North Peak Hooligan

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After a rough day at work, I'm reminded why I do it. Beer, basically. This beer however is better today than ever. The Columbus Crew clinched the playoffs for MLS. Glory to Columbus! The reason I say this beer is better today is because of the super fan/supporters section at Crew Stadium, The Hudson Street Hooligans. If you ever get a chance to sit near them, you'll enjoy the game more. The endless songs and chants that go the entire match, getting louder with each beverage consumed.

Yes, this is brewed in that state up north, but North Peak makes good brews. This intrigued us the first time we saw it, sadly it was at a large grocery chain, so we can't give a shout out to a local bottle shop. Hoppy Pumpkin Ale. Yes. This might be our favorite idea of the pumpkin beers (and gives us an idea for the harvest beer homebrew competition next year).

This pours a golden orange color with a bit of white head that sticks around, still hazy even though it's been open for about 15 minutes while I gathered info (links and verifying the news about The Crew). The aroma on this has so many layers. Citrus, caramel, and earthy hop tones dominate; cinnamon and nutmeg in the background playing second fiddle to the glory of the hops. The initial sip throws your mind for a loop. There is so much happening here. There's a quick blast of pine that fades quickly as the pumpkin/spices come forward. The pumpkin/spices then dissipate quickly to give way to grapefruit/citrus zest and bitterness. The bitterness fades and the pumpkin/spices come back to blend with the bitterness and ride together to the end of the road. Nice lighter body with smooth drinkability. This finishes bitter like a hopped up Pale Ale or a lighter IPA, some hop resin sticking to the gums and cheeks, reminding you this isn't your typical pumpkin beer.

Yeah, in my book, this is how the perpetually overdone pumpkin beer should be done. Take one style of beer and give it light pumpkin/spice flavor, not trying to create a pumpkin pie in beer form. That's just my own personal preference, don't start searching for where I live to remove my head and replace it with a jack-o-lantern, Jennie wouldn't like that.

4.7/5 caps

-Nathan-

We are! Massive! It's a Crew thing, you probably wouldn't understand. But it was started by Frankie (pictured above, he has also brewed beer with a few different local breweries), and it's a good thing. Anyway, Glory to Columbus, and we are looking forward to the playoffs and dominating all of our opponents and bringing home the Cup. If you get a chance, go to a Crew game and not only sit near the Hooligans, but also tailgate beforehand. I will suggest that Crew games are a more fun tailgate than Ohio State football games, and that's not merely because I'm not an OSU fan (I actually used to work the OSU tailgates). Crew tailgates are more fun and often more elaborate than football tailgates, and the vibe is open and friendly.

A hoppy pumpkin ale, right up my alley. My glass is half full (with the impending soccer playoffs, I'm optimistic) of a pale golden liquid with a bit of white foam sitting atop it. The aroma is wonderful: pumpkin, piney hops, and very light pumpkin spice with hints of caramel popping in and out. The flavor on this is amazing. A delicate pumpkin note comes in first, followed by some piney and earthy notes, followed by faint pumpkin spice (nutmeg, ginger, and clove predominate over cinnamon), then fading out again into grassy hoppy deliciousness. The finish on this is clean and bright, although as it warms, there can be an almost  metallic, astringent note toward the end. This is so unexpected and completely defies most of the pumpkin beers available. As Nathan said, it's not liquefied pumpkin pie, and that's refreshing. Also, the spices do not overwhelm the palate, as with most pumpkin beers. As North Peak's website says, if you are trying to choose between an IPA and a pumpkin beer, this is what you seek. The mouthfeel on this is light, delicate, and well-carbonated.

I'm now trying to picture Nathan with a pumpkin for a head... I am not opposed to this, as I am internally laughing really hard at this mental image. Nathan says I'm a meanie for this, but I'm still laughing. On the inside, at least. Never mind the insidious smirk on my face.

4.6/5 caps

-Jennie

Food Pairing: Pierogies and kielbasa
Cheese Pairing: a nice baby Swiss
Music Pairing: Go to a Crew soccer game and listen to the Hooligans, or check out this Youtube video

North Peak Wanderer

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Sorry for the lack of presence online lately; today was the first day in nearly a month I'd been on the computer. My father was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and as his caregiver, I've had my hands full. It's not all doom and gloom, though, never fear. We have good beer, a welcome break from caregiving duties tomorrow night with tickets to Frank Turner's appearance at the Nelsonville Music Festival, and tomorrow is the last day of school for Peanut. He's excited about the start of summer break. Let's blow the dust off the keyboard and see if my fingers remember how to operate it.

To continue on the somber note, the world lost two great and influential people today; Maya Angelou was a wonderful soul who I've had the honor of meeting a couple of times. She always came off as so kind and worldly and wise. Jack Joyce, one of the founders of Rogue Brewing, also passed away today. We wish we had one of his beers on hand to enjoy, but instead, I'll highly recommend the 7-Hop IPA, which is fantastic. Please pause for a moment and lift your pint in memory of these wonderful people.

Let's get to what's in my pint. Apparently it's been awhile since we purchased this. This is a session IPA from a fantastic brewery with a small distribution footprint. It's a beautiful clear medium orange color, and the considerable white head dissipated faster than my interest in the latest hipster fad. The aroma is.... ah crap, I hope we didn't sit on this for too long. There are a lot of caramel and toffee notes, with just the faintest hint of pine and maybe a tinge of grapefruit, but those last two are so barely discernible that I'm questioning my own sanity right now. Let's be honest, there wasn't a lot to start. Of my sanity, that is. As I take a sip, it's become clear to me that this is a drink-me-NOW kind of beer. The malts completely overwhelm any hop presence, and for a session IPA, it should be quite the opposite. There are faint notes of citrus and earthiness. There's a vague soapy note toward the back of it, like my mom caught me lying a couple of hours ago. At least the malty notes fade out quickly. It's as appropriately light-bodied for a session IPA, weighing in at 4% ABV should be.

I'm more disappointed in ourselves for sitting on this too long, rather than drinking it fresh. And yes, my fingers did kind of forget how to work a keyboard.

3.8/5 caps, but don't blame the brewery, blame us.


-Jennie

Well, Jennie has perfectly written part of Nathan's story. I figure this is part of the coping process. The day The Phil went to the ER over pain, I was coming back from the funeral of a dear friend (Dan Haley). Two days later, I learned that my mentor at work had passed away. That was all at the beginning of May. This year has been shitty. What the fuck 2014, you were supposed to be better than 2013. Your false hope brings sorrow and tragedy. A few good things that have happened this month- 1) our 3 different hop varieties are growing 2) Jennie won free passes to Nelsonville Music Fest, where we will be seeing Frank Turner 3) we've decided to do a new segment for Behind The Tap of Drinking with the Stars. It will involve us sitting down with a musician over beer and discussing beer (still hashing out details, we have at least one on board, we figure this will spread like hot cakes).

So, apparently there is a beer that needs reviewed. We're sitting on roughly 30 beers in need of reviewing. Fuck. We've sat on some for too long. This would be one. The Wanderer from North Peak. Harder to find (due to limited distribution), and I feel like the asshole for sitting on this for so damn long. This pours a nice amber color, with decent amount of white head that doesn't hang around for long, like the black sheep relative that felt obligated to show up to the family reunion. The aroma on this is malty... sweet caramel.. fuck... no hops. We sat on this for too long. FUCK! The taste of grapefruit and pine are faint on this malty palate. The back of the tongue receive more of a hop blast than the flavor. Sigh. Hops are a finicky beast. Their characteristics dies off after time, and apparently we're the biggest assholes in the world. We shouldn't honestly be reviewing this at this point. We will do another review on this (once we work on thinning out our stock), as this should be enjoyed fresh.

3.9/5 caps (read previous comments)

-Nathan-

Listen to this song... This review will make sense. No food or cheese pairings as we can fuck up anything, anything.
Music pairing: "Plain Sailing Weather" by Frank Turner