This was our first beer trade. We traded a 6 pack of North Peak's Hooligan (hoppy pumpkin, review coming soon) for person's choice of Alaskan beer. He sent us 2 bottles of this and a bottle of their Barleywine from 2013. We cannot get Alaskan here in Ohio, and we're always looking at trying new beers (read: we do trades and have all kinds of breweries in Ohio that aren't widely distributed).
The only thing I know about this beer is it's 7% ABV and has a 85 on BA. I don't like the ratings on BA. There are too many issues I've had with their ratings (Argus Pegasus- we gave 4.5 combined, which would be 90 on BA, they have it as 76; Flying Monkeys Smashbomb Atomic IPA- we gave a 5, which would be 100 on BA, they have it as 88, and it's become a regular in our fridge; New Holland Michigan Hatter- which we were the first known published thorough review online, we gave combined 4.898, which would be 97.96 on BA, they have it as 83). Yes, we do beer reviews, our ratings are off our palates. We encourage everyone to get out there and taste the beers and make your own decisions, not just based on someone else's palate.
At this point, I must admit, I'm getting tired of seeing pumpkin beers released in August. It's a fall/Halloween thing in my mind. We saved doing reviews on pumpkins beers until it was October for that reason, just in time for the Christmas ales to start being released.
This pours a deep, dark, opaque brown, almost black color with some nice light khaki head on it, about half a finger worth. The aroma on this is your pumpkin pie spice blend (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove), pumpkin, and hints of dark roasted malts. The aroma on this is what Yankee Candle aspires to smell like. The initial sip on this is a porter: medium bodied, roasted malt characteristics you'd expect from a porter, nice chocolate and coffee tones with a nice creamy mouthfeel. Then about 3 seconds in, the pumpkin spices start faintly coming into the scene, lending themselves without overwhelming the roasted malts. The spices intensify with each passing second, blending in a harmonious relationship with the malts. Toward the back, the roasted malts come back out with a slightly bitter coffee/dark chocolate flavor that rides out as the spices fade. This finishes dry with a lingering sense of wanting more. It's smooth sipping for 7%, with an experience awaiting for you in the bottle. If you happen to cross paths with this, do yourself a favor and pick it up. This is one of the better pumpkin beers I've had.
4.4/5 caps
-Nathan-
Oh sure, he just had to go off on the BeerAdvocate rating system. While there are plenty of good beers, according to BA, there are also some terrible ones, according to their rating system. We tend to disagree often. It's OK. It's almost like everyone on BA thinks they are a BJCP judge. Perhaps you should check out my Ohio-to-Oregon friend's podcast, as he has an intense disdain for any BA ratings. But by all means, please, don't go off anyone else's rating; discover the beer for yourself. I often feel like a sham having a beer blog, even if it is an adjunct to our one-episode (so far!) beer show, as we continue to figure it all out.
Anyway, before I completely wreck my palate for the night, shall we? This pours a deep chestnut brown, opaque as hell, with a bit of beige, not quite khaki, head. The aroma is very much pumpkin pie spice, but yet not overwhelmingly so. All of the requisite spices are there, but yet they're not punching you in the face (although I just got punched in the face by a gravity reading of the news of a homebrew on which we are checking progress and dry-hopping tonight. I'll taste you later, you sweet thang. Some beers just take longer to complete fermentation; this is certainly one of those). Taking a sip of this and not some still-young beer, I pick up on each of the spices in the pumpkin spice, yet they never overwhelm. There is definite pumpkin in this beer, as well, but like a pumpkin pie, it hits you after you take a bite. Middle of the taste, there is almost an astringency that I can't place. If it's from the clove, that doesn't hit in the taste or aroma, but whatever it is almost numbs the taste buds. Then it finishes with an almost bitter note of chocolate and black coffee. And yet, it's creamy as hell in the mouth. I want this. I want this in my coffee every morning throughout autumn. Or, rather, instead of coffee. Can we please make drinking beer all day an acceptable Thing?
This is tasty. I very much look forward to seeing what else Alaskan does. Their reputation certainly precedes them.
4.35/5 caps
-Jennie
Food Pairing: Homemade ginger snaps
Cheese Pairing: Butterkasse
Music Pairing: "Night of the Vampire" Roky Erickson
No comments:
Post a Comment