Photo by George Mahe
Every year, Schlafly has 80,000 oysters flown in overnight from both coasts, brings in 20 seasoned pros to shuck them all weekend, and brews new stouts exclusively for the Schlafly Stout & Oyster Festival. Here’s why this beloved annual event, happening March 24 and 25, is such a feast for the senses.
The Science
Courtesy Schlafly
Oysters are briny and sweet. Stouts are bitter, creamy, and toasty. Our taste buds love this combination. It’s like eating chocolate-covered caramels topped with sea salt or drinking black coffee with just the right amount of sugar and milk—except those flavors can be found pretty much anywhere, unlike fresh oysters in the Midwest.
The Oysters & Shuckers
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Schlafly plans to bring in three East Coast and three West Coast oyster varieties. (The exact varieties are still TBD). The shuckers will offer an array of raw oysters from their home coasts at raw bars in the “Shuckerdome.” Schlafly will also offer fried oysters, oysters Rockefeller, oyster chowder, and hushpuppies in outdoor tents and on the second floor of the Tap Room, while the first-floor seating areas will have the usual menu and oyster specials.
Shuckers earn their star power for having a combination of speed, precision, and personality. They interact with the crowd, tell stories, and have a good time. If you’re new to oysters, then they’ll explain what makes each variety special, how they shuck them, and how you should slurp them.
The Stouts
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Schafly’s brewing team has created several new stouts for this year’s festival, but you’ll also find a couple of old favorites in the mix:
- Special edition oyster stout
- Coffee stout (in collaboration with Kaldi’s)
- Barrel-aged imperial stout
- Oatmeal stout
- Mexican chocolate stout
- Coconut coffee stout
- Chai latte stout
Specialty rotating stouts will be available throughout the festival, too. You’ll find the beer bars and stout sampler bars in the parking lot. (Pro tip: The whole point is to taste different combinations of oysters and stouts, so pick up a portable cardboard “tasting taco” to make carrying your beer samples around to the tents easier.)
The Music
There’s live local music on Friday night and all day on Saturday, filling the festival with blues, funk, and R&B. The lineup includes The Grooveliner and the Funky Butt Brass Band on Friday. Southside Creole Playboys, Andy Coco’s NOLA Funk and R&B Review, Dawn Weber & Good Company, and Sean Canan’s VooDoo Mixtape then take the stage on Saturday.
The Atmosphere
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The festival offers an escape from dreary St. Louis weather via ocean-fresh vibes—not the beach kind but the hard-working, wave-tossed, rugged kind where your coats, hats, boots, umbrellas, and flannel will be right at home. Just take a look at this video to see what we mean.
Hours are 5–9 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m.–9 p.m. Saturday. The festival is a free event, in which you only pay for food and drinks. Children are welcome. Dogs are welcome outside the tents. Please don’t bring chairs, outside food and drinks, or anything that might disrupt the good time.
Courtesy Schlafly
