Schlafly Beer released its new winter variety pack: Hello Darkness. The 12-pack sampler offers three different styles of dark beers to enjoy in the colder months: Black IPA, Dark Mild, and Doppelbock. 

While many breweries look to winter to release darker beers, like stouts and porters, Schlafly Beer hopes to shine a light on alternative, niche styles. The Hello Darkness variety pack is available from now to early February. 

In past years, Schlafly Beer has released its Stout Bout sampler of four different flavors of stout as its winter variety pack, but this year, Schlafly will highlight its brewers’ talents around lesser-known, malt-centric styles. 

“We regularly have more offbeat styles on tap at our taprooms, so the Hello Darkness pack is an opportunity to bring the talents of our brewers and the taproom experience home. With a market crowded with stouts and porters, we invite consumers to learn about different darker beer styles this winter,” said CEO David Schlafly in a statement. 

The variety pack’s design features a photo at night of the Schlafly Beer Tap Room, the original brewpub for the brand, which started at this location in 1991. With the signature architecture of the 1902 former printing press building dimly lit juxtapositioned against bold neon lighting font, the design showcases how traditions can be new once more. 

Schlafly’s Hello Darkness variety 12-pack features four bottles of each of the three beers:

  • Black IPA (6% ABV): Dark, sturdy malts paired with the dank hops of an American IPA combine to round out this beer. 
  • Dark Mild (3.8% ABV): The OG English session beer, this brew is malt-focused and full of flavor. 
  • Doppelbock (6% ABV): Originally brewed by Munich monks as “liquid bread” to sustain them during lengthy fasts, this beer is a dark lager.

This 12-pack is available across Schlafly’s distribution as well as Schlafly’s four brewpubs: Schlafly Tap Room in downtown St. Louis; Schlafly Bottleworks in the Maplewood neighborhood of St. Louis; Schlafly Bankside in St. Charles, Mo.; and Schlafly Highland Square in Highland, Ill.