Review: Shipyard's Smashed Pumpkin

Autumn often leaves us beer drinkers in a never-ending search for the best pumpkin beer to enjoy for the season. Will it be Uinta's Punk'n? Or Southern Tier's Pumking? Or Cape Ann's Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout? It's always a battlefield. Throughout the season, one of the things you'll commonly see (and probably disagree with to some degree) are lists of the top ten pumpkin beers. Some can be enlightening and reveal even more pumpkin beers you need to go out and try, while other basically confirm what you already know to be true. Well, as a beer aficionado, I, too, have succumbed to the endless search for a truly great pumpkin beer. While I find Pumking to be the best (and that's just my opinion), I am always looking for the next best thing.

So I have gone through quite a good few pumpkin beers: DFH's Punkin Ale, Uinta's Punk'n, Pumking, Riverhorse's Imperial Pumpkin, Shipyard's Pumpkinhead... Ah, there was one that was kind of interesting. Pumpkinhead is good, but it is still mostly a pumpkin spice beer with not much of a body to boot. And yet it finds its way onto almost every pumpkin beer list. So I was glad to see Shipyard also has another pumpkin offering: Smashed Pumpkin from their Puglsey's Signature Series. It comes in single bomber bottles, but with a hefty 9% ABV, I'm not complaining. So let's give this beer a whirl, shall we?

Appearance: 4.5/5
I'm going to first comment on the bottle. It's a very nice bottle, or rather it has a very attention-grabbing label. The label is bright orange with a black panel in the center, there's gold writing across the top, and the label wraps all the way around the bottle. Also, the top is capped with gold foil.

Anyway, the beer itself looks rather nice. It pours a orange-amber color which looks immediately like a good pumpkin beer. There is plenty of carbonation, but not a ton of head; probably a finger's worth at best, and it dissipates to nothing rather quickly.

Nose: 3/5
I sense the traditional pumpkin spices - nutmeg and cinnamon - and also some other nice things. A sweetish honey scent graces my nose, along with some actual pumpkin malt. I like that I can detect the pumpkin in this beer, although the overall aroma is rather weak and leaves it hard to pick up on certain notes.

Taste: 4/5
The first thing I noted were the spices, but the flavor is bolder than that. Biscuit and light notes of vanilla round out this beer, as well as a deeper malt: pumpkin. The pumpkin flavor is definitely present in this beer, which is perfect! There are far too many pumpkin beers out there that just feel like spiced ales, so kudos to Shipyard for one-upping their own basic seasonal release. There are also notes of caramel in Smashed Pumpkin. The flavor closes out with the spicy notes, which is cool. It kind of feels like the beer's flavor is a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Heh.

Mouthfeel: 3.75/5
Smashed Pumpkin has a medium body which is brought to life by the pumpkin and bready malts. The astringency of the higher ABV is basically not present, leading to a smooth drinking experience.

Finish: 3.5/5
It goes down smooth and leaves behind cinnamon and caramel notes, as well as some of the biscuit malt. The aftertaste kind of feels like I just had a slice of pumpkin pie.

Total Score: 74/100

While this was significantly better than Pumpkinhead, and it does probably make it into my top 10 pumpkin beers (at least of this year), Smashed Pumpkin only goes so far. It looks nice, tastes great, and finishes smooth. However, the nose was a little disappointing. But still, this is a very solid pumpkin offering from Maine's biggest brewery (well, Allagash may be just as big, but Shipyard is definitely up there). Pick yourself up a bottle and enjoy!

Also, I query you, the readers: what are some of your favorite pumpkin beers of the 2013 season? Drop a comment below.

Until next time, cheers!

-Blake

Review: Endless Brewing's Chocolate Cherry Stout

As I have grown to love beer, my tastes for beer have expanded as well. Dark beers like stouts and porters have become some of my favorite styles of beers. Combine that with a local brewery, consider me in heaven.

This review will be focusing on a local nano-brewery outside of Montrose Pennsylvania, Endless Brewing. This past weekend, I found myself in the area of Montrose and decided to give them a try. The brewery is run by a married couple (above) no older than 30 years old; both were very friendly and loved talking about beer. They had seven beers on tap and each one happened to be awesome and bursting with flavor. The brew I decided to fill a growler up with is their Chocolate Cherry Stout and boy was I glad I did.

Apperance: 4/5
The Chocolate Cherry Stout pours real smooth from growler to glass. It pours a nice dark, almost black, color with a slight reddish hue. There was very little head at all which was a let down but that typically happens with a growler. What head there was dissipated almost immediately. There is also little lacing throughout.

Nose: 4.5/5
When putting this beer to your nose, you are treated to some awesome aromas. At first, you are treated to a subtle hint of cherry but that quickly dissipates into a deep, malty chocolate scent. This is a great and awesome scent that really gets you in the mood to take your first sip.

Taste: 4.5/5
Chocolate Cherry Stout is a complex, but awesome-tasting brew. At first, it's a nice bitter, malty chocolate stout but as the beer moves to the back of your throat, a very subtle hint of cherry mixes in with the chocolate to provide you with that nice chocolate cherry stout flavor. It is almost like a chocolate covered cherry allowing this brew to burst with flavor, but the flavor is not overpowering whatsoever. It is just a very enjoyable flavor that any stout lover can enjoy. At 7.3% ABV, just make sure to pace yourself because you will want more than just one glass of this great beer.

Mouthfeel: 4/5
Chocolate Cherry Stout has a very nice, stout-like mouthfeel. It is a nice dark stout with a full body that will please the pallet. The carbonation of this beer is not overwhelming either.

Finish: 4.5/5
The finish to this brew is a nice and smooth malty chocolate-cherry-stout-like finish. The chocolate and cherry notes stay with you for a while between sips which is a nice touch to the beer. This will almost certainly leave you wanting more of this great brew.

Total Score: 88.5/100

This is a great beer from a great local nano-brewery. Endless Brewing have outdone themselves with this great stout. I must say, I did not know what to expect going to Endless, but once I left I was so impressed by the experience. For anyone in the Montrose area, you should do yourself a favor and try them out. Chocolate Cherry Stout is just one of the great beer choices on tap from Endless and I assure you, each brew will be excellent. Drink up!

Until next time,

-Chris

Review: Southern Tier's Crème Brulèe

I love Southern Tier, but more specifically I love their single-bottle releases. Even more specifically, I love their imperials (i.e. Pumking) and their Blackwater Series. The DeCicco's I work at only carries two offerings from the Blackwater Series: Plum Noir and Crème Brulèe. The former, which I've had and liked quite a bit, is an imperial porter brewed with italian plums. If you've never had a beer brewed with grapes (i.e. Dogfish Head's Midas Touch) or plums, give Plum Noir a whirl. It's quite tasty, with a welcome note of tartness.

But this review is focusing on Crème Brulèe (I may, at this point in the review, stop putting cutesy little accents on the "e"s), which is a stout brewed with vanilla beans. Before I dive into this beer, I will say I am putting a lot of faith in Southern Tier here. I've had beers like this before and they were, well, "meh". I tried Breckenridge's Vanilla Porter, for example, and found it to be smooth, vanilla-y, and to lack a body. But that's it. It didn't stand out to me. So to try something very similar is kind of a leap of faith for me. Was this bottle worth $10? Let's find out...

Appearance: 4/5
Creme Brulee pours smoothly. I poured some into a snifter. It is completely opaque and black. It definitely looks like a f***ing stout. The head was a little bit of a let-down, at least on this pour. I may try pouring more vigorously as I continue to enjoy the bottle, but upon this pour I got half a finger's worth of medium tan head which dissipated to a thin layer of creamy-looking head that remains for quite a while. There is also prominent lacing.

Nose: 4.5/5
Upon nosing Creme Brulee, I was knocked back by the strong aroma of vanilla. It's a mouthwatering wave of an aroma! It's rather hard to sift through such a powerful upfront smell, but I do smell some cocoa beneath the vanilla and a bit of nutty-smelling malt.

Taste: 5/5
It tastes like a milk stout, and a damn good one at that! Upfront creamy vanilla coupled with some dark malts. Nuttiness and hints of chocolate in the darker malts, as well as some light caramel notes. The beer is very sweet overall. It tastes just like a very rich dessert, and I'm definitely left wanting more!

Mouthfeel: 4.5/5
Creme Brulee is quite creamy and rich. It feels thick upon the pallet, which is great. This stout has a perfectly balanced body. Not too dark and heavy, and not too creamy. Just right for a milk stout.

Finish: 3.5/5
Upon the finish I got some light hoppy bitterness, which was humbling. The vanilla and caramel notes stick around afterward, leaving me salivating for more.

Total Score: 92.5/100

I must say, Southern Tier have really outdone themselves with this milk stout. I expected something a little less prominent going in and got a very alluring, creamy, aroma-filled experience. I'd definitely recommend this if you're on the fence about Southern Tier (which you shouldn't be, they do a bang-up job on most of their stuff). This beer is also notably great at room temperature. So grab a bottle a drink up!

Until next time, cheers!

-Blake

Notes From The Tasting Room: Captain Lawrence Brewing Company

So I just went down to Captain Lawrence's tasting room for the second time ever, and figured I'd share my experience with y'all here at ABA. For those that don't know, Captain Lawrence is basically New York's rising star brewing company. Sure, we have Saranac upstate and Brooklyn Brewery, which produces such monumental beers like their Black Chocolate Stout and their Monster Ale barley-wine style ale. But the brewery I care most about in New York is right in my backyard in Elmsford: Captain Lawrence.

A few of their standby beers include a German-style Kolsch, their Freshchester Pale Ale, and Liquid Gold - a Belgian-style ale. But they've been branching out since their start in Pleasantville, NY. Now they do six-packs, have a cozy tasting room, and do specialty beers that are nothing to sneer at.

The experience at their tasting room is great. The decor is very rustic: big ol' aging barrels sitting around for you to stand at and set your samples or 12-ounce glasses on, and a corner with a few bar tables with stools at them. The bar features two 12-tap towers: one for samples and one for filling growlers and 12-ounce glasses with their delicious ales. The process of getting samples has been upgraded since I last went. Instead of just paying $2 for a sample glass and having all the samples you want for that price, they give you 12 tokens for $10. 12 samples for $10 is not a bad deal, all things considered. The sample glasses are about 4-5 ounces, so you're getting a solid drink per token.

Today I sampled 4 brews of theirs. I skipped over their old faithfuls (sorry old faithfuls, I love you but I've had plenty of you) and went for some of their test batch beers and specialties.

First I sampled their Imperial IPA, which was grand. Imperial IPAs tend to be high in ABV and sometimes let that high amount of alcohol slip through into the taste. Not this one! The citrus hop taste was off the charts! It packed such a strong hoppy punch that I had to take a second to really let the flavor sink in. It was quite the intense experience.

Next I had their experimental King Zythos Saison, which was, oddly enough, a brown saison. Saisons are usually light in color and rather floral and citrusy, but light. This one, however, had a nice nutty tone to it which was complimented by earthy malts. It was still light, as a good saison should be, but it was different and I commend the Captain for his experimentation in saisons.

The third sample I had was another experimental batch: Young Wolfington. I liked this beer because it was very different. It was a brown ale, but it lacked hoppy character. Granted, it may end up having more of a hop presence if it's ever bottled, but it was all malt at this stage. To be honest, I thought that was cool. There were roasty, nutty, and light chocolatey notes to the beer and the body was nice and creamy. I didn't miss the hops at all.

I finished off my tasting session with their traditional IPA. It was nice and light, but floral with a touch of citrus. It was not overpoweringly citrusy like their Imperial, but it was still a solid IPA. If you're in New York and see it in a store, pick it up to get your first taste of this brewery. They're good at what they do.

To add a cherry to the top of my visit, I decided to check out the single pint-and-a-half bottles they had one sale. I spied one that tickled my fancy for barrel aged beer: Smoke From The Oak Barrel Aged. It's an imperial smoked porter that was aged in rum barrels. I've had stouts and porters and even ales aged in bourbon barrels or oak casks, but never one aged in a rum barrel. So for the steep price of $20 I treated myself to a bottle of the marvelous-sounding stuff.

And that was that. The brewery is damn good and since they've expanded to their new space a few years ago and ramped up production and distribution, they're easily one of New York's most notable breweries. If you ever happen to be in Westchester and have a spare $10, stop by Captain Lawrence and enjoy some damn good samples!

-Blake

Review: Flying Dog's "The Fear" Imperial Pumpkin Ale

This may come as a surprise to some, but this is the first time I have ever tried a brew from Maryland-based Flying Dog Brewery. Some will guffaw and ask themselves, upon reading that statement, why I haven't tried their acclaimed IPAs, Raging Bitch and The Truth. To be honest, it does have a bit to do with their label designs. They're all blotchy and angsty-looking. I always see Flying Dog sixers in stores, but never venture into investing in one for fear that the label is all hype and the beer inside has no bite.

But I changed my mind when I recently overheard a sales clerk at the grocery store I work at suggesting pumpkin beers to two young women. He recommended Flying Dog's "The Fear", and gave a few notes on it. I decided that I'd pick up a six pack of the stuff after my shift. So I did, and now I sit with a snifter full of this imperial pumpkin ale, ready to give you my tasting notes.

Appearance: 4/5
I must say that I was surprised by how this beer looked. I understood that it might be a bit darker than the average light orange/amber pumpkin brew because it is an imperial pumpkin ale, but it is dark and opaque! The color can be said to be a deep, deep amber, almost like worn out, brownish copper. The tan head pours a rich, creamy finger's worth and settles to a nice cap that sits atop the beer and doesn't entirely dissipate. There isn't a ton of carbonation, but I think its color and head make up for it.

Nose: 5/5
Upon first smelling The Fear, I picked up on the traditional pumpkin ale spices. They're strong, and very pleasant. Deeper in the aroma is the smell of a dark, nutty malt. I picked up traces of chocolate as well, which surprised me. Chocolate in a pumpkin beer? Could this brewery be so bold? Overall, this beer has a deep, malty, and spicy aroma which is delightful.

Taste: 3.5/5
It opens up with delicious cinnamon and nutmeg spices, then gives way to some of the deeper elements in the brew. Roasty, nutty malts tantalized my tastebuds. There is a bit of a bready malt in there too. To balance out the brew, there are traces of sweet caramel. All of these malts are great, but I do kind of miss the actual taste of pumpkin. I have come to the conclusion that many brewers tend to use the combination of spices used in pumpkin pie - cinnamon and nutmeg, primarily - to create the flavor of pumpkin, but I just get tickled pink when I can actually taste pumpkin malt in a pumpkin beer. For all the flavor of this beer, I didn't sense any pumpkin. And for that, I have to dock points. Don't take it the wrong way, though; this beer still has great flavor!

Mouthfeel: 4/5
This brew has a nice body to it: rich and creamy, yet roasty and dark. The wheat malt helps fuel the body of this beer to make it thoroughly present on the palate.

Finish: 2/5
The Fear doesn't have much of a finish. It leaves behind traces of spice, which is good given the lack of pumpkin malt I picked up, and some nuttiness. But its presence upon the finish doesn't stretch much beyond the spices.

Total Score: 76/100

Flying Dog has definitely caught my attention with this beer. Although it lacked the full seasonal taste I was looking for, The Fear is still a rich dark pumpkin ale with huge malty flavor and a very nice appearance. I'd definitely suggest putting a couple bottles in your next mixed six-pack, or even picking up a whole six pack of it alone. I should get out and try more Flying Dog...

Until next time, cheers!

-Blake

Review: Dogfish Head's 75 Minute IPA

If there's one thing that stands at the very heart of what Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales stands for, it's their collection of IPAs. Everyone with some experience in the craft brew world knows them by name: the 60 Minute IPA, the 90 Minute IPA, the new Sixty-One, and the top-of-the-line-but-not-quite-as-good-as-90-Minute-IPA 120 Minute IPA. But there's yet another new addition that has been made to this family of IPAs, and that's the 75 Minute IPA.

The idea for this came about when the brewery decided to see what would happen if they made an interesting fusion of their 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPAs. The result was the middle-of-the-road 75 Minute IPA. So they decided to start brewing it as its own bottle-conditioned entity and selling it in 750 mL bottles.

This tasty beverage is hopped with whole leaf Cascade hops (my absolute favorite in the IPA world) and spiked with something unusual: maple syrup. But one doesn't look at the words "maple syrup" on the label and walk away immediately because they're so weirded out because, well, this is Dogfish Head we're talking about. Y'know, the brewery putting ancient ingredients from long-dead cultures in their beer. How could a bit of maple syrup hurt?

Let's find out!

Appearance: 5/5
75 Minute IPA looks like a very clean, yet slightly dark IPA. It's a rich golden amber color, much like the color of honey, and is about 75% (ha) opaque. There is a good amount of carbonation, and I'm led to believe, based on various descriptions of this ale, that this retention of carbonation has to do with the infusion of maple syrup. So there's one bonus the syrup gives this ale. The head is great! It pours a frothy one and a half to two fingers thick and leaves really nice lacing.

Nose: 4/5
The familiar scent of citrus hops graces your nose with a wallop. But the smell is not so much earthy citrus, but rather sweet orangey citrus. The maple syrup is coming through in the nose as well, making the hops smell sweet and fresh. In fact, one may even smell traces of fresh pine coming on from combination of maple and caramel malts.

Taste: 4/5
I get notes of a bunch of different things from this IPA. The maple syrup is kind of like a sweet backbone tying all the other flavors together, which is nice; it's just there as a sort of frame for this beer. There are notes of orange citrus balanced with nutty, earthy malts. The hoppy bitterness you'd come to expect from a DFH IPA is there, but it's very well balanced by the maple and nut malt notes. I'd say DFH has done something special with this beer, having such nice flavor combinations. And because this is bottle conditioned, it means the flavor is always changing within the bottle. I'm very tempted to get another bottle of this and have it sit at room temperature for a month to do a follow-up comparison.

Mouthfeel: 3.5/5
75 Minute is lightly carbonated and very smooth. It has a medium body which doesn't overpower the palate. It's nice, and not too overwhelming, which you kind of come to expect when diving in to a DFH IPA.

Finish: 4/5
This ale goes down smooth with a dry hoppy finish. Bits of nutty sweetness linger behind on your palate, as well as notes of citrus. It finishes rather clean.

Total Score: 80/100

This is a very welcome, interesting, and not quite ordinary addition to the Dogfish Head IPA collection. I believe it's tied for second place in the hierarchy with Sixty-One, their grape-infused big brother to 60 Minute IPA. Of course 90 Minute IPA is still on top, but that's a hard hurtle to get over. Still, 75 Minute is awesome: sweet, tangy, nutty, and smartly crafted. Go pick yourself up two bottles, one for now and later.

Until next time, cheers!

-Blake

Review: Uinta Brewing Co.'s "Punk'n" Harvest Pumpkin Ale

In Utah, there resides a brewery with an interesting, fresh perspective on brewing and a healthy collection of good beers to offer. I'm speaking of Salt Lake City's own Uinta Brewing Co. And I must say, I've taken a bit of a shine to this brewery. I've sampled their Hop Notch IPA and their Dubhe Imperial Black IPA (yeah, it's as mouth-watering as it sounds), which is named after the Dubhe star in the big dipper.

And can I also take a moment to say I love Uinta's bottles? They're a little shorter than average, and they curve down gracefully from the top to the base, rather than having a neck which simply ends when the body begins. Also, they have a compass embossed on the bottle just above the label. How nifty is that?

Anyway, the beer I'm focusing on today is one of their fall seasonals: "Punk'n" Harvest Pumpkin Ale. I've had quite a few pumpkin ales, so I'm rather picky. You can't really de-throne Southern Tier's Pumking (see the review for this brew here), and there are some more fully enjoyable pumpkin beers out there than most. It's a tough market. But I think Uinta has produced a beer which really shines in this category. Let's take a look at it, shall we?

Appearance: 4/5
I have to give credit where credit is due. While Pumking tastes like a king, it doesn't actually look like a king. Punk'n looks much more like an autumn pumpkin beer. It's a deep amber color, much like the color of late October foliage. There is a good amount of carbonation in this beer, which tapers a bit as it sits in the glass, but is still present enough to note. The head is very slight, probably only half a finger maximum. Still, the color is what draws me in.

Nose: 5/5
Spices galore! Get ready for an aromatic treat when nosing Punk'n. The forefront of the spicy barrage upon your nostrils is cinnamon and nutmeg, two spices which work in perfect harmony in any pumpkin beer. But it smells warm, almost like the aroma of a pumpkin pie. It's a full, very powerful scent which will leave you dying to try it.

Taste: 5/5
The malts in this beer are fully present, balancing out the spices you're almost sure are going to be the main feature of the brew upon nosing it. But no! There's a bready, earthy malt flavor to this ale, enough so that it almost tastes like a brown ale brewed with pumpkin. And yes, there's a good jolt of pumpkin malt in there, too. And there's even a hint of bitterness as an added bonus. It's a very fulfilling taste.

Mouthfeel: 2.5/5
Now here's where this beer falls short of a great pumpkin beer. It's a very tasty and aromatic brew, but it lacks in body, I feel. Punk'n has a light-to-medium body because of the pumpkin and earthy malts. However, it's nothing that fills your palette and makes your eyes widen.

Finish: 2/5
Some spice and hints of pumpkin linger upon the finish. However, these flavors quickly fade. Perhaps this is because Punk'n isn't particularly strong, clocking in at a very sessionable 4% ABV. But the finish just felt lackluster to me.

Total Score: 88/100

This pumpkin ale tastes great, smells great, and looks quite appetizing. However, it's not a full experience. The mouthfeel and finish are weak. But that doesn't mean it's not a very tasty pumpkin beer. I think there are a lot of great flavors to be had in this brew and Uinta really nailed that on the head. They really know what they're doing when it comes to making a good-tasting brew that are good for you, too. Yeah, Punk'n sports 3% organic ingredients. So I wouldn't knock this beer until you've tried it this fall.

Until next time, cheers!

-Blake