It would be nice to be able to purchase more variety of bottles in singles for sampling.  Sometimes you don’t want to invest in a six pack (or four pack) of something you haven’t tried yet.

We try to be good sports about it though and my thinking is, if I don’t care for it all that much I know I can still cook with it.  That’s something at least.

Alright so let’s talk winter seasonals!

21st Amendment’s Fireside Chat: 21st is one of Scott’s favorite breweries and when he saw this pop up earlier this winter, he snagged it right away.  It turned out to be a great beer.  Very dark in color with a creamy head.  It’s brewed with spices which come out strong in the flavor.  You can pick up the heat of cinnamon right away in this beer.  It’s mellowed out and not overpowering.  Nor is it in any way similiar to that of say, the cinnamon you find in a pumpkin ale.

This beer is hardy and warming.  Perfect for sipping while chatting with friends or kicking back watching a hockey game.  Only brewed from October to December, so if you see any out now get it before it’s gone.

Snow Cap Winter Warmer by Pyramid Brewing: This is a brew we discovered in winter of 2010 but we found it late and it was part of a sampler pack.  I fell in love with it immediately but was unable to find any more that year.

Tragedy!

So you bet this year, I was on the hunt for it and bought a six pack as soon as I saw it.

This is a warm dark ale.  It doesn’t have the spice or seasonal flavors that other winter warmers carry but it’s a smooth beer with malty goodness.

It has a caramel and slightly nutty taste to it. It reminds me a little bit like New Holland’s Cabin Fever.  If you like caramel sweetness then you’ll dig on this beer.

Great Divide’s Hibernation Ale: I’m not sure if we picked this ale up in a sampler pack or if we bought a six-pack of it outright.  Regardless it’s turned into one of our two go-to seasonals this year.

A little bit on the thicker side for winter ales it’s got a smooth start with a bit of a tangy finish.  By tangy, I mean that it sort of bites your tongue a little at the finish.  That is what keeps the ale from being too heavy by perking things up a bit.

This is the perfect beer for when you just got done shoveling the driveway or finished a long day of removing wallpaper (ahem).

Follow the link so you can read more about it because it’s a beer of love and has an intense aging process!

Harpoon’s Winter Warmer: This is the second of our seasonal go-tos this winter and my pick for favorite seasonal.  I love it!

It’s not quite as dark as the other winter warmers I profiled but it’s got an amazing cinnamony taste to it that reminds me of winter and not pumpkin.

It’s fizzy and a bit lighter making it refreshing.  The first time I had this beer I was out at a local bar getting a burger. It impressed me enough that we purchased a six pack of it not long after.

Since then, I’ve been stocking up when I see it because I know it won’t last long.

The description on the website says it has a pumpkin-pie flavor to it but I wouldn’t say that’s the case.  We all know I love pumpkin beers, and this is far from that.  The cinnamon is spicy adding a heat to the beer that I haven’t come across yet in other brews.

If you enjoy a spiced ale, definitely give this a go!

These are all malty brews, if you enjoy a more hoppy flavor, I would recommend Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale.  I found it alright (but I’m not a hophead) but a lot of folks really enjoy that seasonal.

What’s your pick for winter seasonal this year? 

Comments: 2

Now those that know me or have been reading this blog for any length of time will know that I have always enjoyed a great beer.  However, the past few years I’ve been picking wine over beer.

I would have beer on occasion but mostly preferred opening a bottle of wine.  A nice red to go with pizza or maybe a crisp white to go with some salmon.  All sounded good to me!

But this fall and then more heavily this winter, I’ve been reaching for a cold brew.

I’m at a point now where I would rather have a very tasty beer than a glass of wine.  I still have wine on occasion and almost always when we go out to dinner.  But I don’t have it nearly as much as I used to.

And since Scott and I have a favorite hangout, I love going out to get a pint and shoot the shit.  It’s one of my favorite things and something I look forward to very much.

I love tasting new beers (I’m still trying to find an IPA that isn’t quite so bitter) and finding different breweries.

Scott and I have a road trip planned for later this year and we’re currently trying to plot out breweries along the way.

Lately beer just seems more fun!

Tomorrow I’ll chat about some of our favorite seasonal ales we like this winter.

If you like beer, what’s your favorite style?

Comments: 2

Homes all over will smell like kraut that day and grocery stores have sales on the stuff starting a few weeks before New Year’s.

It’s just not New Year’s if you don’t have pork and kraut. Scott embraced this tradition with open arms.  Not really surprising since his previous tradition was boiled cabbage and ketchup.

Um.

I would wager a guess and say that this dish is probably a little tastier than that.

It’s also made with beer, onions, and peppers. Plus being tossed in a crockpot.  Winner!

Andrea’s Country Ribs With Sauerkraut

• 4-6, Country Style Pork Ribs
• 1 32oz Jar of Sauerkraut, drained (but not rinsed!)
• 1 Onion, sliced thin
• 1 Green pepper, sliced thin
• 1TBSP Brown Sugar
• 1C Dark Lager Style Beer (I used Great Lakes Eliot Ness)
• Big Pinch Red Pepper Flakes
• 1tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2tsp Smoked Paprika

In the crockpot, add in beer and brown sugar, and stir.  Then add in the kraut, onion, and pepper along with the spices, then mix.  Place ribs in crockpot on top of the kraut mixture.  Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours.

Serve immediately!

Typically this dish is served with a large helping of mashed potatoes on the side and the kraut mixture on top.

If you don’t have any beer or would like to use something else, I would recommend some beef stock.

You could swap out the ribs for a pork butt roast.  Once that’s cooked, just shred the pork into the kraut mixture.  Would be great for a party or game day because you could serve this as sandwiches.

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!

Comments: 2

On a recent episode of Triple D (because I love it so), I saw mention of a beer and cheese dip.  This got me thinking about creating a beer dip that you could have with snacks and that doesn’t need to be kept warm.

By eliminating the need to keep this dip warm, it becomes perfect for having out for parties and get togethers.

I wanted the beer flavor to come through while also having a little bit of a kick to it.  What goes great with beer? Mustard!

Once I knew mustard was going into the mix, the rest of the recipe fell into place.

Andrea’s Beer and Mustard Dip

• 1C Dark Lager Style Beer (I used Great Lakes Eliot Ness)
• 2TBSP Whole Grain Mustard
• 3TBSP Dijon Mustard
• 2 Cloves of Garlic
• 1/4 Small Onion, chunked
• 1TBSP Prepared Horseradish
• 1/2TBSP Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4tsp Garlic Powder
• Big Pinch Red Pepper Flakes
• About 1/2tsp each, salt and ground black pepper
• Couple Dashes Your Favorite Hot Sauce
• 1tsp Olive Oil
• 1C Shredded Cheddar

In a small mixing bowl, combine the cheddar and flour.  Set aside.  In a small food chopper or food processer, add in the onion and garlic cloves and pulse until finely chopped.  In a medium sized sauce pan add in the olive oil and heat over medium heat.  Add in the onion and garlic and sautee for about 2 minutes stirring constantly so the garlic doesn’t burn.  Add in the salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder. Add in the beer, mustards, and horseradish.  Stir and allow to come to a simmer.  Simmer for about 5 minutes.  You should notice the sauce starting to thicken up at this stage (not a lot, it thickens just a tad).  Turn heat down to low and slowly whisk in the cheddar and flour combo.  Keep whisking until the cheddar is melted and fully incorporated into the sauce.

Remove from heat and pour dip into a glass bowl.  You can serve this immediately or allow to cool, cover, and store in fridge till you need it.

This dip is great warm and it’s great cold.  It can also be served at room temperature making it a perfect party dip!

It’s creamy with a strong flavor of beer and mustard.  It goes well with veggies, chips, or even sausage bites!  It can also be used on top of sandwiches as a spread or sauce.

The cheddar helps thicken it up just a little more while providing some background sharpness that brings some depth to the dip.  Horseradish makes it demand to be noticed.

I’m already looking forward to making some more of this and seeing what else I can add it to!

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food! Enjoy!

Comments: 0

One of my most recent experiments resulted in what is now my favorite coffee cake of all time. This coffee cake uses dried figs, dates, and nuts as part of the crumble topping.

This helps keep the cake moist while baking and gives a slight nod toward the fig newtons of my childhood.  I wasn’t a huge fan of fig newtons as a kid but when I got older I enjoyed them a great deal.

Having found dried figs at the store, I knew that I wanted to use them in something.  With seasonal beers out right now, the idea of making a coffee cake with one seemed like a natural fit.

I’ve made this cake several times since the first experiment and it always makes me squee with happiness when I get a chance to nibble on it.

Andrea’s Fig and Date Coffee Cake

For the Batter:

• 1 1/4C Dark Winter Ale
• 1C Oats
• 2C White Whole Wheat Flour
• 2tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1tsp Baking Soda
• 1TBSP Maple Syrup

For the Topping:

• 8 Dried and Pitted Dates
• 1C Dried Figs, stems removed
• 1C Pecans, Heaping
• 2TBSP Brown Sugar, Packed
• 2tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2tsp Cinnamon

In a medium sized mixing bowl, add in dates and figs and cover with very hot water.  Allow to steep for at least half an hour.  Drain water from dates and figs.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a square baking dish with nonstick spray or olive oil.  About a 9×8 dish is what I used.

In a food processor, combine all ingredients for the topping.  Pulse until everything is broken up and a crumble forms.  It will be sticky and will stick together.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients for the batter and whisk.  In a medium sized mixing bowl combine wet ingredients, beer, maple syrup, and vanilla and whisk.  Slowly add the liquid mix to the dry mix.  Gently stir until everything is combined.  Pour mixture into baking dish.  Top batter with fig and date crumble.  You’ll have to use your hands to crumble it and spread it around.  The crumble mixture should cover the entire top of the batter.

Bake in oven for about 10 minutes.  A toothpick inserted will come out clean.  Don’t over bake as that will result in a dry coffee cake.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Slice and serve!

I used Rivertown’s Winter Ale for this coffee cake.  It’s brewed with molasses and cinnamon.  The cinnamon is very prominent in this beer and I knew that it would work well in the coffee cake.  It’s also a dark colored beer which provides a nice caramel color to the coffee cake.

We had this coffee cake over the Thanksgiving holiday and I’m already dreaming about when I can have it again! That’s how much I love it!

The fig and date topping help keep the cake moist while also making it a very filling cake.  This isn’t your grandma’s coffee cake.  This baby is hearty!

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food! Enjoy!

Comments: 4

When Thanksgiving rolls around everyone starts talking about wine pairings.  What is the perfect wine to go with the big dinner.  Some how beer kind of gets glossed over and I’m not sure why.  Today we’re changing that!  I’ve got a post for you about pairing beer with Thanksgiving dinner!

Since I’m not super knowledgable when it comes to beer, I turned to someone who is.  Let’s give a warm welcome to Colin!  Colin is currently a sous chef at Deepwood restaurant and a brewer for the soon-to-be Born Brewing Company, here in Columbus, OH.  To quote him, “I’ve been a beer fanatic for about six or seven years now, and a insufferable food snob since I was fifteen.”  You can stalk him over on Twitter at BrewerBornBrew.

Like different types of wine, each beer variety has a certain set of general flavors and aromas that you can expect from it, Stouts are roasty dark flavors like coffee and chocolate.   Brown Ales are toasty-chocolate-caramel, Pale Ales and IPAs are variations on sweet pine-citrus-tropical fruit while lagers tend to be crisper and cleaner finished vs their ale counterparts. Belgian beers exhibit a range of flavors and aromas all their own, the Belgians utilize funky yeast and aren’t afraid to add spices and herbs to their beers.

Within these generalities is an insane range of variation, no two IPAs smell exactly the same. Depending on the strength of a particular Imperial Stout you can find smokey hints, char, dark dried fruits like figs and dates, their chocolate characteristics can range from sweet milk chocolate to the bitterest dry cocoa.

With all that in mind the way you season and flavor your thanksgiving foods is going to help dictate which beer you might want to choose.

When I say small/big I’m generally talking about alcohol content which usually correlates with a more intense flavor/aroma profile.  Let’s call anything under 6% small, and everything over 7.5% big, the stuff in the middle, moderate strength.

I am convinced that Bam Biere by Jolly Pumpkin Brewing is the most food friendly beer I’ve ever had, and I would pair it with every savory course at the table, but let’s review our options.

Turkey is a blank slate, roasted or fried that is, if (for some reason) you decide all you want to put on your bird is salt and pepper, then you’re going to want to go with a more subdued beer: Pale lagers (like Pilsners, Helles, Dortmunders), English Pale Ales, Hefeweizen (and other German wheats “Weissbier”), and Wit Biers.

Brown Ales that aren’t too hoppy (some American versions get rather assertive). Since turkey takes flavors so well, and it is the highlight of the traditional Thanksgiving meal, I would hope you were planning on some herbs or spices, a fun brine (try cider-chipotle) or even smoking/grilling the turkey.  You’ll still want to stay away from super intense beers like American Barleywines, Imperial Stouts, American IPAs, and most of the really big darker Belgian beers (Duppels, Grand Crus).

When you introduce other flavors into the turkey that opens up a range of new directions to take your pairings; if your herbal rub/brining is good and flavorful you can start looking to American Pale Ales, their hoppiness, while potent, shouldn’t overwhelm, consider throwing some oranges into the cavity of the bird and rubbing the skin with various zests, citrus is a classic profile of Pale Ale. If you use some citrus on/in your turkey, add a little coriander and pair it with a Belgian Wit, a small wheat beer flavored with orange peel and coriander seeds.

If you go darker flavors, like molasses, or smoking/grilling you can try a smaller Stout, such as American Stout, Dry Irish Stout (like Guinness), and Sweet (aka Milk) Stout. Small Belgian beers would work well with a nicely seasoned turkey, be it herb or spice or whatever. Saisons have an excellent dry peppery finish, which makes them very food friendly across the board.  For a stronger ale, try a Belgian Tripel, generally 9-12%abv, golden in color, solid bitterness but low in the hop flavor department, which will keep it from overwhelming the turkey.

For the the adventurous beer drinker, go bold and pick up a (hard to find) true Lambic. The Lindeman’s line of fruit Lambics, while tasty, are artificially sweetened and poor examples of the style (excluding their Cuvee Rene, a very nice, unsweetend, nonfruit Lambic). For a true Lambic look for Hanssen’s, Cantillon, Boon, 3 Fonteinen, or Oud Beersel.

These beers are not for the faint of palate, they are very acidic, dry, and funky beyond belief. Due to their acidity and dry finish these beers are quite food friendly, however depending on the bottle/producer selected, some of the funkier elements might clash with mellower food flavors.

If you’re wanting a cheese board for guests to snack on, or as a precursor to dessert, go all out with some intense blues, stinking(in the best possible way) washed-rind farmhouse cheese and gooey funky soft cheese and pair with a Kriek or Framboise (cherry and raspberry Lambic, respectively).  These beers will mirror the funk of the cheese and the fruit component will add a nice contrast.  Ask at your local cheese monger for their favorites (I like Curds and Whey in the North Market and the cheese counter at Whole Foods in Dublin).

Sweet potatoes, cranberry relish, gingerbread and various pies/sweets which might feature warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and cloves would be well paired with Winter Warmers, a catch-all category for malty wintertime beers which are often spiced. Another option for these types of foods would be the darker Belgian beers, or German Dunkelweizens and Weizenbocks (dark brown wheat beers) as these styles utilize yeasts that give off aromas of brown bread and clove and vanilla.

American and English Barleywines (an archaic term for beers that are nearly as strong as wine, not actually grape derived) are malt focused beers of considerable alcoholic strength, often quite sweet; they find balance from the warmth of complex alcohols and assertive hop bitterness.  These beers would be excellent selections for the meal over all. While they might be a bit overpowering for a subtly spiced turkey, they could be excellent against a sage and sausage stuffing and a spiced gravy. The overall malt component would match a yeasty bread or buttery rolls, and their boozy heat would help cut through the richness of buttery whipped potatoes and sweet candied yams. Their sweetness would pair well with a range of desserts.  Plus on their own they make an excellent dessert beverage in place of port or brandy, the belly-warming effect of a few glasses of rich barleywine helps put everyone in a festive mood, regardless of the temperature outside.

Stouts get their black color and roasted flavors from barley malt that has been kilned to the point of nearly char, the use of these grains lends flavors and aromas reminiscent of coffee and chocolate.  If the weather is mild or you’re planning on braving the November cold to fire up the grill, stouts will pair nicely with the sear and smoke of grilled meats or veggies. A coffee-chocolate dessert is an obvious hit alongside an Imperial Stout.  You can pair a chocolatey Stout with something that benefits from chocolate but doesn’t actually have chocolate in it, such as cherries, cheesecake or peanut butter based desserts.

Thanks Colin for taking the time to share your beer knowledge with us!

My picks for the table would be:

• Ommegang Hennepin
• Rockmill Brewery Dubbel or Tripel
• Great Lakes Eliot Ness or Dortmunder 

All of those beers can be purchased around Columbus in most stores. The Anderson’s has a great selection of beer and Weiland’s has a nice selection as well.

Now you’re armed with beer knowledge and ready to tackel the big day! Happy Thanksgiving!

Comments: 2

First up was a crowd favorite, Pumpking by Southern Tier. Sadly not a FE favorite at all.

Next was Shipyard Brewing’s Smashed Pumpkin, and won this year’s favorite!

Followed that up with Heavy Seas The Greater Pumpkin, a lovely barrel aged ale.

Last up was Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela, which sadly didn’t rate very high.

We ended the pumpkin ale season with a tasting at our favorite bar, Hal and Al’s.

This was a great season for tasting new pumpkin brews!

Were you able to get any pumpkin ales this season? Did you find a new favorite? 

Up next?  Perhaps some winter ale tastings!

If you’re into ales as much as we are, feel free to follow me on Untappd!

Comments: 4

When we were in last, I was informed that they were going to be hosting a pumpkin beer tasting the following week which would include pumpkin beers and ciders.

I may or may not have almost toppled over a parton and bartender as I eagerly inquired more about the event, embarrassing both my friend John and Scott.

Okay, not really, they both know me well enough to not get embarrassed by my antics any more.

I immedately marked the event on our calendar and off we went to the pumpkin beer tasting!

We were serious about this tasting.  I busted out the camera and my handy notebook featuring Snoopy with a pumpkin on green paper.

This was an intense tasting as well, there were 9 samples to get through.

Let me repeat, 9 samples!

Signing up for the tasting meant that we also got a sample of the pumpkin soup!  It was creamy and savory with a hint of heat on the backend that increased the more you ate.

After that it was time to dive in!

Bottoms up!

In order the 9 beers we had were:

1. Shock Top: Good smell and color.  It had decent pumpkin and spice tasting along with being a very light ale. It almost evaporated off your tongue at the finish.
2. Ichabod: Icky! Read our previous review. Still hold the same opinion.
3. Blue Moon: It tastes just like a regular beer to us.  Nothing really of note.
4. Woodchuck Pumpkin Cider: I’m lukewarm on ciders so I didn’t care for this.  Scott likes ciders a lot so he enjoyed this one.  This is a very limited edition cider and can be hard to find. We’ve previously purchased it at The Anderson’s but you need to get it quick because it sells fast.
5. Brooklyn Post Road: I couldn’t even finish this beer.  It was so light that to me it tasted like water.  I love Brooklyn Brewery so I was disappointed in their version of pumpkin beer.
6. Harpoon UFO: This was an unfiltered wheat pumpkin beer and we both really enjoyed this beer.  It has a pretty strong cinnamon flavor to it that gets more intense at the finish.  However the pumpkin flavor isn’t that strong.
7. Rivertown: I thought this beer had more of a cinnamon flavor than the Harpoon but Scott didn’t agree.  He said Harpoon has much more cinnamon to it.  It was alright but nothing we’d purchase again.
8. Pumpking: Read our previous review. Thoughts still the same.  Scott and I ended up switching, I gave him my Pumpking and took his Rivertown.
9. Your pick! #9 was a bonus and you could pick your favorite of the bunch.  We each got Harpoon’s UFO.

We had a great evening full of chit chat and pumpkin beer.  Hal and Al’s is the perfect place to chill and relax from your busy day or week.

We also got the best glasses at the end of this tasting!

A pint glass with a pumpkin on it?!  OH YES!  This is a huge part of the reason that I came to this tasting because I caught a glimpse of this glass on their facebook page.

That wraps up the pumpkin beer tasting for 2011!  Now it’s time to plan for next year!

Comments: 0

He kept saying to me, “Andrea, they have a great beer selection and I really think you would enjoy their stouts.”

These are the kinds of friends you need to have in your life.  The ones that seriously look out for you and have your back.

John, totally has my back when it comes to beer.

So I finally made it down to Hal and Al’s and fell in love right away.  They have an amazing beer selection.  I’m not exaggerating here, the menu is three pages long and has the beers listed by type.  Meaning the beers are listed as, Lagers, Ales, IPAs, Stouts, Porters and so on.

And there’s usually some stuff they have either in bottles or on tap that isn’t listed on the menu.

Heck yes!

The atmosphere is exactly what I’m looking for in a bar.  There’s plenty of seating in a wide open space. The bathrooms are clean and updated.  It’s quite, no super loud music and no super loud people.

There’s food! Hal and Al’s just happens to serve all vegan bar food.  Now I know some might not care for it, but I happen to like it a lot.  Keep in mind, it is bar food, but the offerings are enjoyable.  My favorite being the burrito and the sweet potato fries.

Plus free popcorn just to munch on if you feel like it.

The decor is totally up my alley.

How can you not like a bar that has a pic of Jambi up?  Meka leka hi, meka hiney ho!

There’s also one of Tom Selleck because of course, why not?!  They also have a lot of retro pictures up that advertises things like bar hours, drink suggestions, and weekly specials.

Bonus is that they also do tastings of beers on Tuesdays.

There will be a theme to the tastings, like a sampling of stouts or IPAs for example.

They handle the tastings in the most efficient way.  You sign up at the bar and then you’ll get 4oz (guessing, but I’m pretty sure it’s 4oz) tasting cups, each numbered 1 through however many are being tasted for that event.  The first cup gets filled up and you’re told what it is.  You go sit down and when you’re ready for #2, you bring up your #2 cup to the bar and they fill it up for you. Rinse, repeat.

This is great because it lets you taste at your own pace and you’re not sitting there with a bunch of samples of beer getting warm while you work your way through them.

Genius!

The best part is at the end, when you’ve finished the tasting you get a pint glass to take home.  Oh yeah!

Considering how much beer you’re getting to sample and that you get a glass at the end, the tastings are completely priced well.

If you’re in the mood for a pint, definitely check out Hal and Al’s! I think you’ll be pleased with the selection that you find there.

Stay tuned! The last tasting we did at Hal and Al’s was a pumpkin beer tasting!

Hal and Al’s
1297 Parsons Ave Columbus, Ohio 43206
614-375-4812

Stay tuned! The last tasting we did at Hal and Al’s was a pumpkin beer tasting!

Comments: 4

We had a hiccup with one of the pumpkin ales that we bought.  It was skunky.

Ugh.

A skunky beer is never a good experience.  So we were kind of scrambling to find a replacement beer.  The thing with pumpkin beers, they don’t last long.  When you see them in the store, you gotta jump on those quick because once they are gone, they’re gone.

Only so many of them get made and sometimes they are in limited release.

We stumbled across this Jolly Pumpkin , La Parcela No. 1 Pumpkin Ale and picked it up.

I have had Jolly Pumpkin’s La Roja which is a sour beer.  It’s lovely for a very hot and humid summer day which means it’s great beer for an Ohio summer.

I decided to go with their Pumpkin Ale because if the brewery has pumpkin in the name, they should know what they’re doing, right?

Smell: 2/5  

Scott said if you breathed in deep enough you could pick up the spice in this beer.  I think he “thinks” he could smell something.  I got nothing.  This beer is aged in oak barrels and I definitely picked up that note but I didn’t get any pumpkin or any spices in this beer.  It’s also supposed to have some cacao in it to deepen the flavor and smell a bit.

Seriously I got nothing.

It gets a 2/5 because Scott said he smelled some spice.

Head: 4/5     

This beer had a great head on it that developed perfectly as the beer was poured.  It stuck around for a little while as well which was nice to see.  It was more white than an off white, but still great nonetheless.

Color: 5/5     

The color on this beer was exceptional.  It had a smooth and deep rich orange color. Very fall-esque!  It was also perfectly cloudy and dense.  Exactly what I like to see in a beer, especially a pumpkin ale.  I couldn’t get over how fabulous the beer looked.  I kept turning the glass over and over just to stare at the color.

Taste: 1/5 

Unfortunately, this beer fell flat.  With the color and given that it was aged in oak barrels, I expected this beer to have some heft and some kick to it.

Nothing.

It was extremely light tasting and almost evaporated on your tongue.  It was very similar in style to a cider and if you like ciders, perhaps you’ll like this style of pumpkin ale.

I still didn’t pick up any spices or pumpkin flavor at all while drinking it.  It also reminded me of their sour beer as this had a bit of a sour finish to it.

I was not a fan.  I didn’t have much of the glass and in the end neither Scott nor I could finish this beer.

Summary:

My fault, I set myself up and had high expectations for this beer.  With it being created by a brewing company called The Jolly Pumpkin and with it being aged in oak barrels, I thought this beer would knock my socks off.  Sadly it did not.  It’s drinkable but not a beer I would seek out or purchase again.

However if you like ciders and really enjoy sour style beers, give this beer a chance because it might be right up your alley.

Jolly Pumpkin, La Parcela

Comments: 0