The Great Pumpkin Beer Rally 2012

Happy October, y'all. I LOVE Halloween and so here we go with my first annual Great Pumpkin Beer Rally. This is by no means an exhaustive list of Pumpkin Beers, but just a handful that I've picked up in last month or so. I wanted to save them for when it was actually closer to Halloween since these babies started showing up in late August. Seriously, seasonal creep is stupid. Also, Cassie helped with the taste testing :D

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Punkin Ale

ABV: 7%

Thoughts: Nice and spicy, delicious! Probably the best all-around Pumpkin ale of the lot. Not too sweet, doesn't try to get too crazy with it, just really solid. Definitely will try to track down more of this before the season is over.
Rating: 4.25/5


Elysian Brewing Dark O' The Moon Pumpkin Stout

ABV: 6.5%
Thoughts: Delicious! I mean, I love stouts so obviously I'm gonna dig this one. The pumpkin flavors are very subtle in this one. Lots of chocolate and some hints of cinnamon and spices.
Rating: 4/5

Elysian Brewing Night Owl Pumpkin Ale

ABV: 6.1%

Thoughts: Pretty heavy on the pumpkin flavors. Mild, though, not spicy. Overall, it's a lil' too sugary sweet and just kinda blah for my tastes, though.
Rating: 2/5
 

Pike Brewing Harlot's Harvest Pumpkin Ale

ABV: 8.5%

Thoughts: Darker than most pumpkin beers in color and quite a bit more subtle and well-rounded with the spices and pumpkin flavors. Pretty top-notch stuff. Sneaky strong, too.

Rating: 4/5


Shipyard Brewing Co. Pumpkinhead Ale

ABV: 5.1%

Thoughts: Love the label and name of this one, sup Lance Hendrickson fans. This is the first beer I've had from Maine's Shipyard Brewing and I was pretty impressed. Nice amount of spice and lots of pumpkin, but not overly sweet.
Rating: 3.5/5


Southern Tier Brewing Co. Pumking

ABV: 8.6%

Thoughts: So the Pumking is lots of folks' go-to recommendation for a good pumpkin beer and I can see why. It's nice and strong and unlike most pumpkin beers, this one tastes more like pumpkin pie than actual pumpkin. Even has the bready pie crust flavor in there too.
Rating: 4.25/5


Uinta Brewing Co. Punk'n Harvest Pumpkin Ale

ABV: 4%

Thoughts: Nice and light. Hints of lager. The pumpkin and spices are present, but not overwhelming at all.
Rating: 3.5/5

Burgundian Coffee Beer Fest 2012

If there's one type of beer I love, it's coffee flavored beer. It's just such a great combination. So I was thrilled to find out that the excellent nearby pub The Burgundian was having a coffee beer fest on a lazy Saturday. Buddies Bobby and Jim joined me for some delicious, specially brewed coffee beers from some top notch local and nationally known breweries.

Fort George Brewing Thundermuck Stout

ABV: 9%

 

Thoughts: I love me some Fort George Brewing, so of course I had to try this first. A very well balanced imperial coffee stout. The booze is very well concealed because of the overall smoothness of the stout. Coffee flavors are in the forefront, no doubt, but it's not overpowering.

Rating: 3.5/5

Gigantic Brewing The City Hasn't Slept In Days Black Saison w/ Cold Press Portland Roasting Coffee

ABV: 7%

 

Thoughts: So this is a variation on Gigantic's regular black saison, The City Never Sleeps, which is a pretty fantastic beer already. So they added some coffee flavors to it and bam, absolute brilliance. The mash up of coffee flavors with the slight Belgian bitterness makes for a challenging and tasty brew.

Rating: 4/5

Oakshire Brewing Goatshed Coffee IPA

Bonus chicken 'n waffles action

ABV: 7.1%

Thoughts:  Oakshire is a solid brewery from Eugene, OR, and this is a coffee-infused variation on their Watershed IPA. This was super unique because it pretty much tasted like hoppy coffee, but you know, in beer form. Fantastic beer.

Rating: 4.5/5

Epic Ales Coffee and Cigarettes

ABV: 6.5%

Thoughts: This was probably my overall favorite beer that I tried. Leave to lil' ol' Epic Ales to make the craziest small batch beer at a fest! This tasted just like the name suggests.  We dubbed this the Tomacco beer, because Simpsons humor is the basis for most good things in life. Along with coffee, there was tobacco smoke, cinnamon and cardamom. It was a bit like a dark sour overall, but like Tomacco, one sip begs another. An amazing concoction.

Rating: 4.75/5

Fremont Brewing Wandering Wheat with Tony's Ethopian Blend

ABV: 4.5%

Thoughts: I've had the regular Wandering Wheat before and it's a very refreshing, summery kind of wheat ale. Add a little coffee in there and it becomes this awesome, complex, slightly bitter and overall delicious lil' session beer. Great stuff.

Rating: 4.5%

Great beers and a fun, low-key lil' fest.