Southern Tier Warlock

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I am trying to refrain from hopping (ha! See what I did there???) on a soapbox about the term Warlock. Male witches are simply that: male witches, unless we get into a discussion of ceremonial magicians, and that is a whole different category. But we are here to discuss beer, and to keep any religious/lifestyle nomenclature out of it, so I won't go full rant on you. In case you were wondering, I identify as a witch. Not Wiccan, some Pagan, definitely kitchen witch. No, I don't have any warts. No, my skin isn't green (unless I'm wearing green makeup as part of my Halloween costume. Or unless I am bruised and going through the inevitable cycle of rainbow colors). No, I do not worship the devil, if you mistook today for 1692. Yes, the snozzberries taste like snozzberries, just in case you were wondering. This is, quite simply, one of my favorite weeks of the year, hence the pumpkin beers.

This is an imperial pumpkin stout, the darker version of Pumking. I love so many of Southern Tier beers, although Pumking isn't one of my favorites. Not just of theirs, of pumpkin beers. It's too sweet for my taste, but since we haven't properly reviewed it, perhaps I should leave a little mystery? Something to whet your thirst for more? Should we just get to this 8.6% ABV pumpkin stout already? Yes??? Well, then, shall we?

This is supposed to be poured into a goblet. I have goblets, but I did not consider using them until after pouring this. It is an opaque, brownish-black color with a modicum of khaki-colored head that quickly dissipated. The aroma is pleasant: when I first poured it, it was heavier on the pumpkin spice, to the point where I thought "instant palate wrecker". It has had a few minutes to warm, as I moved on and off my soapbox, and now the aroma is more creamy vanilla with pumpkin spices and dark chocolate. Ooooh, I am so making a beer float out of this, and I have the perfect ice cream for it. But we will get to that once I am done dissecting this beer. This goes down dark and smooth. It hits your mouth with a punch of vanilla and toasted walnuts, fading into chocolate mocha, then a left hook of clove and ginger and cinnamon, then a big bite of alcohol booziness, then more with the pumpkin spices, this time around with a little more nutmeg. You can tell there is pumpkin used in the brewing process, but it does not dominate in the taste. The mouthfeel on this is smooth and round, yet it is moderately carbonated.

OK, time for the ice cream... For this particular beer, I have chosen a scoop of black walnut ice cream.

The black walnuts kind of tame down the spiciness of this beer and totally mellow out the end of this. It would also be good with a high-quality vanilla ice cream, but I like how the black walnuts play with the early nuttiness in this. My overall opinion of the beer is that it's good, but a little heavy on the spice.

P.S. I am lowering my rating because it has now been an hour since I last drank this and my taste buds seem singed. Even palate cleansers have not helped remotely. You know the Hot Pocket Effect? Yeah, that is happening in my mouth. After an hour. Not cool (no pun intended). It's enjoyable going down, but a little bit goes a very long way.

3.7/5 caps

-Jennie

Earlier today, I sent a text to Jennie about needing high alcohol beer to assist me in the shitty day that has bestowed itself upon me. I had no idea that I'd be doing 2 beer reviews tonight. It works. It helps wash away the agony of factory work. It makes me wish I was working full time at the brewery I've been volunteering for.

I'm kind of glad this is our last pumpkin beer to review. No offense to any brewery at all, I'm just over the market flood of everything pumpkin; coffee, ice cream, donuts, cake, candies, beer, so on. Side note, yesterday we saw a Christmas display at the local big chain grocery. Today, Great Lakes Christmas Ale released, Thirsty Dog's 12 Dogs of Christmas is out already... for fuck's sake people, it's not even Halloween yet. Fuck it, I'm just going to start buying Easter candy now.

This is dark, nay, black as the night sky. Any head that was once on there is now just a distant memory, much like proper timing of holiday decor in the sales world. The aroma on this is big. Boozy tones blend themselves with your spices and pumpkin, distant notes of dark malts, almost chocolate. The flavor on this is strong. It's your liquid pumpkin pie style beer, with darker roasted malts giving roasted and chocolate flavors to this. There's a slight charred-like bitterness toward the back end to give a reminder that this is actually a beer and not a dessert. There are some boozy notes on that start taking hold from time to time, leaving a numbing feeling in the mouth, like smoking a clove cigarette/cigar. This is definitely a sipping beer, not your College Football Season Beer Pong League sort of beer. This is a heavy, filling beer, like a meal in a bottle. Palate is still wrecked, sigh. I'm glad we saved this for the 2nd review of the night.

Had I not been burned out on the market flood of everything pumpkin, I would be willing to buy a second bottle, but at this point, I'm done. It's time for the over flooding of winter/Christmas/Yule ales. Sigh. I'm glad we have about 3 cases of things to review so we can sit this season out and not get into the epic debate of which Christmas ale is the best (btw, it's Flying Monkeys Smashbomb Atomic IPA).

3.9/5 caps

-Nathan-

Food pairing: Black walnut ice cream
Cheese pairing: Habanero cheddar, because one's taste buds have never been singed enough to bring them back to normal
Music pairing: Omnia, "The Raven"

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

Rivertown Pumpkin Ale

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We continue on our trek of enjoying pumpkin beers during the appropriate time to enjoy pumpkin beers. Fuck me. I realized this is the 2nd Rivertown beer we've reviewed (the other being Blueberry, which we panned). Rivertown puts out fantastic beer. I could have sworn we reviewed the Roebling, but apparently not, we'll have to make that happen soon. They recently posted on Facebook about going in a different direction in 2015, more sours and Belgian style beers, along with keeping the favorites.

Rivertown is out of Cinci, they, in my mind, are the only Rivertown. There has been another company named Rivertowne that has been distributing here since summer. I have yet to have any Rivertowne beer, although they have a pineapple beer that people tout about, but we're here to review this beer.

We mentioned this beer during the Blueberry review. We've had it before, and enjoyed it over the last 2 years (seasonally, of course), I don't know why it took us so long to review it.  This pours a deep amber color with some off-white head. The aroma on this is pumpkin pie spices (cinnamon, nutmeg mostly, faint clove), sweetness (they brew this with molasses), and faint pumpkin. The flavor on this is what I want in a pumpkin beer. It's perfectly balanced between the sweetness and the pumpkin flavors without letting the spices take over. It's smooth drinking with a slightly malt sticky back end. The 5% ABV will allow you to drink more than one without doing damage and the balanced flavor won't wreck your palate to anything else you may be enjoying. You can still tell you're drinking beer without tricking your mind into believing you're enjoying a dessert.

4.6/5 caps

-Nathan-

Actually, I had Rivertowne (with an E) Pumpkin at a recent homebrew competition. One of the judges brought some, and his lovely wife shared it with me. Without doing a full review on that, as I'm here to enjoy another pumpkin beer by a similarly-named brewery, it was decent. I prefer this one. But apparently it was decent enough for me not to flag down Nathan or my other pumpkin beer-loving friends to share it.

This one is my go-to pumpkin beer. It's readily available in Columbus, and it's delicious. I always try to save some for Halloween night; it has become a personal tradition. Perhaps next year we will make our own pumpkin beer, but until we do that, I'll happily support the semi-local beer scene, or at the very least, the burgeoning Ohio beer scene.

This is a medium amber color with a little bit of barely-beige head remaining atop the beer. The nose on this is mostly nutmeg, with some pie crust (yes, you can actually smell some pie crust in this!), complementing cinnamon and just a hint of clove and even fainter pumpkin wafting past my olfactory nerve. The flavor is a bit more pumpkin-forward than the aroma, with the cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove all coming in and out of play as I drink it down. It's not overly sweet, unlike many pumpkin beers, and it is well-balanced as far as the pumpkin and spices go. The molasses lend a nice, dark flavor to the beer. It is nicely carbonated. The aftertaste is all cinnamon, once again.

In a horizontal tasting, I am not sure which pumpkin beer I prefer. The Schlafly was good, but a little "hotter" on the back end. This is more well-rounded to me. This one might have a lighter body, but not by much, and if you are drinking more than one, that's quite fine. After all those spices, however, my palate is pretty wrecked.

4.6/5 caps

-Jennie

Food Pairing: New York-style cheesecake
Cheese Pairing: A sage Derby
Music Pairing: "I Like It" by Foxy Shazam (also from Cinci)

Schlafly Pumpkin

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It's official: we are smack dab in the heart of pumpkin season. Pumpkin everything is upon us, if you happen to be living under a rock. Pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin scones, pumpkin spice lattes, and, of course, pumpkin beers. I don't know about where you live, but Ohio released pumpkin beers in early August. August! It reminds me of shops that decorate for Christmas before Halloween. It drives me bonkers.... namely because, by the time I get around to wanting one, as the weather turns to those crisp fall days, pumpkin beers are gone. Never fear, we have been stocking up for the last two months, and have a few to bring you. This one, however, was a nice surprise in a recent trade, as it is not distributed to Ohio, and it is a fantastic pumpkin beer. We enjoyed it when we were in Illinois a couple years ago to move my dad out here.

Pouring a deep amber, almost garnet color, the chill haze has now lifted and a bit of off-white head still remains atop my beer. The aroma is liquid pumpkin pie, with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, brown sugar, and pumpkin wafting into my nose. Oh, but wait, this is so much better than the aroma! This a beer in which the pumpkin shines. You can tell Schlafly does not skimp on the pumpkin in this, as it hits you first and stands ahead of the spices in the beer. The pumpkin hits you first, then the cinnamon, and the clove and nutmeg wait until the pumpkin is done playing on your tongue before making their appearance. There is a decent bite from the alcohol (8%) at the very end. The aftertaste is almost like one of those cinnamon disk candies. This is fairly well carbonated, and soft enough to make me wonder whether there is some lactose in here, and there is almost a creamy flavor to it.

This is a wonderful example of a pumpkin beer. I tend to enjoy them, but I know several connoisseurs who do not. I would challenge them to try this, widely regarded as one of the better pumpkin beers on the market, to see if this could be a game-changer.

4.6/5 caps

-Jennie

After a rough day at work, my initial game plan was just to get stupid drunk off massive amounts of high ABV, cheap swill (read: FUCK MY LIVER! IT'S FORTIES NIGHT!). I decided against this preliminary thought, as there was the opportunity to enjoy good beer and review. Well, so here we are, after a rough day, opening the Frank Turner cd I ordered off Amazon, plugging it in and listening to it while, once again, staring at a computer screen. As if I didn't get enough of the staring at a screen for 8 gruesome hours today. It's funny to think that the thing that makes you feel shackled can also be a form of release and freedom.

I gave Jennie the opportunity to review this first while still getting my bearings about my day. Since then, this has had time to warm up. This has zero chill haze now, with a rich amber, light garnet color. This has a small amount of the off-white head still lingering around, much like the work day lingers, only the off-white head is welcome in my world. The nose on this at this point is your pumpkin pie spices, but you can actually smell pumpkin in this (unlike most that just seem to be the spices). There's something almost creamy about the aroma, as weird as that may sound. Also, welcome hints of booze. Whoa... The flavor on this... It's like eating a good homemade pumpkin pie. Pumpkin still predominant at this point with a nice blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove; none of which over power the other flavors. Faint hints of brown sugar and cream make themselves known at first, but only for a short amount of time, much like a limited run of your favorite sandwich at a fast-food restaurant, gone too soon. Nice full mouthfeel like you just took a bite of pumpkin pie, to boot. I get where Jennie said the back end is like the cinnamon hard candies. I also see where she said the ABV is noticed. Neither are deterrents from this beer  for me despite my 'eh' feeling toward cinnamon flavored things; gum, liquor, graham crackers, candy.

If were were scoring this through a BJCP score sheet, this would have the check mark of "I would pay money for this beer" in the Drinkability section.

4.6/5 caps

-Nathan-

Food Pairing: Pumpkin Ravioli in a sage cream sauce
Cheese Pairing: Butterkasse
Music Pairing:  "This is Halloween" (from The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack)

Alaskan Pumpkin Porter

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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