Pumking

Beer Name: Pumking
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 8.6%
Serving method: 22-oz bottle, served in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on:

Obviously this beer is not here to mess around. The pumpkin on the label is even wearing a crown. It actually looks pretty awesome. If I were an evil pumpkin, that's the kind of crown I'd be rocking.

Pumking is a orange-amber colored beer that, like many pumpkin ales, pours without much head and without leaving much lacing. There's a nice pumpkin aroma here, and the usual spice notes. There's also something else in there, like a sweet scent. It might be caramel. If the flavor is anything like the aroma, this is going to be a tasty beverage.

At 8.6%, this pumpkin ale is quite a bit higher than most of the others. The alcohol is faintly noticeable, but it's not a huge issue. The pumpkin flavor here is very good, and the spices add a nice flavor without overpowering my tastebuds. There's only a marginal carbonation here, and the beer finishes clean without leaving much of an aftertaste.

Final thought - This is another great beer from the fine folks at Southern Tier. Whatever they're doing over there, they should keep it up. Be aware that the high ABV means that this is a pumpkin ale to be enjoyed occasionally as opposed to most other pumpkins which make great session beers. I am definitely keeping this on the list of pumpkin beers to drink next year. This has been a good year for new pumpkin ales. Unlike last year...

-Jon

Sword Swallower

Beer Name: Coney Island Sword Swallower
Brewery: Schmaltz Brewing Company
ABV: 6.8%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on:

This beer was a gift from Bill, as he drank the first one of these in his mixpack and did not care for it. Also, the label was on upside down. That makes me laugh. Finally, I was not aware that Coney Island was in California. Oh wait, it's not! This brewery is tricky.

Sword Swallower is a golden color, with some hints orange in there. This one is a little more like brass, if brass is the color I'm thinking it is. It poured with almost no head, but there was a thin layer that lasted for most of the glass and left some erratic lacing behind. It has a citrus hop aroma, but there is also another aroma in there that makes the beer seem "bigger" than most pales. I would assume that this is a result of this being a lager instead of an ale.

For some reason, I went in thinking that this was going to be an IPA even though the bottle clearly said "Steel Hop Lager." Perhaps my reading abilities need to be tested. Although it does finish a bit like an IPA, so maybe they were shooting for an India Pale Lager. It has a good carbonation and is very smooth. The flavor is floral hops with a lagery taste in there as well. The finish is bitter, but the aftertaste hangs out a little too long.

Final thought - This beer was ok, but it's not something I'd go out of my way to drink again. There's nothing bad about it though, so maybe you will like it.

-Jon

400 Pound Monkey

Beer Name: 400 Pound Monkey
Brewery: Left Hand Brewing Company
ABV: 6.8%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on:

You might be wondering, and the answer is yes: I bought this beer strictly because of the name.

Left Hand's 400 Pound Monkey is an IPA, which isn't readily apparent from its name. It's a sort of cloudy golden color, but I was hoping that it was going to be brass colored so I could make references to the song "Brass Monkey." The beer poured with a half-inch head that faded fairly quickly but left a nice lacing behind. It's got a good hoppy aroma, but there seems to be a little bit of maltiness in the background.

For an IPA, this beer really dials back the hoppiness. I'm not about the suggest it to Kate since there is still a noticeable hop kick, but it's not as strong and in-your-face as many IPAs are these days. There's also a noticeable sweetness to it, which sort of sticks in your throat as you drink it. It's pretty carbonated, and it finishes with a cloying bitterness and sweet aftertaste.

Final thought - This beer is pretty good, and I would recommend it if you're the kind of person who likes a little bit of hops but doesn't usually enjoy IPAs. I like it, but I don't love it.

-Jon

Natural Blonde

Beer Name: Natural Blonde
Brewery: The People's Pint
ABV: 4.6%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a tulip glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Unlike Kate, I did not have to spite-drink both of my dinner beers.

Natural Blonde is an American Blonde Ale. Seriously, that's a kind of beer. I know, I'm shocked too. I thought it was a kind of girl. As the name would suggest, it's a light golden color and poured with about an inch of head. The aroma was a little bready with hops in the background. There were probably some other aromas in there as well, but my nose was pretty stuffed up by this point so it was tough to pick them out.

The flavor of this beer is very light, with just enough hops to keep it from being boring. There's a little bit of maltiness as well, but all the flavors are very subdued. It's mostly malty at the beginning, with the hops finishing things up with a crisp bitterness. The medium carbonation doesn't keep this from being a very easy-to-drink beer.

Final thought - This beer makes me think of what the Big 3's beers would taste like if they actually tasted good. Obviously it must be possible to produce a light, low ABV beverage that doesn't taste like garbage, so I'm not sure why they don't do it. And yet they still have like 95% of the beer market. I'm ashamed of people.

-Jon

Provider Pale Ale

Beer Name: Provider Pale Ale
Brewery: The People's Pint
ABV: 5.2%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

They were all out of the oatmeal stout, so I decided to branch out and try something new.

The Provider Pale Ale is actually very dark, looking more like an IPA than a pale ale. It did not have much head, but there was a thin layer that stuck around for most of the glass and left a nice lacing pattern. There was a nice aroma of hops, but it was a little faint.

This beer was pretty good. It was sort of like a toned down IPA, because there was a nice hoppiness to it without it being the only flavor. It was a good match with my food, complementing the meal without overpowering it. The flavor was sort of muted though, so it might be disappointing on its own. It finished pretty cleanly, with a light bitterness. Very light carbonation here, and super smooth to drink.

Final thought - Good with food but I think I'd go with their Pied pIPA instead if I was just sitting back with a beer.

-Jon

UFO Pumpkin

Beer Name: UFO Pumpkin
Brewery: Harpoon Brewery
ABV: 5.9%
Serving method: A pint poured from a growler
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Growler bottled on 8/14/11

If you're ever going on brewery tours in Vermont, definitely include the Harpoon Brewery. It's a great tour that is informative and has free sampling. They also have some good food at the restaurant there. Get the fries. And maybe the Vermonter sandwich. And obviously a sampler of beers.

UFO Pumpkin from Harpoon is a mostly clear, light coppery beer. If you hold it up to a light, it actually looks sort of pumpkin colored. There is an aroma of spices like most pumpkin ales, but it's more balanced than most others because there's a pumpkin aroma too. In the background there's also a maltiness to the scent. It's a busy beer. It poured with a very thin head that disappeared almost immediately and didn't leave any lacing. That's pretty typical of a pumpkin ale, so I'm not too concerned.

This beer is delicious! It's pumpkiny and spicy, but there's more cinnamon and less nutmeg to the spices. That's probably why I enjoy it so much. Cinnamon > nutmeg every day of the week. It's got a light carbonation to keep it from being like pumpkin juice, and it finishes fairly crisply with a little bit of spice aftertaste.

Final thought - Alright, so I know I said that the pumpkin ale from Wolaver's was probably going to be my pumpkin beer of choice. I was wrong. This is the stuff. And all you Shipyard fans, don't get me wrong; Pumpkinhead is a delicious choice. This one is just better.

-Jon

Snapperhead IPA

Beer Name: Snapperhead IPA
Brewery: Butternuts Beer and Ale
ABV: 6.3%
Serving method: 12-oz can
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by Dec 2011

This can isn't quite as awesome as the others, as it only has a fish rocking out to a Walkman. I prefer high-fiving pigs, personally.

Snapperhead IPA is not a typical IPA, as Butternuts doesn't really brew with a whole lot of hops. This means that even if you hate hoppy beers, you might enjoy this one. The aroma here is sweet and malty, and not hoppy at all. Since the can is pretty impossible to see through, I don't know much about the beer's color or whether or not it poured with any head. It tastes like a darker ale though, so maybe a light brown or deep reddish color would be appropriate.

This is a very malty IPA, with nary a hop to be tasted. It is very smooth and thick, and pretty much all malt in the flavor department. There's only a light carbonation, and it has a slightly bitter aftertaste. Overall, the whole thing feels very heavy as you drink it.

Final thought - As an IPA, I'm not really sure about this one. But as a beer, it's not too bad. I think it's overshadowed by their stout and pale ale, but I'm not about to dump it down the sink. I am not sure what the reviewers that say it has a nice citrusy flavor were drinking though...

-Jon

Mocha Porter

Beer Name: Mocha Porter
Brewery: Rogue Brewery
ABV: 5.3%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Today I learned that Rogue does not believe in putting brew dates or bottling dates on their packaging. There's an article about it somewhere, so if you're interested you can go look for it. That either means that they don't want you to know, or they brew their beer to stand the test of time, which means bottle conditioning.

I am very hesitant about this beer. Not because I don't think it's going to be a good one, but because several people have recommended it to me. That usually results in me setting my expectations far too high and setting myself up for disappointment.

This is a very dark beer. At first it appears to be solid black, but if you look carefully, it starts to look more like a very dark brown. It poured with a full inch of head that gradually receded while leaving a thin layer for most of the pint and a sporadic lacing pattern. There is an aroma of roasted chocolate and coffee malts.

It looks like I was worried for nothing. This beer has a very nice flavor, with the coffee upfront and the chocolate bringing up the rear, with a roasted overtone to everything. There is also a little bit of hop flavor at the end, giving the chocolate a more bitter flavor and keeping everything from being too sweet. The beer has a very full mouthfeel and a surprisingly high level of carbonation. It's still pretty easy to drink, although I think I'd like it to be a little less carbonated.

Final thought - I had put off drinking this beer for two reasons: first, as mentioned above, I was worried about overinflating it in my mind, and second, because I couldn't find it. Now that I've finally gotten around to it, I'm very glad I did. This beer would be great after a big meal, or with a big fat steak. And it's not too strong, so you can enjoy a few. Beers, not steaks.

-Jon

Pumpkinhead

Beer Name: Pumpkinhead Ale
Brewery: Shipyard
ABV: 5.1%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by Jan 2012

How did this not get a post last year? Did I skip all the beers in the Pumpkin Beer Breakdown? I might have since that was last August and Mmmm, beers! didn't launch officially until September. I guess I'll let it slide.

Pumpkinhead Ale is a golden orange beer that doesn't really look like or smell like beer. It doesn't really have much head or lacing, and it smells like a pumpkin pie. I have sadly learned that the pumpkin flavor in this beer is artificial, which made me a little bit sad. The aroma is just spices, most notably nutmeg I believe.

Much like the aroma, this beer tastes like a processed pumpkin pie. Which is not a bad thing. There is a little bit of pumpkin mixed in with the spices, and it's not very carbonated. This makes for a fairly easy-drinking beer. There is no hoppiness to this beer at all. I wonder if hops are even used in the brewing process. There's a slight aftertaste of spice, which makes sense since pretty much every step in consuming this beer is sort of dominated by the spices.

Final thought - I used to love this beer, and I still enjoy it, just not as much. When I learned that there are no actual pumpkins harmed in the making of this beer, things were slightly ruined for me. Especially when I learned about the organic pumpkin beer from Wolaver's. It's still better than a lot of the other pumpkin ales out there.

-Jon