Great Lakes Nosferatu

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Tonight was trick-or-treat in Columbus and many other communities. If you have little ones, I hope you enjoyed it as much as they did and that everyone stayed safe. Do you dress up to take the kids out? I do. Or do you prefer to stay at home and pass out candy? I used to dress up for that, too, before I had a kid of my own. I love both; this is one of my favorite nights of the year. In that spirit (ha! See what I did there?), we bring you our final installment of the autumn seasonals, Great Lakes Brewing's Nosferatu, an imperial red ale. It has been a few years since I have had this, and I'm looking forward to drinking it again. Out of a martini glass, because, well, it's imperial and because I have Halloween-themed martini glasses. Of course I do. You know you are jealous.

This pours a lovely color that is more amber than red. It had a teensy little bit of cream-colored head that did not stick around long. The nose on this is lovely. Caramel and toffee predominate the nose, with some faint citrus notes popping in from time to time. The flavor is pleasant, heavy on the caramel notes with some generic citrus and perhaps some pineapple coming to the table in the middle, and finishing slightly bitter and earthy with a note of pine that is borderline metallic. This is thinner than I would like in body for this style of beer, but it's not too thin. It is well-carbonated, and my mouth is left feeling a little sticky from the hops. The 8% ABV is not noticed in the taste.

Overall, while a great beer, it's not quite McCarthy's Bane. That beer was a game-changer, a category-killer for me. This is actually pretty close to that, just a little less hoppy and a little thinner in body. But hey, Nosferatu is made just up the road in Cleveland, who is having a big night of their own with the return of prodigal son Lebron James. As a vigilant supporter of the Ohio craft beer scene, I'll gladly drink this when I can find it.

4.25/5 caps

-Jennie

Nosferatu, named after one of the first Vampire movies (you came blame Twilight for the decline of quality).  Aptly named as we head into tomorrow being Halloween. This season is probably my favorite adult season. Sure you have Saint Patrick's day where we all celebrate being Irish (whether we are or not), we have Cinco de Mayo where we all celebrate being Mexican (whether we are or not), but what do we celebrate on Halloween? Our Scottish heritage of guising? Our witch/Salem Witch Trials heritage? No. Being drunkards with imaginations. You get to be creative around this season. Sure, I...er... I mean people enjoy the sexy cop, sexy devil, sexy cat; but I actually enjoy more of the unique costume ideas. My one buddy dressed as the "Aliens" guy from History channel the same year another friend dressed as "Mr. Mayhem" from the Allstate ads, a lot of creativity instead of the same typical "Oh, I'm a zombie, I'm a vamp" humdrum. Enough jibber jabber, time to get onto the beer review, fool (do kids still dress as Mr. T? I've been so out of the trick-or-treat circuit...).

As I watch Louisville have a dominating lead against FSU, and allow a comeback, I need this 8%. I'm indifferent to Louisville, but I can't stand FSU for reasons I will not get into on here. This isn't a sports blog, this is about beer. You readers put up with enough of our random banter without having to have me drag sports into the equation.

This pours a nice reddish amber with a small amount of cream colored head (that has lasted around through my intro/babble). The aroma on this is, as my lovely partner-in-basically-everything stated, caramel and toffee heavy with some citrus coming through. The flavor on this is caramel up front, faint nondescript citrus hops with a building bitterness toward the middle. As the bitterness builds, there's almost a chocolate note that pops for a second and leads to a earthy/metallic note. The bitterness/earthy/metallic phase drops out and gives way to a caramel/citrus/tropical finish that rides out for a bit, leaving a slightly sticky finish around the cheek and gums. Not sure at this point if it's hop resin or sweetness or a combination there of... I think after another sip it's a combination. Eh... It's hoppier than most red ales I've had (sans the Trump Card of Red Ales, aka McCarthy's Bane), but, as a hop head leaving my personal bias aside, it's good. For a red ale, one of my least favorite categories, it's great.

Side note before my rating, my last time drinking this was at a bar that focuses on craft beer (Bob's Bar if you're ever in Columbus). I was drinking this and shooting pool and playing darts with my then neighbor (we both have since moved). It brings back good times when things weren't so hectic and the world seemed like a happier place (this was 2008).

4.3/5 caps

-Nathan-

Food pairing: Whoppers straight out of the Halloween candy stash (when a food makes a beer even better, as this does, you have to!)
Cheese pairing: Chevre
Music pairing: "Nosferatu Does a Hefty Dance" by Pinkly Smooth

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"