Punkin Ale

Beer Name: Punkin Ale
Brewery: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
ABV: 7%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a boring glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

After dinner plans #1, #2 and #3 failed to come to fruition, Kate and I ended up at Judie's in Amherst where I was excited to see Dogfish Head's pumpkin beer on the menu. I've been meaning to give this beer a try for a while now, so that's one more check mark on my To Do list.

Punkin Ale is an dark orangey beer that poured with a light amount of head. They brought me the beer and a glass, so I was able to pour it how I wanted. Oddly, the glass was slightly less than 12 ounces, which makes me confused. You brought me a beer, so bring me an appropriate beer glass!! Oh well. The aroma is heavily pumpkin and spices at first, although the pumpkin part fades away within a couple minutes. The spices, as expected, are mostly cinnamon and nutmeg, similar to many other pumpkin beers.

This beer has a good pumpkin flavor with the spice levels balanced to keep them from overwhelming my tastebuds. Sadly, the pumpkin part of the flavor doesn't last for the entire glass. I guess you have to drink this beer a bit faster than I did. Which means don't order it to enjoy with a meal, as you don't have that kind of time frame. This beer has a bigger presence in each sip than a lot of other pumpkin beers, and a bit more carbonation.

Final thought - This is a good pumpkin beer, probably in the top 4 for this year. For our money, we still like UFO Pumpkin the best at this residence, although I know others will disagree. (For the record, the other members of the top 4 would be Pumking and the really long named one from Wolaver's.)

-Jon

Puffers Smoked Porter

Beer Name: Puffers Smoked Porter
Brewery: Amherst Brewing Company
ABV: 4.6%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

From one dark beer to another, I followed my stout with a porter. As a matter of fact, I believe that stouts and porters were originally the same style of beer. Or not, as there is a lot of disagreement on this particular issue. We can agree on one thing though, and that is the both styles are dark and heavy in the roasted aroma department.

Puffers Smoked Porter is a very dark beer, bordering on black. It arrived with no head, and didn't leave any lacing on the glass. The aroma here is extra chocolatey, with strong roasted malt notes.

The roasted flavor here is the dominant one. There's some coffee and chocolate, and lots of roasted malt. This beer has a much more mild finish than the stout did, without the bitter finish. The whole pint was very smooth and uncarbonated, making it super easy drinking. As the beer warms up, a nice sweetness enters into the flavor.

Final thought - For a fairly low ABV beer, this one has a lot of nice things going on. I think it will be one of my top ABC choices in the future.

-Jon

Two Sisters

Beer Name: Two Sisters Imperial Stout
Brewery: Amherst Brewing Company
ABV: 6.7%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Amherst Brewing Company calls this an imperial stout, but at 6.7%, I'm not sure it's quite high enough to actually get the classification. But I guess if they want to call it imperial, so be it.

Two Sisters is, like many stouts, a very opaque dark beer. Also like many stouts, it came with only a thin layer of head that remained for about the first half of the pint. Some of the head clung in a light lacing pattern, but only very faintly. The aroma of this beer is a heavy roasted chocolate one.

The flavor is also heavy on the roasted characteristics, but the chocolate flavor isn't sweet chocolate. Maybe dark chocolate, or baking chocolate. There's also a little bit of bitterness at the finish. The beer has a low carbonation, and it works very well paired with some food.

Final thought - Although I really don't think this classifies as an imperial stout, it still works well as a normal stout. Getting the beer fresh from the actual brewery also makes a difference, so I don't know what this would be like if I got a growler and brought it home. I think I'll probably just drink it at ABC and get other stouts for at-home drinking.

-Jon

Woodshed IPA

Beer Name: Woodshed IPA
Brewery: Vintage Brewing Co.
ABV: 6.5%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

This beer was actually my 4th choice, but my 3rd choice (a double black IPA) was not available despite being listed on the menu as being newly tapped. Luckily, I always have a backup choice of beer for just such an occasion. I haven't really thought about what I'd do if my backup choice wasn't available either. My guess is probably panic and curl into the fetal position under the table.

The Woodshed IPA is a cloudy copper beer with a quick fading head that leaves a small layer behind. This beer has a very strong hoppy aroma, but it's a very different aroma from the Hop Harvest. Whereas that one was a grassy kind of hop, this one is all about the florally citrus hops.

And the flavor follows right from the aroma. There are major grapefruit notes from the hops. It also has a very light maltiness (and sweetness) that balance out the hops and keep them from being too much. Sadly, there is not nearly enough sweetness to keep this beer from causing a Kate-face. This beer has a very dry finish that makes you immediately ready for the next sip. As it warms up, the sweetness increases as the hop flavors decrease, so you can wait it out until the balance is right where you want it, as long as you like hops at least a little bit.

Final thought - Even though it was a backup beer, I enjoyed this beer very much. Citrusy hops with enough sweetness to keep them in check generally make for my favorite IPAs, and this was no exception. All in all, I think Vintage is a great brewery (based on only 3 beers, but they were still 3 for 3 in my book), and I'm glad it's the one that I randomly chose off my list of Madison breweries.

-Jon

Scaredy Cat

Beer Name: Scaredy Cat Oatmeal Stout
Brewery: Vintage Brewing Co.
ABV: 6%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Since my first beer focused on the hops, I figured that my second beer should focus on malt. Specifically roasted malts in the form of a (hopefully) delicious stout.

Scaredy Cat is a very dark beer in the tradition of many stouts before it. The aroma is like a stout on steroids. It's super roasted, with some caramel, coffee and chocolate all noticeable in large quantities. There was almost no head at all, but there was a hint of some coffee colored head that could have been present in a different pouring method. Like maybe if you held the glass way below the tap or something.

Despite the balance of aromas, the flavor is mainly the coffee. The whole pint was super smooth, with very little carbonation, making the whole thing very easy to drink. Usually there is a little bit of bitterness at the end of each sip for a stout, but this one doesn't really have it. I like when there's a little bitterness to balance out the sweetness of most stouts, but since this beer had a lot more coffee flavor than chocolate or caramel, I didn't think that the lack of bitterness was an issue.

Final thought - This beer was delightful, but I could see the coffee dominance being an issue for some. They should get over it though, since it doesn't really hurt the overall stout experience.

-Jon

Hop Harvest Ale

Beer Name: Hop Harvest Ale
Brewery: Vintage Brewing Co.
ABV: 6.6%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Since we had to check out of our hotel by noon and our flight wasn't until 5:20, we still had quite a bit of time to kill even after factoring in a 1.75 hour drive to the airport. We decided that the best way to spend said time would be at a brewery. Little did I know at the time that all this delicious beer (along with pretty much everything else I had consumed in the previous 24 hours) would be violently expelled from my body in a losing battle with motion sickness.

Vintage had a whole bunch of enticing beers, but I finally settled on the Hop Harvest Ale for my first choice. It was a cloudy ruby colored beer that arrived with a very light head that faded away, leaving only a thin layer behind that lasted for most of the beer. It also left a light lacing pattern behind. The aroma of this beer was hoppy, but a grassy sort of hops. It makes me think that the beer is hopped using super-fresh local hops, but I don't really know if Wisconsin is the appropriate climate for hop growing or if any local hops even exist. It's a mystery.

This beer had a very good flavor. It was hoppy, but the hops weren't overpowering like with an IPA. It was like they were an important part of the beer without being the main focus. They are also present in a lightly bitter finish. The beer had a nice amount of carbonation and finished cleanly.

Final thought - This was a great first beer choice. I would definitely recommend it to anyone, but I'm not sure that Vintage ships its beers way out here to MA. That's quite unfortunate, as this was only the first of several delicious things I drank that afternoon.

-Jon

Roller Dam Red

Beer Name: Roller Dam Red Ale
Brewery: Great River Brewery
ABV: 5.4%
Serving method: 22-oz draft in a pint-like glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

We had a long time in between the wedding ceremony and the wedding reception, so we figured the best way to fill in the gap would be to find some grownup juice. The bar/restaurant in the hotel would probably serve nicely to fulfill this goal.

There were only 2 beers on tap that I had never tried before, and I couldn't read the other one, so I went with the Roller Dam Red Ale (although, if I'm telling the truth, the tap only said "Great River" on it, so I had to ask what exactly would be flowing from said tap). If I ever own a bar, I am going to make it much easier to know what is on tap.

The Roller Dam Red Ale is, as you might expect, a fairly reddish copper colored beer. It poured without any head, and it was so cold that the glass started sweating and prevented any kind of lacing retention. The aroma is a grainy maltiness, with some bready qualities. This thing tells me "bready" is not an actual word, but how else can I make the word "bread" into an adjective? Stupid English. I am expecting a malty sweetness to this beer.

The flavor of this beer matches pretty well with what I was expecting from the aroma. It's mostly malty, with just a little bit of hops near the end. But not much bitterness from the hops, just a sort of hoppy sensation that mixes with the sweetness from the malt. There was a medium carbonation to the beer, and a very light mouthfeel.

Final thought - I usually don't go for the red ales for some reason, but maybe I should. This was a pretty good beer despite not being on my list of top styles. Perhaps I should expand my horizons more often. Also, this beer is Iowa's first contribution to Mmmm, beers! Welcome, Iowa.

-Jon

Late Harvest

Beer Name: Late Harvest Autumn Ale
Brewery: Redhook Ale Brewery
ABV: 5.9%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Bottled 9/8/11

Redhook is actually based in Washington, but it has a brewery in New Hampshire as well. Based on some simple calculations (i.e. looking at a map), I'm assuming that this particular bottle of beer originated in NH rather than a few thousand miles away.

Late Harvest is an ambery copper colored beer based on the small amount that I spilled. It's probably a bit darker when it's poured into a glass. There is a nice aroma of sweet maltiness here, with something like maple syrup in there. At first, I was expecting this to be a hoppy kind of beer, with the "Harvest" part of the name implying that it was brewed with fresh-picked hops. However, upon giving it a good sniff, I am 100% sure that my original thought was incorrect.

Much like the aroma, this beer's flavor is pretty heavy on the malt. Sweetness upfront and sweetness in the finish. There's a medium amount of carbonation, which is more than I was expecting. I don't think that's a bad thing though. The finish is a bit heavy and sticky, and it has a little bitterness in it from what I can only assume is from some kind of finishing hops.

Final thought - Nothing wrong with this one. It's a good malty beer with a nice variety of sweetness to it. It's a little thin, but that's not a game-breaker. Although I have learned through my research that the company that owns Redhook might be partly owned by the same folks who brew such delicious beverages as "The King of Beers." That might be an issue.

-Jon

Batten Down Brown

Beer Name: Batten Down Brown
Brewery: Homebrewed by me (with Kate)
ABV: It's supposed to be around 4.8%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Brewed on 8/27/11, bottled 9/10/11

My second attempt at brewing beer myself went much more smoothly than the first. This is partly due to having an actual recipe this time, but mostly because I knew everything that I had done wrong the first time and could avoid doing it again.

Batten Down Brown is, as the name suggests, a brown ale. It pours a deep brown color with only a thin head that fades quickly without leaving any lacing pattern. The aroma is pretty much all malt, with a noticeable aroma from the chocolate malt we used. There's also just a tiny hint of the finishing hops.

Somewhat surprisingly (since I was partly responsible for its production), this beer is actually pretty good. It tastes the way you'd expect a brown ale to taste, with most of the flavors being malty in nature. There is a noticeable chocolately or coffee flavor to it as well, which I like. The carbonation is very light, which, when combined with the smooth mouthfeel, make this beer drink very easily.

Final thought - While much better than the first batch of beer, I still think this could be improved. There is just a little bit of a sharpness to it that I don't think should be there. Other than that, I think this beer lived up to my expectations, and will be listed as a success in my brewer's diary.

-Jon

Oktober Fest

Beer Name: Oktober Fest
Brewery: Stoudts Brewing Company
ABV: 5%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Yeah, Oktober Fest is now two words. So deal with that. I bought this beer because I wanted to try something new and the bottle had a weird looking guy with some kind of musical instrument. Apparently I am still buying beer based on appearances, which I really shouldn't do.

Oktober Fest is a amber colored beer with hints of orange to it. It poured with a decent amount of head that faded slowly but only left a light lacing behind. The aroma of this beer is very faint, but there's a maltiness to it and maybe some very faint fruitiness. There's definitely something else in the background, but it's a bit difficult to pick out.

This beer has everything you'd expect from an Oktoberfest beer. There's a nice caramel maltiness to it, very little hops, and a smoothness to each sip. This is fairly light Oktoberfest as far as the experience goes. Unlike something like, say, Sam Adams, drinking one of these does not feel like a monumental event. Instead, it's light and easily enjoyable. This is lightly carbonated with a fairly clean finish and only a slight aftertaste of sweetness.

Final thought - I found this to be a nicely enjoyable beer, and I will probably seek it out again next fall to enjoy another 6 or so.

-Jon

Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout

Beer Name: Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout
Brewery: Cape Ann Brewing Company
ABV: 7%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

I hadn't tried a pumpkin stout before, but I like stouts and I like pumpkin beers so I figured this one was a no-brainer.

The Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout is a fairly dark beer about the same color as a cola. It poured with a light head that quickly faded away without leaving much of a lacing pattern. The aroma is hard to describe; there are certainly some pumpkin and spice notes, but there's also something that is not pleasing to my nose. It's almost like a medicinal smell.

At first, I did not like this beer at all. That medicinal aroma was also present in the flavor, and it made it very difficult to enjoy the beer. However, I drank a second bottle, and it did not have any medicinal aroma or flavor. It still wasn't very pumpkiny though, which is an issue for me. Since I had a six-pack of this beer, I drank a couple more bottles throughout the week, and found 2 more to be like the first beer and 1 more like the second. There is still one more bottle in the fridge. Overall, the beer has a creamy feel to it and is very easy drinking, regardless of its flavor. I'm really not sure what's going on with this particular brew.

Final thought - The beers that weren't so good were completely unenjoyable, but the ones that seemed to taste ok weren't bad. "Pumpkin stout" was sort of a misnomer, as this beer needed some more stout flavors and definitely could have used more pumpkin. With all the other pumpkin beers out there, I think I'll be passing on this one in the future.

-Jon