Uinta Crooked Line Oak Jacked Imperial Pumpkin

Brewed By: Uinta Brewing Company in Salt Lake City, Utah  

Purchased: Giant 750ml bottle from Evolution Wine & Spirits in Chicago, Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: Spice/Herb/Vegetable (Imperial Pumpkin Ale), 10.31%

Reported IBUs: 39

Pumpkins, cool breezes, and Jason Voorhees. 

It's Halloween eve, bitches! Or All Hallow's Eve. Halloween is my favorite holiday, and nothing says Halloween like celebrating the night before with a special pumpkin beer. This is a giant beer from Uinta brewing, aged in oak barrels. And it is fucking delicious. So let's get down to brass tax, and drink some special beer!

Uinta Brewing Company has been around since 1993. The brewery started out in a small, renovated mechanic's garage, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The brewery began to build reputation by distributing beer to bars, restaurants, and liquor stores. By 1996, the brewery installed a bottling line. In 2001, the brewery outgrew its original building, and Uinta relocated to a 26,000-square-foot facility. The Uinta name comes from an east-west mountain range located in northeastern Utah. The brewery names many of its beers after Utah's landscape, including their Cutthroat Pale Ale (after the state fish) and their King's Peak Porter (after Utah's highest peak). An additional note: since 2001, Uinta has been 100% wind-powered, and in 2011, the brewery installed solar-electric paneling. Uinta continues to grow, and continue to produce some stellar, award-winning beer. For more info, click HERE.

Today's beer, the Oak Jacked Imperial Pumpkin, is part of Uinta's Crooked Line series of beers. The Crooked Line series was launched in 2010, and features "big beers" both in terms of taste and in the size of the bottle. The Crooked Line beers are bottled in 750ml bottles, and are cork finished. These beers push alcohol limits of 13% ABV, and many of these beers are aged in oak, whiskey, or bourbon barrels. The Crooked Line series of beers are meant to be shared with friends, over a meal, much like a bottle of wine.

Of course, you can certainly embrace your inner-alcoholic and solo these bad boys. That's how I roll. Today's beer is aged in oak barrels, and clocks in at a fantastic 10.31% ABV. This beer packs 39 IBUs. Let's get this into a glass, and see how it holds up.

Uinta Oak Jacked Imperial Pumpkin

This is a gorgeous beer. In low light, the beer pours with a dark-brown body, and has 3-fingers of nice and foamy head. The head is thick, and has a tan/khaki color. As the head pulls away, you get some gorgeous lacing, but head retention is excellent with this beer, and you can easily stir up some head by swirling the beer in the glass. When held to bright light, the beer takes on a reddish-amber color, and you can see through the filtered body. There's a lot of carbonation in this beer, in the form of medium to large sized bubbles. Overall, a gorgeous looking beer.

The aroma on this beer is fantastic, complex, and big. Right up front you get big oak, some hints of wood, a bandaid aroma, and big gourd and pumpkin notes. I'm talking about meaty gourd and pumpkin, and the taste you get if you suck on a pumpkin seed. As I smell further into this, I'm pulling out fat bready malts, raisins, and sweet malt backbone. There's also some underlying spice in this, with cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice. The nose is very sweet, and it is dominated with big sweet bready notes, pumpkins, and oak goodness.

The taste is out of this world. You get huge huge pumpkin notes, with gourd and seed, and they bounce off the huge wood and oak notes from the barrel. Pumpkins already give tannins to beer, and you get huge tannins from the oak and pumpkin combination. There's a wine-like character to this beer, and it drinks like a full-bodied, sticky beer. And it damn well should, at 10.31% ABV. I'm getting bready caramel, bread, toffee, hints of raisins, hints of rum, slight booziness, some light cinnamon and nutmeg, vanilla, bourbon, clove, huge meaty pumpkin, pumpkin flesh, gourd, pumpkin seed, flashes of pumpkin pie, hints of crust, and some booze running throughout. There's some funk in this, and a hint of sour.

With the recent trend towards producing these giant pumpkin beers, I'm happy to see some breweries deviating and doing stuff like barrel aging these things. But, what's really impressive about this beer is that it's not overwhelmed by oak. This beer has a giant, meaty, gourd-like, pumpkin flavor going on. And it rocks. At 10.31% ABV, this is a sipper...and, indeed, I sipped this beer during football on Sunday. With the 750ml bottle, I poured a glass during the noon game, the late game, and Sunday Night Football. This is a full-bodied beer, has a sticky and dense mouthfeel, and features thin but moderate carbonation. Palate depth is great, and this is fairly complex. Up front are big bready malts, toffee, flashes of pumpkins, bandaids, oak, wood, tannins; this rolls into pumpkin in the middle, with some slight hoppiness, and hints of the underlying spice; the finish is lingering pumpkin and spice, hints of pie, vanilla. There's underlying booze throughout, with some bourbon and rum popping up. Nice stuff.

Rating: Divine Brew 

This is a Decent Divine Brew, and possibly my favorite "Imperial" pumpkin ale from this year. This is just a big, serious beer. And it packs all the desirable flavors I want in a pumpkin beer, including using a subtle approach with the spices. This beer reminds me of a heavy, oak-aged red wine, and would pair well with a heavy stew, a burger and sweet potato fries, candied yams, pumpkin pie, or a nice hearty soup. This is a bit pricey at around 13 dollars per bottle, but it's a huge bottle, and this is a huge beer. If you like things aged in oak barrels, and you like pumpkin beers, you should check this out.

Random Thought: With the increasing popularity of pumpkin beers....Pumking may need to watch out. It's not going to take much to dethrone the king, methinks. 

Hoppin' Frog’s Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale

Brewed By: Hoppin' Frog Brewery in Akron, Ohio  

Purchased: Bodacious 22oz bomber bought at Binny's in IL; 2012

Style/ABV: Spice/Herb/Vegetable (Imperial Pumpkin Ale), 8.4%

Reported IBUs: 7.3

How could I resist this bottle of beer, with a full moon on the bottle, and that hoppin' frog. Plus, I really enjoyed Hoppin' Frog's B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher.

Hoppin' Frog is a "small, hands-on brewery making very flavorful beers in the most flavorful beer styles." The brewery was founded by owner Fred Karm in 2006. The dude looks like he means serious business, and he has been brewing specialty beers since 1994. Karm came up with the concept of Hoppin' Frog, and has designed and produced 21 award winning beers at the Great American Beer Festival and World Cup.

The bottle for the Frog's Hollow says this beer is brewed with pumpkin and spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and clove. The side of the bottle provides some mythology for today's beer: "There’s a place just south they call Frog’s Hollow, with cauldrons afire in Fall, and they only speak in whispers of the name. There’s a brewery they say who has the secret, of spices picked just right. With a crying shout, they’ll knock it out, and hand you this Frog’s delight." If you check out the Frog's Hollow page on the brewery website, you can get some more info on this beer. This beer is categorized as a "Double Pumpkin Ale," clocks in at 8.4% ABV, and packs 7.3 IBUs. Suggested food pairings including pumpkin pie, turkey, and Camembert or English Cheddar cheese. Let's glass this, and see how it stacks up.

 Frog’s Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale

The beer pours a lovely dark orange color, with a pinky's worth of bubbly, thin-fizzly, white head. The head doesn't hang around for very long, rapidly dissolving into a hazy cauldron effect. When held to bright light, the beer is a magnificent golden-orange color, and is slightly hazy, with lots of visible carbonation in the form of tiny bubbles.

The aroma on this beer is really nice. You can tell a lot of craft and love went into this beer, and that high quality ingredients were used. Not to keep picking on Shipyard's Pumpkinhead, but this beer is how I expect a spice-forward pumpkin beer to smell. I'm getting big cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and pumpkin spice, along with some clove. There's a slight hint of bready malt in this, some grainy sweetness with some fruitiness (maybe fruitiness from the yeast?), and some hints of booze. I'm getting some pie crust too.

Wow...this is quite nice. The taste really unfolds in layers, and 30 seconds after my first sip, I'm still finding some lingering booze and some malts. This is spice forward up front, but then you get a malty kick. I'm getting dominate pie crust and pumpkin pie spice in the middle. I'm tasting cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin pie crust. There's definitely straight up pumpkin in this, and pumpkin pie filling. The yeast profile is very clean, and imparts some Pale Ale-type fruitiness. I'm getting hints of grain, grapes, and apple. Maybe some vanilla.

This is a really good beer, and it's really well-balanced. The spices have "umpph" and depth, but they aren't overbearing. And the pumpkin pie crust notes are lovely. This beer could maybe benefit from more malt, but I don't know. This beer is medium-full, with a hint of sticky. Palate depth is okay, and complexity is good. Despite being fairly dense and sticky, this is heavily carbonated. Up front is clean yeast, spice, clove, cinnamon; the middle rolls into pie crust and lovely pumpkin pie filling, pumpkin spice, vanilla; the back end is lingering malt, fruity yeast, grain, grape, pumpkin, booze. This is warming and boozy, and really opens up as it warms up.

Rating: Divine Brew 

I gotta go with a Light Divine Brew. This beer sort of reminds me of a slightly less bready Pumking, with a little bit less corn (if we consider the 2012 Pumking). That's a good thing. This beer is crazy balanced, and everything works well together. You get some nice spice, nice malt density and pie crust in the middle, some lingering stickiness and sweetness, and some good flavors throughout. It's also relatively clean on the palate, and easy-drinking. I'd pair this with Pumpkin Pie, a stew, pumpkin cookies, or even chips and fondue with some football. I recommend checking this out if you can, this is good stuff.

Random Thought: "Get in the car," he said. She reluctantly got in, knowing that she would only have one chance to escape. She whispered, "just you wait, Pumpkinhead, my boyfriend will come." Pumpkinhead laughed, "hahaha! You fool! I will crush your boyfriend with overt soda-like spice, and one-dimensional flavors." And she knew it was over.

New Holland Envious (2011 Vintage) - Cellar Series

Brewed By: New Holland Brewing Company in Holland, Michigan

Purchased: 22oz bottle, purple label, from Binny's in IL; 2012 (2011 Vintage)

Style/ABV: Fruit Beer (barrel aged!), 7.5%

Reported IBUs: ?

I love those random liquor store purchases. I had heard good things about New Holland's Blue Sunday Sour, so when I saw the slightly less regarded Envious on the shelf, I said "why not." My bottle says: "Vintage 2011." I thought that, perhaps, this beer was supposed to be a year old...after all, it is part of New Holland's cellar series. I guess the joke is on me. So here is to hoping this beer ages well (knock on wood for that bottle conditioning). It's aged on raspberries in oak, so I have high hopes. About New Holland:

New Holland Brewing Company are a Midwest brewery based out of Holland, Michigan. The brewery was founded in 1996, and they produce about 10,000 barrels annually. They have a handful of staples, including their Mad Hatter IPA and their The Poet Stout, and they also have a handful of seasonal offerings.

The bottle says "ale brewed with pear juice, with raspberries added, and aged on oak." I like all these things, so what could go wrong. If you check out New Holland's Envious page (or blog post, really), you can get some info on the beer. As already stated, this is part of the brewery's cellar series. This beer uses Michigan pears to "fuel a second fermentation," and is supposed to provide some balance between grain and fruit. The beer is then aged on oak and raspberries for depth and tartness. It's getting repetitive in here, so let's pour this and see what's up.

New Holland Envious (2011 Vintage)

The pour reveals a dark, swampy beer. I'd describe the body of this beer as a swampy purple/brown color in low light. You get 2-fingers of reluctant head, and the head is fairly thick. The head has a nice khaki/purple color reflecting the body. While the head did not want to form on the pour, it's holding out nicely, with a centimeter coating sticking around. In bright light the body is a murky purple/brown with hints of orange on the sides. There's a lot of lively carbonation in the form of tiny bubbles around the edges of the glass, and that centimeter of head is hanging around like a champ. [Also: I HATE FOIL!!!]

The aroma is surprisingly malty. I'm reminded of Dogfish Head's Fort. I'm getting super dense, sticky, sweetness on the nose. I'm pulling out some raspberry, and definitely some of that earthy pear aroma. You get...like...pear skin, and unripe pear, and even earthy pear goodness when you bite into a pear. If you're at all familiar with pears, you'll know what I'm talking about. Pears are weird fruits. I'm getting some woody tannins, and some PHAT malts? At least, I think so. I'm pulling out some caramel/Twizzler, but it's bordering on berries, prunes, and even blackberry jam. It's like...oxidized dark fruits, and bready malts. 

The taste follows through the nose, with a lot of pear juice in the mix. You get a wash of that caramel/toffee/Twizzler malt kick, but I'm really pulling out waves of fruits. Specifically, prune juice. This tastes a lot like prune juice. I'm also getting huge blackberry/raspberry jam, like the homemade shit my grandma used to make. There's maybe a hint of grain and booze, and some woody tannins throughout. I'm getting a hint of oak on the back end. This is mildly acidic, but not very sour/tart. 

The wood starts to build up on your palate as you work through this, and it plays off whatever tartness is hiding in this beer. There's even some hint of roast or smoke coming out. This is a medium-full to full beer, and that is partially thanks to the very minimal and thin carbonation. This beer reminds me of a wine, or a thick Dubbel, or even a strong, dark Bock. Complexity is moderate, and palate depth is good. Up front is bready malt and thick oxidized dark fruits; this rolls into pears, prunes, syrupy raspberry, berries, more dark fruits and bread; the back end is lingering dark fruits, bread/toffee/caramel, with hints of roast/smoke. There is some booziness in my belly, and the wood builds on the finish with some tannins and tartness.

Rating: Average 

I like it, I don't love it, this is a Strong Average for me. Your mileage may vary. It's possible this was more tart a year ago, but right now this is leaning towards those oxidized dark fruits, and big bready/toffee/caramel/Twizzler malts. You get some nice pear, prune, and syrupy raspberry in the mix. I would compare this beer to a lighter red wine (maybe a Merlot?), and in that respect this beer would work well with a number of foods. I'd serve this beer with rare steak, pasta with red sauce, duck, or roasted turkey/chicken. And some purple potatoes. I think I paid...too much. This was over 10 dollars, probably around 11-14 (I can't remember). I would NOT pay that for this beer, and I probably won't pursue this again.

Random Thought: While I do the beer thing, my girlfriend has been slowly doing the wine thing. I don't know anything about wine, except that I like the way it tastes. A refined palate is a refined palate, but knowledge comes with repetition, practice, and experience. I look forward to pursuing wine in the future....it can only enhance my appreciation for beer.

Sixpoint Autumnation

Brewed By: Sixpoint Brewery in Brooklyn, New York 

Purchased: Tall 16oz can (one pint!) from a 4-pack bought at Binny's in IL; 2012

Style/ABV: Spice/Herb/Vegetable (Pumpkin IPA), 6.7%
Reported IBUs: 74

Continuing with the pumpkin beer thing...tonight, I'm drinking a seasonal beer brewed with pumpkin. But this beer is really about using fresh, wet-hops. Wet-hopping is simply using freshly harvested hops. Most hops are usually dried or compressed into pellets to preserve the oils and resins that contribute to the "hoppy flavor" in beer. The challenge with using fresh hops is that hops will degrade almost immediately. Wet-hopping should (theoretically) add some vibrancy and freshness to a beer. Add in the fact that this beer uses Citra, a relatively new hop variety, and that makes this beer interesting and unique in two ways. Citra has a citrus and tropical fruit character, and was used in Three Floyd's Zombie Dust. With that said, about Sixpoint:

Sixpoint Brewery is relatively new to the world of craft beer, as they were founded in 2004. The brewery was founded by brewer Shance C. Welch, as he began brewing in an 800 square foot garage in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook. Wikipedia states that the brewery was co-founded by Andrew Bronstein, who met Welch at the University of Wisconsin. Andrew provided the cash investment needed to lease the facilities and begin brewing. The brewery is known for its philosophy. More specifically, Sixpoint is all about not defining their beers according to style guidelines. This point is echoed if you visit their Beers page. They state that they have brewed hundreds of different beers, and they have no plans to stop this proliferation of styles. Of final note, Sixpoint began canning their beer in 2011, which is pretty cool, especially for a craft brewer.

If you stroll over to the Autumnation page, you can get the info on this beer. This beer is made with subtle pumpkin and spice, and features Citra wet-hops. This beer supposedly uses a new hop strain each year (using the Citra this year). This year's beer clocks in at 6.7% ABV, and packs a mean 74 IBUs. There's a cool video on the beer HERE.

 Sixpoint Autumnation

The beer pours a darker orange color, with 3-fingers of foamy, IPA-looking head that is slightly off-white with an orange tint. In bright light, the head is slightly orange, and the body is a lovely orange color. The beer looks to be filtered, but you can't see completely through it as it has a touch of murkiness. You see quite a bit of carbonation in the form of tiny bubbles. The head is sustaining very well, like an IPA, and as it pulls away it is leaving sticky lacing.

On the nose/aroma are big hops. You get sharp Citra hops, with big grassy aromas, pungent and juicy aromas, pineapple, sharp citrus, slight metal/metallic aroma, and some spice. There's a grainy malt thing in the back as well.

The taste is big, and features an English water/malt profile. It sort of reminds me of a Pale Ale, or an ESB. Up front is a big blast of dark bready malts, followed by some citrus hop kick. I'm getting sharp citrus, grass, hints of pineapple, maybe some mango, earthy hops, hints of hop spice, and some smoothness in the back that tastes like lingering biscuit. I get a lot of hop spice in this, but I'm not really pulling out cinnamon. You do get a meaty vegetable thing in here, and it's very earthy. I wouldn't guess pumpkin in a blind testing, however. There's a doughy/bready thing that comes and goes, and more hard water.

This is medium-light, well-carbonated, and fairly drinkable for a 6.7% ABV beer. At 74 IBUs, this is fairly bitter, and also fairly acidic. You do feel it, I suppose. I still would say this has high drinkability. Palate depth is good, and complexity is so-so. I'm not sure what this is, and I think Sixpoint would be happy to hear that. Nevertheless, for a beer that advertises the use of cinnamon and pumpkin, you have a hard time pulling them out. Even at warm temps, the malts have a hard taste, and there is some elusive vegetable thing. Up front are hard malts, hints of hops, and then hops; the middle is grassy, floral, earthy; the back end is lingering hop bitterness, and earthy happenings.

Rating: Average 

I'm feeling a Strong Average on this. This is interesting, and I love me some Citra. I'd probably bump this up to above-average, if not for the lack of noticeable pumpkin and cinnamon. But you know, like Sixpoint's Resin, this makes good use of those sharp and acidic hop characters. In some respects, this is a great Pale Ale/IPA-style beer. My only other gripe is this beer is fairly acidic, and has some metallic astringency that comes and goes. Could just be me. Food pairings: pizza, pizza, pizza. Did I say pizza? Burgers would work too, and anything that goes with an IPA or Pale Ale, really. 

Random Thought: And I drove home to a beautiful sunset, stuck in lazy traffic, listening to the Jets and the Patriots on the radio. It really does feel like Autumn, and the reality is setting in. I'm in a daze, rolling along. Stop. Go. Stop. Go. You have to be patient, and sometimes the best way to be patient is to just daydream. Oh shit, I sound emo. And Sanchez and the Jets almost won. Shit! Tebow at wide receiver! 3 yards! 3 yards! And that's why the Jets suck. Or something.

Southern Tier Pumking (2012 batch)

Brewed By: Southern Tier Brewing Company in Lakewood, New York 

Purchased: Halloween-inspiring 22oz Bomber bought at Binny's in IL; 2012

Style/ABV: Spice/Herb/Vegetable (Imperial Pumpkin Ale), 8.6%
Reported IBUs: N/A

PUMKING FOREVER

Soooo many pumpkin beers. I can't believe I haven't tried to asphyxiate myself with a pumpkin yet. Or maybe when I wear it I'll get super slasher powers. But tonight's beer is the king of pumpkin beers. Hail to the pumking, baby.  

Southern Tier Brewing Company is based out of Lakewood, New York. The brewery was founded in 2002 by Phineas DeMink and Allen "Skip" Yahn. Using equipment purchased from the old Saddleback Brewing Co., the company began production with the vision of reviving traditional small batch brewing to the region. By 2003, the brewery was distributing their small batch ales, and by 2005 their sales covered New York and Pennsylvania. Before the brewery had any seasonal beers, it produced a Pilsner, Mild Ale, and IPA. Due to popularity, in 2009 a 20,000 square foot facility was built to allow for the brewing of large-scale beers. Since then, Southern Tier has continued to expand, and continued to invest in better equipment to keep up with the increasing demand for their beer. You can read more about Southern Tier's history on their history page.

The official slogan, or the slogan on my glass, is actually, "long live the king." Yeah, I bought a Pumking beer glass...obviously I love this beer. I rambled like an asshole about the beer last year, but never did get around to reviewing it. The beer was great last year; big pie crust aromas, and huge pumpkin pie flavor. It was also really sweet...but in a good way. In a Southern Tier way. I'm learning that Southern Tier means business when they put a beer in a bomber. Their Choklat and Creme Brulee are like sex in a bottle, but they are big sweet beers. And last year's Pumking (2011 batch) was no exception. The beer approached cloying, and was exceptionally sweet. It's a beer to share with a friend, or to drink over a reasonable period of time.

You're probably wondering why I'm sharing all this with you...and the answer is I've had a few bottles of the 2012 Pumking, and in my opinion, this year's batch/recipe/whatever is a little bit less sweet, and has a little bit more earthy/vegetable pumpkin going on. I've heard that there is some variation between bottles (and even on tap), so we'll see. But it's worth making note. It's also possible that my palate has just evolved...I'm drinking huge, high gravity beers these days, and they often feature lots of sugary boozy goodness. I digress.

 Southern Tier Pumking

Pumking is part of Southern Tier's Seasonal Imperial series. This is an Autumn seasonal (sort of) that starts showing up in stores in August. The beer is brewed with two types of malt (pale, caramel); two types of hops (magnum, sterling); and pumpkin (canned pumpkin, last I checked). Clocking in at 8.6% ABV, this is a big pumpkin beer. The bottle art is awesome, and seeing this beer gets me in the mood for Halloween. The bottle tells the story of Púca, to which Pumking is a nod to. The bottle suggests serving this around 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Into the glass, and on with the review.

The beer pours a hazy orange color, with about a pinky's worth of off-white, orange-tinted head. The head is made up of thin bubbles, and kind of has a Belgian thing going on. The head doesn't last for very long either, dissolving into a lovely cauldron effect. When held to bright light, the body of the beer is a lovely golden-orange color. You can't see through it due to the haze, but you can see quite a bit of carbonation in the form of tiny bubbles. In bright light the head is white. This is just a good looking, Halloween-inspiring beer. 

"Cauldron Effect." (Patent...pending....).

As far as the aroma goes...that's where the fun really starts. This beer is a reminder that certain things have similar aromas, despite being completely different. I'm talking about graham crackers, pie crust, and corn. Right on the nose is a huge blast of this steamed corn, pumpkin pie crust aroma. It gets sort of vegetal, with some slight sweetness. If you camp on the aroma, you can pull out strong pie crust and graham cracker. There's some slight spice on the nose, namely nutmeg, and a hint of earthy hop goodness. And there's definitely pumpkin aromas here. I'm picking up hints of pumpkin pie.

Damn. This tastes so good. The first thing that is jumping out at me is how hoppy this is. This has some hop kick, with some earthy hop bitterness, and even a bit of floral hop kick. Despite being less sweet than the 2011 Pumking (for whatever reason), this beer still packs a huge mouthfeel and a ton of depth. This is a malty, bready beer. Even with lots of tingly carbonation, this still takes its time crossing your tongue. I'm getting booze, graham crackers, pie crust, light hints of corn (that is much more toned down in the taste), slight hints of a buttery flavor (diacetyl), straight up pumpkin pie, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and a little earthy and floral hop notes. I maintain that this is not as sweet as the 2011 Pumking.

This beer is sort of like liquid heaven...it's like pumpkin pie (emphasis: crust) in a glass. It's not overly assertive with the sweetness or spice, and has the potential to be sipped on, or paired with a wide range of food. Palte depth is great, and this is a full-bodied beer. The beer has drinkability, even at 8.6%, and that's thanks to quite a bit of carbonation. This is...complex for the style. Up front is graham cracker, pie crust, and hints of floral hops; this rolls into a buttery and oily middle, with some nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and more hops; the back end is fading spice, dryness, earthy hops, and lingering malt. Fat bready malts provide a solid backbone from start to finish.

Rating: Divine Brew

I gotta go with a Decent Divine Brew on the 2012 Pumking. Despite not being as sweet as the 2011 Pumking, and despite having some corn in the aroma, this is still the premier pumpkin beer. It's just a big malty, bready beer...it has some density mid-palate with some oil and butter, but cleans up nicely on the finish. It does build as you drink it, leaving a slightly sticky sensation in your palate. It also leaves some pie crust...yum. The spice in this is really subtle and refined, and you do get some pumpkin pie notes. All-in-all, this is a fantastic beer, and a beer you should check out every fall. I always look forward to this beer, and I'm curious to see if they ramp the sweetness back up in the upcoming years. Food pairings: Thanksgiving, turkey, pumpkin pie, pumpkin desserts, vanilla ice cream with crumbled pie crust (or make a float!), a hearty stew, squash soup, or all by itself. 

Random Thought: It's been cold and rainy out. It finally feels like Autumn. So - WHY!!?!?!? - are there winter seasonal beers in stores already? I'm still camping on a bunch of fall beers, and probably won't make any major beer purchases till November.

Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin (Pugsley’s Signature Series)

Brewed By: Shipyard Brewing Company in Portland, Maine 

Purchased: Giant 22oz bomber from Binny's in IL; 2012

Style/ABV: Spice/Herb/Vegetable (Imperial Pumpkin Ale), 9.0

Tonight we are revisiting Shipyard Brewing....and hopefully with better results. I'm just not a huge fan of their Pumpkinhead Ale. It's pumpkin spice soda, and it's not even brewed with pumpkin. Fortunately....tonight's beer is good. It's really good. Let's get down to it:

Shipyard Brewing is native to Portland, Maine, and a local treasure. Shipyard Brewing's story started back in 1992, in the seacoast village of Kennenbunkport Harbor. Entrepreneur Fred Forsley and master brewer Alan Pugsley started Federal Jack's Restaurant & Brew Pub, which became the birthplace of Shipyard ales. Around the time that Federal Jack's was getting started, the American craft beer industry was starting to grow, and within two years the demand for the beer was greater than the capacity at the pub. So Fred and Alan opened the Shipyard Brewing Company in Portland in 1994, and by 1996 it was the fasted growing craft brewery in the country. Shipyard is currently the 15th largest microbrewery in the United States, and the third largest in New England after the Boston Beer Company and Harpoon Brewery. These guys crank out a ridiculous amount of beer, and they also make soda.  

It's okay, have a fig newton. I'm from Maine!

If you roll over to Shipyard's beer page, you can get the info on this beer. This beer is brewed with Wheat and Munich malts (along with Pale malts), uses top-fermenting English yeast, and features Willamette and Hallertau hops. Really, this beer has a lot of German stuff going on. Suggested food pairings are: sharp cheese, nuts, lamb, stews, pumpkin pie, and mother fucking fig newtons.

This is a big beer for realz, though. 9.0% ABV...it's spiced with nutmeg (according to the bottle)...and apparently: "Pale Ale, Wheat, and Light Munich Malts combine with the natural tannin in pumpkin and the delicate spiciness of Willamette and Hallertau Hops to balance the sweetness of the fruit." They recommend serving this at 55 degrees Fahrenheit. I love the bottle art with its simple paper wrapper...but I hate the foil. I can't stand beers that use foil. Oh well. Into the glass and blah blah.

Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin

Once you peel apart the sticky mess that's the foil, you can actually open the beer. I got some nice smoke, and I would be impressed, but peeling off that foil is harder than putting a condom on. That should be Shipyard's slogan. The beer pours a lovely hazy orange color. You get about a finger's worth of orange-tinted head, which is fairly thick. After the head subsides, you're left with a really nice thin coating of bubbles. It's reminiscent of a Belgian ale or something heavily carbonated. And sure enough, when you swirl the beer in your glass, you kick up a lot of head. When held to bright light, this beer is a perfect orange color, and you can see quite a bit of carbonation in the form of tiny bubbles rising upwards. Overall, this is really solid looking stuff.

The aroma on this beer is sooooo fucking nice. There's a boozy thing going on in here, and then there is this wine thing going on. This beer's aroma makes up for all the sins committed by Pumpkinhead. I get pumpkin seeds, earthy pumpkin, slight tart pumpkin (it reminds me of New Belgium's Kick), and big wet pumpkin notes like you just cut into a pumpkin to remove all the gunk. I get a strong nutmeg aroma in here, along with some hints of cinnamon, spiced rum, and other spices. There's also a wine thing going on in here...like a woody tannin character. And some flirtations with pie crust, but largely on the NOT sweet side of things. Really nice and complex stuff on the nose.

The tasty is boozy, surprisingly bitter, and full of tannins that are really brought out with those Munich malts. Up front is some subdued bitterness and building malt...this gives way to nutmeg, cinnamon, rum...there are definitely earthy and floral hop notes in this, and some slightly woody and tart pumpkin. I get some juicy qualities to this, with nice pumpkin, bitterness...I am getting some hints of pie crust in the back end as this dries out leaving lingering malt.

This is mad tasty, and really comes to life as it warms up. That earthy tannin thing really plays off the spices in a nice way. Big nutmeg, earthy hops, pumpkin, and wine-like tannins. This is a medium-full beer, with great palate depth, lots of spritzy supporting carbonation, and good complexity for the style. At 9.0% ABV, this drinks like a big boy beer, but still goes down pretty easy. You get some warming on the back. Up front is malt, spice, and initial sweetness; this rolls into spice, hops, bitterness; the back end is lingering pumpkin, pie crust, and it dries out with some malt dryness. Tannins are abound with a wine thing going on. 

Rating: Above-Average  

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. This is really good shit, and one of the better pumpkin beers out there. This is much better than Pumpkinhead, but I suppose you can't really compare to the two. This beer is a spicy, pumpkiny, wine substitute. I'd pair this with some cheese, a stew, turkey, duck, or even some Chinese food. I say skip Pumpkinhead and buy this...but yeah.

Random Thought: Tomorrow I will try to do Pumking review. Pumking. Pumking. Pumking. I can feel the hits increasing just by typing that. PUMMMKIIINGGG!!! Awwww yeah.

Radeberger Pilsner

Brewed By: Radeberger Exportbierbrauerei (Oetker Group) in Radeberg, Germany 

Purchased: 1 Pint 0.9oz bottle (16.9oz) from a 4-pack bought at Binny's in IL; 2012

Style/ABV: German Pilsner, 4.8%

Today we are cracking open a German Pilsner from Radeberger. The Radeberger website is fucking horrendous. It rapes you with a terrible flash intro, and I don't know what happens next and I don't care to find out. Strike one for their shitty website. According to Wikipedia, Radeberger started back in 1872 under Zum Bergkeller, where he founded the brewer in the town of Radeberg. Radeberger ranges number 9 among Germany's best selling breweries. Radeberger was the first brewery in Germany to brew their beer exclusively in the Pilsner style. In 2004, the Oetker Gruppe purchased the company and made Radeberger private. According to Wikipedia, Radeberger appears to be the favorite beer of Charlie Harper in Two and a Half Men. That last tidbit of trivia is more useful than the Radeberger website, which is saying a lot.

If you roll over to the German Beer Institute, you can get the breakdown of the Pils style, but there's not much to it:

"Pils is arguably the most successful beer style in the world. Nine out of ten beers drunk in the worldtoday are made according to the Pilsner style or a style directly derived from it. Pils is a very blond, brilliantly clear, moderately effervescent lager, modeled largely after a beer style invented in 1842 in the Czech city of Pilsen. Pils is often strongly hopped with an assertive up-front bitterness bite. It emerged in the north of Germany. Perhaps the classic representation of the style is Jever Pils, a beer from a small town by the same name. Jever Pils is being imported into the United Sates and is available in many parts of the country."

I'll maybe go into the history some other time, but the writeup the German Beer Institute provides is very good. If you check out the BJCP guidelines for the German Pilsner (2A. German Pilsner (Pils)), you'll see they describe this as a beer with a light, grain, Pils malt character, with some hints of flowery spice, or noble hops. This should be a clean beer with no fruity esters or diacetyl. Let's glass this beer up and see if it's any better than their website.

Radeberger Pilsner

The beer pours with a nice 3-finger's worth of white head. The head is surprisingly fluffy and foamy, and it's hanging around. The beer has a pale golden color (not captured very accurately by my picture), and you can see quite a bit of carbonation rising upwards from the transparent body. In bright light, the beer looks about the same....there is some lacing, and I'm fairly impressed with head retention, which is dominating the American Macro Lager style.

The aroma on this is grainy Pils malt, a hint of snappy biscuit, refreshing cleanness, a hint of honey and biscuit, and some faint and grassy Noble hops.

The taste on this is pretty nice, with a clean profile that doesn't have any terrible off flavors or skunk. Jeez, what a kind thing to say about a beer. "It doesn't taste like ass!" But seriously, this has a nice bready/biscuit/dough/cracker thing going on, with some zesty hop astringency, a lttile bit of grass, a hint of citrus, and a little bit of fruity/green apple. This has a dry, malty finish, with those Pils malts standing out nicely.

This is really clean, refreshing, drinkable stuff. At 4.8%, you can session this. Palate depth is great for the style, complexity is also solid, and the mouthfeel is medium-light. Up front is some Pils malt, grain, bread, honey; this rolls into hop astringency, grass; this rolls into more grain, Pils malt, and some more hops goodness. The finish is dry and biscuity. You do get that hard water thing, the Pils malts stand out, and some green apple runs through.

Rating: Above-Average  

I'm feeling a Decent Above-Average on this. There's not much to complain about here...or discuss for that matter. This is a solid Pilsner, and an enjoyable if not surprisingly more complex beer than I was expecting. You could pair this with potatoes and sausage, fish, Japanese food and sushi, or even peppery chicken. Good stuff.

Random Thought: Fuck you Phillip Rivers. You got the Peyton treatment.

Lips Of Faith - Super India Pale Ale (Alpine Collaboration)

Brewed By: New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado

Purchased: 22oz bomber from Binny's in Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: Imperial IPA, 9.0%

Reported IBUs: 99

"Oh Yeah! Duffman is failing his sobriety test!

If beer was a superhero, its secret identity would be Tim Drunk. If beer was a superhero, it would have a man-cave. If beer was a superhero, no damsels in distress would be saved, because beer would be too busy filling out paperwork after being arrested for a DUI. If beer was a superhero....

Sometimes I take 3 or 4 bombers of beer with me into the bath tub, and they duke it out, role-play-superhero-style. Obviously I make the macro lager the super-villain. "Oh no, piss-man is robbing the bank again, who will save the citizens of Metropobath!?" And every single time, an American hero comes to the rescue: Super IPA!

With enough hops to pummel any plebeian macro lager, Super IPA comes to the rescue, kicking ass and taking names. But mostly filling out paperwork because he crashed into an orphanage. Again.

Will someone think of the kids? New Belgium and Alpine didn't, since they decided to get together and collaborate over this Super India Pale Ale. New Belgium is, of course:

New Belgium is based out of Fort Collins, and opened in 1991 when founder Jeff Lebesch took his home-brewing into the commercial world. For reference, New Belgium is the thrid-largest craft brewery in the United States. You can read more about New Belgium if you check out their website.

But what about Alpine Beer? The Alpine Beer Company is a small microbrewery based out of Alpine, California. Founded by Pat McIlhenney, the Alpine Beer Company opened its doors in the fall of 2002. Prior to that, Pat worked as an apprentice at a local brewery, until he purchased a brewing system from a local brewpub. In November of 1999, he began operating as Alpine Beer Company, contracting "McIlhenney’s Irish Red” for the AleSmith Brewing Company. Since opening the Alpine Beer Co. in 2002, the brewery has seen more demand than they can keep up with. That's a good thing. The brewery expanded in 2008, and opened up a pub in 2010. The Alpine Beer Company is on the up-and-up, and is one of California's local treats.

That means you don't see much, if any, Alpine beer outside of the local region. According to the Super IPA page, that's part of what makes this beer special. This collaboration features Columbus (pleasant, pungent), Simcoe (catty, distinct), Amarillo (citrusy), and Centennial (floral, citrus) hops. Clocking in at a super 9.0% ABV, and packing 99 IBUs, this beer will cost your waistline 265 calories per 12oz. The aroma is supposed to feature dank pine, grass, citrus, and bready malts; the taste is supposed to be hoppy and warming. Let's glass up this beer, fight some crime, and drive through some orphanages!

Super India Pale Ale

The beer pours a lovely golden-yellow color, with 2-fingers of very fluffy/creamy white head. The body has some nice hints of orange, and the beer appears to be filtered, and is quite transparent. You can see carbonation. The head is really thick and creamy, and it's hanging around pretty nicely with a pinky's worth left atop the beer. As the head falls away, there is some brilliant lacing. There is still a ton of carbonation in this, in the form of mid-sized bubbles, and the beer looks brilliant when held to a bright light.

The aroma on this is really nice, with a lot of (maybe surprisingly) sweet hop notes. There is some resiny/dank pine, big herbal notes, tea, grass, earthy, hint of lemon, and some bready/biscuity sweetness and honey. Pretty nice stuff, this beer leans towards that herbal/tea/grass aroma.

Damn, dat mouthfeel. This is a thick Imperial IPA, and really fills out in terms of malts in the mouthfeel. You get some nice resinous pine dragging across your tongue, along with hints of floral and citrus, and that earthy tea/grass note. There's some big malt sweetness in here, including honey, bread, and biscuit. This definitely has some bitterness to it as well, with some intense drying on the back end. I can feel this one on my lips. There's a slightly soapy character to this one, and you get some peppery/salty spice on the back as well. Onions? Occasionally, I see people reference onions as a taste in Imperial IPAs. I'm pretty fucking sure I get some onions in this as well. Crazy! Tea...grass..onions...nondescript citrus...some definite lemon zest/pepper/salt spice, and a nice rounded malt backbone of honey, bread, and biscuit.

This shit is thick and boozy for an Imperial IPA. I love it. It just fills your mouth and surrounds your tongue. Mouthfeel on this is medium-full to full, palate depth is great, and complexity is moderate for the style. At 9.0%, this drinks pretty well. But this is a big beer. I'm leaning more towards "sip this shit," versus trying to pound it back. There's a lot of carbonation in this helping things out, but this is still fairly chewy and turbulent, and does some damage on your tongue. As it should per the style. Up front you get a blast of bitter, followed by bready/biscuity sweet honey malt; this rolls into bitterness, lemon, dank pine, tea, and resinous hops cutting across your tongue; the back end is lingering hops, onion, soap, and lingering malt body. This fades to dryness, and warms up your tummy with some nice booziness.

Rating: Above-Average 

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average on this. Really nice stuff going on here, and the hops build as you drink this. I can't remember the last time I had an Imperial IPA with such a dominant onion note. Weird, right? I'll confess, this isn't my favorite IIPA - or maybe I'm not feeling it at the moment - but this is a good beer. Really nice resiny, dry hops. I can feel this doing damage in my mouth. The huge malt body also does a nice job balancing out this beer, although at 99 IBUs, the balance really tilts towards total hop domination. Food pairings: humus and crackers or bread, grilled pork or chicken, pasta with a white or cream sauce, pizza, and any of your usual IPA pairings. 

 

Random Thought: I'm reading reviews for this, and there's a lot of references to tropical fruits and mango. I definitely get some hints of citrus in this, and lemon for sure...but I think this leans more towards grass, tea, and earth. This is proof that palates are extremely biased, and what you taste flucuates. Proof that reviews are bullshit. Ha. 

Oskar Blues Ten FIDY

Brewed By: Oskar Blues Brewery in Longmont, Colorado

Purchased: 12oz CAN bought at Binny's in Naperville, IL; 2012

Style/ABV: Russian Imperial Stout, 10.5%
Reported IBUs: 98

I'm excited to crack open the Ten FIDY, because this is a crazy fucking beer. The fallible BJCP guidelines for the Russian Imperial Stout clock this style between 50-90 IBUs, but tonight's beer surpasses that upper limit. I'm getting ahead of myself, and want to briefly talk about Russian Imperial Stouts (RIS from here on out). 

The BJCP states that RIS were brewed to high gravity and hopping level in England so that they could be exported to the Baltic States and Russia. I'm unsure if this history is still firmly rooted in fact, as much of the history on exporting hoppy beers for preservation is up for debate. As Martyn Cornell (author of Beer) states:

Myth 3 “Porters and stouts were not suitable for the torrid Indian climate.”

More unresearched rubbish. Considerable amounts of porter – far more porter than IPA, probably – were exported to India, from at least the second half of the 18th century right through to the end of the 19th century. The East India Company actually used to ask brewers to tender for suppliers of porter to India.

The history is up in the air...and it will be interesting to see what the "official" story ends being in terms of the preservation of export beers. Nevertheless, the history of the RIS begins towards the end of the 18th century, when British brewers began exporting porters and stouts to the Baltic regions. These beers were brewed stronger to survive the long journey (or so it is told, as we just discussed). What seems to be more clear is that this stronger style of Stout originated in London around 1781, when Barclay Perkins began exporting its Stout to the Baltic region. The rest is pretty much history, and the style gained a lot of popularity. American brewers have revived the style, and continue to push the envelope with it. Like tonight's beer!

Oskar Blues has a few claims to fame, like being the first American craft brewery to put their beer into cans. The brewery was founded in 1997, by Dick Dale Katechis, as Oskar Blues Restaurant. In 1998, Oksar Blues began brewing beer in the basement of their restaurant. In 2002 Oskar Blues becomes the first American craft brewery to can a beer, with their Dale's Pale Ale. During 2008, the brewery moved from its original Lyons location to a new, 35,000-square-foot facility in Longmont, CO, turning the Lyons location back into a brew pub. And in 2012, the brewery expanded its capacity to over 100,000 bbls. The brewery continues to celebrate success, and has been turning out some awesome beer...in a can. Their website is pretty kick-ass, so check it out HERE for more information about the brewery and their history.

Tonight's beer, the "Ten FIDY," was first brewed at Oskar Blues Grill & Brew in Lyons, CO during 2006. According to Oskar Blues' website, this is a titanic, immensely vicious stout that is loaded with big flavors of chocolate-covered caramel and coffee that hide the 98 IBUs under some big malts. This beer is brewed with an enormous amount of two-row malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, flaked oats, and hops. This is a huge fucking beer, and I'm excited to get it into a glass.  

Oskar Blues Ten FIDY

This is just an evil looking beer. It pours pitch black, with 3-fingers worth of dark, coffee-brown, head. The head on this beer really has that coffee darkness, and it was actually bubbling a bit like a cauldron after pouring the beer. As the head pulls away, you see some lacing, and there are some alcohol legs on this. This beer doesn't lie. It looks about the same in low light as it does bright light.

This beer was canned on 9-24-12, and says, "Haulin' Oats!" That means this beer is fresh...and hopped up. You get a lot of roast, dark chocolate/baker's chocolate, and coffee on the nose of this beer. I'm getting some of that burnt sugar, molasses, and burnt marshmallow aroma. The aroma is very sweet, and has a dense stickiness about it...you maybe get some vague, ghosty hop profiles on the aroma, but they are not distinctive. You get some hints of dark fruit playing off the sweetness.

The taste....holy shit. This is a giant beer. You get blasted with a huge wall of flavor up front, and then this thing just camps huge roast, chocolate, and coffee notes on the mid to back palate for a really long duration. On the back, back palate, you get some hops flairing up, and some hop bitterness/profiles along with more malt. Epic stuff. Up front you get some grain, coffee, some hoppiness, dark fruits (cherries, figs, raisins), chocolate, earthy dirt, smoke, and campfire. This thing is huge and chewy, but creamy and smooth at the same time...the finish is just a wallop of giant chocolate, coffee, and malt.

I just belched up some hops. You would be hard-pressed to peg this beer at 98 IBUs, but the hops do manifest as hints of zesty citrus, and you get some nice bitterness up front and in the back palate. This is oily, thick, and chewy at times...but it also has a smoothness and creaminess about it. Palate depth is superb, with each sip lasting anywhere from 10-30 seconds. Mouthfeel is full. This thing really wallops your palate, and I can feel it on my lips now, as they are starting to tingle. This is also remarkably complex....let me tell you, the further into this glass, the more I start to get the hops. The hops really build in this beer with each sip. My guess is if you age this beer, the hops will drop out leaving a fat malt build. Up front are some hops, citrus, dark fruits, coffee, earthy malts; the middle rolls into more bitterness, and the malts take over; the back end is big malts (coffee, chocolate, roast), but the hops start to build with this one. The finish is sticky and dry.

Rating: Divine Brew

I'm feeling a very confident Decent Divine Brew with this. I took a break for a few minutes, and went back in for a sip...and got blasted with malts again. I'm also picking up some marshmallow and campfire on the back end now. This is remarkably complex, and has such an impressive feeling on your palate...mmm! I'm feeling some alcohol in my tummy, and this beer is definitely boozy. But it's still fairly drinkable...you could sip this, or pair it with a meal and drink it a bit more liberally. As far as food pairings go, I'd pair this with a chocolate dessert, a dry chocolate cake, a raunchy burger with onion rings, or even a steak. This is just a fantastic beer, and makes me excited to try more of Oskar Blues' stuff.

Random Thought: If Coors is colder than Ice Cube, than this shit is way more boss than 50 Cent.