Wachusett Imperial Pumpkin

Another post! Within 7 days of the first! Does my productiveness know no bounds?!

Well apparently it does, because I believe I'm getting sick, I'm tired, and I'm still going to make myself go for a run today. Why? I dont know why. But I'm going to be productive and post this damn it.

However, I am going to the BBC (British Beer Company) later on tonight after a little visit to Witch's Woods. So after getting shared shitless (possibly) I will be indulging in some delicious beers (extremely likely). Before that happy moment, I want to share another beer with you.

I’ve decided to continue this tradition of reviewing pumpkin beers, if you can call reviewing one pumpkin beer a tradition. If you can’t call it that, well then I’m going to make it a tradition. So, we’ll continue onward to the Wachusett Imperial Pumpkin Ale.

This rather subtle beer is brewed with two row barley, caramel malt, and pureed pumpkin. There’s also vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and Belgian candied sugar & spices. Overall, sounds like a great combination of flavors—everything that one would want in an autumn brew.

Color: A dark, almost reddish orange with a thin white head. It’s clear and very bubbly. It’s a bit darker than the pumking, with more reddish hues. A nice lookin’ beer. Say, do you come here often?

Aroma: Pumpkin! However, it is subtler than the pumking was. You can still tell that it’s a pumpkin ale, but the smell is a little more complex. There’s also a hint of cinnamon, and the other flavors (nutmeg, ginger) slowly rise out of the pumpkin aroma.


First Sip: Pumpkin, ginger, and cinnamon. In that order. There’s a little bit of bitterness and sharpness, most likely from the ginger. The taste is waaay (with three A’s) more sublte than the pumking, but the flavors are still there. They’re not hiding, but teasing, slowly leading the drinker on to all the delightful flavors that this brew has to offer.

Mouthfeel: Not so smooth, more sharp. The cinnamon and ginger are prevalent, with the spices playing out over the tongue. The pumpkin is still there—in fact it’s behind the other flavors, enhancing and balancing them. Also a bit more caramel coming through now, but I mostly taste the spices.

Aftertaste: The spices are left on the tongue, but they slowly fade away, leaving little to no taste.

If I had to choose one word to describe this beer, it would be subtle. The second would be intricate. A third would be yum. So if you’re a fan of subtle, complex beers where the flavors come to light gradually instead of announcing their presence loudly, then you will probably like this beer.

This beer is so good, it smiles at you, saying "I know how tasty I am. Drink me!"

Birthday Beers! A great way to kick off autumn.

Well my friends, it’s that time of year. October. Autumn. Fall. Leaves are changing color, there’s that hint of lovely crispness in the air, and brewers are putting really yummy things into their beer. Also, it was my birthday yesterday, and so I had birthday beers.

I also got this lovely book called “Tasting Beer.” Perhaps from now on I shall have a…more sophisticated way of describing the taste of beer.

Alternatively, I will continue to make lame jokes and extol the virtues of nearly every beer I come across. We’ll see.

Let’s start things off with a fall seasonal beer, which means one thing: pumpkins. And cinnamon. And caramel and malts and OMG HOPS. And beers that taste like pumpkin pies. Of course, I’m talking about one beer in particular here: Southern Tier Pumpking.

“Pumking is an ode to Púca, a creature of Celtic folklore, who is both feared and respected by those who believe in it. Púca is said to waylay travelers throughout the night, tossing them on its back, and providing them the ride of their lives, from which they return forever changed!”
--From Southern Tier Brewing Company website

This beer is brewed with 2 row pale malt, caramel, and pureed pumpkin. I even know that the kettle hops are magnum and the aroma hops are sterling. (Magnum hops are a bittering hop, used in pale ales and IPAs; sterling hops are used for aromas primarily, giving off an earthy or spicy smell.) How do I know, you ask? Are you taste buds that sensitive? Well, I wish I could say yes and have you all in awe, but I only know the ingredients because they were on the bottle.

And now, onto the tasting:

Color: A light orange, pumpkin color, that is very appropriate for the season. Would be great if had outside, set against the backdrop of the changing leaves. Has a thin white head that disappears quickly.

Mmmmm.

Aroma: Holy cinnamon! Smells very autumn-y. There’s cinnamon, cloves, spices—the sterling hops smell absolutely delicious. It’s as if you’re smelling a fresh baked apple pie, but liquid, in a glass, and alcoholic. I could just keep smelling it, it’s that good.

First Sip: Like fresh pie—pumpkin, cinnamon, spices—everything that the aroma promise. It tastes smooth and rich to me, but that’s no bad thing. It’s not too spicy or too bitter, but it certainly has those elements to it.

Mouthfeel: Nice and smooth and rich, and full of flavor. The cinnamon taste is quite strong, as is the pumpkin taste, but the hops are there as well, lending a slight bitterness to this beer that balances out the spices you get from the cinnamon and the aroma. The flavor is quite strong, and may be too strong for some who prefer a more subtle taste.

Aftertaste: A clean finish that leaves a hint of bitterness behind. It’s 8.6 % ABV, but it doesn’t taste that strong.



And now, on to one of the Top Five Ales in the ENTIRE WORLD, according to the bottle. I bring you Piraat, a 10.5% Belgian beer, a drink that packs quite a…well not punch (that would imply that you'd be doubled over wheezing after having a sip), but it’s really quite strong. While you couldn’t tell that the Pumpking had a high alcohol content, you can definitely tell that the Piraat does.

“Triple by strength, IPA by nature and history.”

It intrigues me that they would call a Belgian an IPA—previous to this, I thought they were two completely different styles of beer (well, they still are) and putting them together was something I’d never thought about. I was interested to see how exactly this beer would pull off two styles of beer.

Color: Light golden straw with a lot of carbonation. It pours with a great, thick, white head that stays until the last sip. Looks like a true Belgian beers.

Aroma: Smells like you would expect a Belgian to. It has a real yeasty, beer-y smell. Okay, I know “beer-y” isn’t a proper beer tasting term, but that’s the best way I know how to describe it. There’s a hint of fruit in the aroma as well, but I cant tell specifically which kind of fruit.

First Sip: A little more bitter than other Belgian beers. I cannot quite tell what I’m tasting. It does mostly taste like a Belgian—yeasty, slightly sweet, but it’s also got a bit of a hop taste in there. It’s a Belgian, but there’s a bitter taste in there that gives the slight impression of an IPA.

Mouthfeel: Very smooth. It definitely has a slight sweet, fruity taste, that may come partly from the hops, as it seems one moment, and partly from the “Belgian-ness” of the beer, as it seems the next moment. While you can tell that this is a high alcohol beer, it doesn’t hit you like a ton of bricks. It’s quite smooth, and a damn good beer.

Aftertaste: Mostly yeasty and fruity. It warms the back of your throat after you’ve swallowed, due to the high alcohol content.

I am amazed that they did seem to combine both a Belgian and an IPA, although this tastes mostly like a Belgian. There are hints of hops in there, but it’s definitely not overpowering, and a complete hophead may be baffled by this. But you’ll definitely want to try this, especially if you’re a fan of Belgians.

And once you’ve had a sip, well, you wont want to stop. So go ahead, have another one.

Manifesto

I cannot believe I haven't put this up here yet. Shame on me.

"If I Was A Beer" by Alyssa Lawrence

It couldn't be any Bud, Corona, or Coors
And not PBR, that's for sure.
You can forget that watery shit,
'Cause I don't like it one little bit.
The classless taste of college frats
is not how I would choose to bat.
I'd be something bitter, something dark
Something that would leave a mark.
A Guiness, a stout, or an S.O.B.,
A drink unafraid of getting dirty.
Or perhaps a pale ale, foam on top
The deliciously enticing taste of hops.
Dark, amber, red or gold,
Good beer just never gets old.
But if I had to choose just one
To be for a little fun,
Well then, GODDAMN!
I'd be a $200 bottle of SAMS!
Take that Miller and Natty Ice
You can never match my price.
Why don't you do yourself a favor
And try something with flavor!
You can say that I'm being too hard,
But I know I'm better - I'm a beer snob.

A note on the phrase "beer snob": I feel that "beer geek" would be a better choice of words here, but alas, it doesn't rhyme. "Snob" implies that there are very few beers that I hold in high esteem, when in fact I hold a LOT of beers in high esteem. It's true that I do look down on some beers, but I have tried every single crap beer mentioned in that poem (which is how I know they're crap). I've gone to college, I've had my share of PBR (oh, Emerson), and now it's time to start drinking good, tasty, delicious beers.

Blues & Brews Fest Pictures! Finally!

My mom and uncle, happy because they are about to get liquored up.

A very happy man at the "cask conditioned" booth. Their company takes beers from other brewers and conditions them in casks.

I honestly forget the exact name of this beer, but the one on the left has been cask conditioned. The one on the right has not. I am 99% sure that this was an IPA.

My dad, happily anticipating his cask conditioned beer.

The selection from Blue Hills Brewery. Their Watermelon Ale and Antimatter are really fucking good.

My mom was capture by Uncle Fester. It was weird.

And they had music!

This guy kind of just closed his eyes and "grooved" to the music. This was also weird and kind of awkward.

Many tastings in. My dad was the happiest person on the planet.

Believe this one is from Ithaca Beer Company, but dont remember which one it was. Maybe a smoked porter?

A selection of beers. Also, a girl's bum.

Total, complete, happiness.

And we round the whole thing off with a beer cupcake. Yes, that's right. It has Sam Adams Boston Lager in there.

Decostructed Pack Part 2

Before we begin, I'd like to apologize in advance (again) for the low quality of the pictures. They make these two beers look like they're the same color, which they're not, although they were similar. Please take my word for it, and don't judge the pictures too harshly.


East Kent Goldings

This comes from, in case you couldn’t guess from the insanely obvious name, East Kent in the UK (if you don’t know where East Kent is, I would suggest looking along the 48th latitude).

This beer brings “fruity, floral, and apricot flavors” to the table, something that I am eager to try.


Color: Closer to a true orange color with just a hint of amber. Pours golden and clear, and there’s not a lot of carbonation. If I had to pick, I’d probably say it was the color of apricots. And if it’s the color of apricots…

Aroma: …then it smells like apricots! It’s fruity and a little bit floral. It doesn’t hit my nose quite in the same way as the Ahtanum, but it still smells delicious. So if it looks like an apriot and smells like an apricot…

First sip: …then it’s an apricot!...Beer! Liquid fruity flavor! More fruity and sweet than the other hop varieties by far, and I can taste a bit more of the malts in this one as well. The apricot isn’t over powering, despite my previous exclamation points. It’s apricot, but it’s hops as well. It’s like an apricot that leveled up and got an ability to naturally produce beer.

Mouthfeel: I can taste more of the apricot, but it’s not too sweet. There is some hop flavor, but it’s a mellow bitterness. It’s not very carbonated, and as a result feels smoother than the other beers.

Aftertaste: So my notes here got mixed up with another beer and what I actually wrote doesn’t make sense. (Let’s also keep in mind I’m a small girl and even 6% ABV can hit me unexpectedly.) But I do remember being left with a sweetness on my tongue and a warmth in my belly (though that may have been the alcohol).

If you can’t get ahold of a deconstructed pack, but still want to try an apricot beer, may I recommend Aprihop, by Dogfish Head, or perhaps Son of a Peach by R.J. Rockers Brewing Co. Aprihop will have more hop presence with the apricot flavor instead of the more traditional grapefruit one, and Son of a Peach will taste fruitier, sweeter, and less bitter (it’s a wheat beer and not an IPA).



Zeus

True to it’s name, this hop variety purports to be the most intense out of all of them. They’re grown natively on Mount Olympus, but I suppose Yakima Valley, WA, has somehow got ahold of them too.

These hops contribute a strong hop presence and “an intense, pungent, resinous pine flavor.” I half expect lightening bolts to come shooting out of the bottle any minute. Or maybe for it to turn into a bull or a swan. Because you know that’s how Zeus rolled. (Mythology! Yeah! No one got that!)

Color: A dark gold. Pours a lighter gold, but looks darker in the glass. It leans towards a light caramel color, but definitely not as dark as the Ahtanum was.

Aroma: It has that familiar grapefruit smell, with piney and earthy notes mixed in as well. After the orangey, floral, apricot, and other diverse smells, this feels a bit like coming home…Kind of like winning the Trojan War and finally getting home after 10 years of epic, weird, and insane adventures.

First sip: Probably the most bitter and intense of all the hops here. I can taste a slight malt flavor and some yeastiness, but it’s mostly piney and resinous. There’s not a whole lot of fruity flavor to this one, but I love hops and bitterness, so I’m not too fussed. It’s like the sweet taste of victory after you’ve successfully surprised the enemy by jumping out of a wooden horse.

Mouthfeel: The pine flavor is quite intense when you let it sit in your mouth for a while. A lot of bitterness—there is almost no sweetness anywhere in this beer. It does get balanced out by the malts, but I only had eyes (or tongues??) for the bitterness. Those who weren’t fans of the East Kent Goldings or Ahtanum may like this variety better.

Aftertase: Bitter. Some malt taste left as well, but it’s mostly the hops. This beer has a great hop presence. Almost like lightening one might say…




I also have pictures from the Blue & Brews fest, which should be up by Saturday (hopefully sooner!). But to give you a bit of a preview, it was probably the most fun I've ever had. With good beer, good food, and good music, it's really hard to go wrong.

Also, I seem to have lost my notes for the Latitude 48 itself (boo, boo, shame on me, I know) so that review will have to wait until I find one to retaste. I'm not sure how likely that is, as I dont know if they have this beer year round, but I shall try to find one.

Upcoming in the next couple weeks, there is a good chance that I shall be going to Armsby Abbey, the greatest beer bar in Worcester (and possibly all of Massachusetts) to partake in the delights that they offer.

And by delights I mean beer, and lots of it.

Dissecting a Beer: Sam Adams Does It Right

My friends, I have a gift for you. It is called Sam Adams Latitude 48, and it has been deconstructed.

As you may or may not know, Sam Adams Latitude 48 is an IPA with five different types of hops, all grown along the 48th latitude. What the deconstructed pack does is it takes those five different hops and puts each into its own brew. The sixth beer in the pack, le piece de resistance, is the latitude 48 itself. So imagine my delight when, on vacation in South Carolina, I found a 12 pack of the deconstructed version—2 of each beer. I proceeded to clap my hands in a gleeful manner, then sent a picture via text to my dad in order to make him jealous.

It's... it's... so.... BEAUTIFUL.

My friends, I succeeded.

Before we start, I'd like to apologize in advance for the not so great quality of the pictures. They were taken with my phone, and don't really show the variety in color all that well. I forgot my actual camera though, and had little choice, so we must make due.

And now, I present to you, the first of the deconstructed beers, brewed with Simcoe hops. Simcoe hops are found in Yakima Valley, Washington, and contribute a “profound bitterness and dramatic grapefruit peel and pine resin notes.”

Color: The color of a hop infused sunset. It’s red-orange and amber, depending on the light streaming through the glass. I can clearly see the carbonation, and it keeps streaming to the top long after I poured it.

Aroma: Not incredibly strong, but you can smell the bitterness. Slightly fruity, and there are hints of a pine needle notes. I know it’s “resin” but whatever, it smelled like pine needles to me.

First Sip: Not as bitter as I was expecting it to be, but the hop character is differently there. I would say this one has a light bitterness (but maybe that’s just the hop head in me going, “What, this? Bitter? BRING IT ON”) and a definite grapefruit flavor. It also tastes a little bit piney, and there’s a sweet bitterness at the end.

Mouthfeel: Definitely bitter, but not too sharp. Contrary to the bubble still rising to the top of my glass, it doesn’t seem that carbonated, though I definitely would not call this flat. Once I’ve held it in my mouth for a while, I can taste more of the piney-ness, and its balanced by the slight sweetnes of the malts (of which there are also five).

Aftertaste: I’m left with a taste of the bitterness and the pine resin. And I immediately go back for more.

This is definitely a beer focused on the hop. There are malts, as I mentioned, but they’re in the background and do a good job of balancing the bitterness of the hops with their sweetness. The fruitiness and the piney-ness are also well balanced.

This beer is like an expert composer. It handles all the different elements very well, and never drops a note.


Hallertau Mittelfrueh

If you can pronounce the name of this German hop, then you probably deserve a taste of it yourself (just don’t expect me to buy it for you). Hailing from Hallertau, Germany, this hop is known for “lemony citrus and resinous pine notes,” as well as a “slight bitterness.”

Color: A sort of burnt orange color, that ranges almost to a deep amber, depending on the lighting. It looks quite carbonated and has a thin white head. It’s quite close in color to the Simcoe hop brew, but more orangey ran than red-orange. You can just tell that this is an IPA, because you have that extra IPA sense, where you get all tingly when an IPA is poured. Or… no? Just me?

Aroma: Quite fruity, more orangey or lemony than grapefruity. It smells clean and crisp, and is stronger than Simcoe. The scent hits my nose, and I immediately want to taste it. Or make it into a Popsicle and lick it. That works. (I do not actually recommend trying this, as in all actuality it would probably taste gross.)

First Sip: Definitely more fruity than the last one, and for some reason it tastes more bitter as well. There seems to be a stronger hop presence in this one, but maybe it comes out with the fruitiness. Also, as the label said a “slight bitterness,” I start to believe maybe my taste buds are broken.*

Mouthfeel: I taste a definite lemon flavor, but not as strong as say, Lienkugel’s Summer Shandy. There’s a slight piney taste that seems to be a bit elusive, though I can taste a bit more of it at the end. Now it seems more bitter than the last beer, though the bitterness doesn’t overpower the citrus flavor at all.

Aftertaste: Slighty sweet taste left on my tongue from the lemon citrus. Still not a lot of piney taste, but that’s probably my taste buds (you may very well have a different experience with this beer).

This is a great hop for enjoying during the summer time due to all the fruity flavors present here. If the first beer is a composer, then this beer is part of it’s band, perhaps playing the flute. And before you go saying that the flute is some wishy-washy, namby pamby instrument, I urge you to reconsider. I also refer you to Jethro Tull. Yes, this beer is Jethro Tull.

*Note: I did not drink the entire 6 beers over the course of an evening. These were spread out over five nights, and I gave myself ample time between beers for my taste buds to return to normal. I only suspected they were “broken” as I could taste more bitterness than the label description would have me believe.

Ahtanum

This hop sounds like it’s from Hawaii or some pacific state, and surprisingly my guess is right. This hop also comes from Yakima Valley, WA, though it’s quite different from its brethren, the Simcoe hop. It contributes as “orange peel, piney, and floral flavor and aroma.”

Well, that sounds downright tasty. All my favorite parts about hops rolled into one! This is going to be—wait a minute…

Color: Brown. There’s no other way to describe it. You can say really dark amber all you want, but in the end, this beer looks brown. But shame on me, saying brown so plainly. In truth, this is more of a caramel color, but it’s definitely darker than the previous two. I expect the label to be a dirty, stinkin’ liar, and for this beer to be more of a brown or amber ale rather than floral and fruity.

Aroma: No! The label was telling the truth! This is fruity and citrusy and floral. Magic, I tell you, MAGIC! I can’t smell any of the pine notes, but I’m too dumbfounded at the juxtaposition of the color and the aroma that I cant bring myself to mind all that much. This beer smells very good.

First Sip: Not that bitter at all, smoother and lighter than the other two. Quite fruity and floral—I find myself enjoying this taste immensely. The color is so deceiving; I expected a heavier beer, but this is light and floral, and dances its way across my taste buds like a playful, magical creature.

Mouthfeel: Orange peel and some sweetness on the end from the fruity flavor of these hops. Just a hint of piney flavor as well, but it melds into the orange for a lovely menagerie of tastes. This is definitely not a heavy beer, but there’s still plenty of flavor.

Aftertaste: There isn’t much of one, this beer is clean and crisp. It’s not dry, and the hops don’t linger on the tongue. A nice, clean finish.


The next two hop varieties will be up very shortly, and then finally the Latitude 48 itself, la piece de la resistance. I just figured I'd get these up now to break the month and a half silence.

In other news, I will be going to the Blues and Brews festival in Westford tomorrow. If you'd like to go yourself, I don't believe it is too late. Tickets are $30. For the main page, click here. For a list of the confirmed breweries attending, click here. Words cannot describe my excitement, and I most certainly will bring my camera this time and a note pad. Expect a lot more posts over the next few days!

Theobroma: Food (or Drink) of the Gods

If you know good beer, then you know Dogfish Head. If you don’t know Dogfish Head, then what the hell have you been doing? In the world of craft brewing, Dogfish Head is, to put it simply, the shit. They make so many good, tasty, delicious, holy-crap-I-just-died beers. They’re based out of Delaware, so if you’re within a day’s driving distance (maybe two) then you should go visit. If you’re not, take a plane. Seriously. I would love to go to their brewery, but I haven’t had the chance yet.

Anyway. Enough of my declarations of love and onto Theobroma, the food of the gods. Or in this case, the drink. There is so much in here that you wouldn’t expect: honey, chilies, annatto (a tree seed that smells good, so I hear), and Aztec cocoa powder and coca nibs. They call this a chocolate beer, even though it’s light in color. It’s definitely more subtle than other chocolate beers I’ve had, and a bit more fruity, but it’s pretty damn tasty all the same.

One awesome thing before I start: Dogfish Head based this beer on pottery fragments they found in the Honduras. A chemical analysis of the fragments showed that alcoholic chocolate drinks were used by early civilizations to toast special occasions. So basically (kind of, maybe, sort of), Dogfish Head resurrected a beer from 1200 BC. Yeah, I thought it was cool too.

Color: When I said light in color, I didn’t mean too light. This is a cloudy, dark golden color, with a thin white head. It pours like golden flax, like the light reflecting off of an elven maiden’s hair. Okay, so maybe she's not a natural blonde and that light is a bit cloudy, but that’s okay, it just adds to her air of mystery.

Aroma: Definitely fruity. Somehow they have taken the sweet smell of a hot and lazy summer afternoon, right when the sun is setting, and put it into a beer. It’s definitely fruity, and it smells like honey. I also thought it smelled like grapes, but maybe that’s just me. In any case, they’ve somehow bottled a summer sunset eternally into a bottle.


First Sip: WHAT AM I TASTING I DON’T EVEN

Mouthfeel: Okay tastebuds, calm down. I SAID CALM DOWN. Take a deep breath.

At first, you’re not really sure what you’re drinking, all you know is that you want more. Then once you slow down and roll it around your mouth, the different flavors start to jump out at you. First, the honey—it’s got that sweet taste characteristic of honey ales. Then you can start to taste the cocoa and just a hint of the chilies. This is definitely a complex beer, and even though you’re kind of overwhelmed at first, it doesn’t hit you like a train. All your brain can think is “THIS IS AMAZING HOLY CRAP FEED ME MORE,” until you really slow down to taste all the amazing complex flavors in this beer.

Aftertaste: A little sweet, a little chocolately. When the bottle is empty, you can stare at it forlornly with the taste of paradise still on your tongue.

At 9% ABV, this is pretty much guaranteed to make you feel like a god. Or at least really awesome.


This beer is a limited edition, so if you want to try some, I would be quick about it. I actually tried this some time ago, so I'm not sure if it's still around. To find it, or any other Dogfish Head beer, click here.