming releases, follow @stlcraftedcocktails on Instagram. You can abide by that, can’t you?
