Sunday, November 13, 2011

Brewtal Beer Club - It's Not Just a Club...It's a Movement - PART 3 - THE BEER

If you missed the first two episodes...

And now what you have all been waiting for...MissFancyPants Fall Beer List.  It's getting a little late in the season, so you may want to bookmark this for next year.  I had some other recommendations but I don't want to overwhelm you or muddy the waters by being all over the place so I will do an addendum to my beer list in another post (just to keep you reading)....I don't know about you but I am always hunting for the perfect pumpkin beer (secretly I want someone to do a butternut squash one but haven't heard of it).

Last year, my two favorites were Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale and Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale - HOWEVER, I have some new favorites thanks to Mike (my husband, who was in charge of the October Brewtal Beer Tasting).

#1 - Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin


This beer was actually thanks to KEVIN whom we met at the Battleship NJ beer tasting.  He works for Shipyard.  This beer will KICK your ass, and I mean it.  It's 9% ABV and very drinkable, I didn't find it overly alcohol in flavor, it's dangerous...It is a little heavy on the spice area so if you don't like a heavy spice than it may not be your favorite.  I enjoy a bit more nutmeg so this was great.  Good pumpkin taste and sweet.


 #2 - Cigar City Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale

 

Holy crap this was hands down a beer that EVERYONE at the beer club enjoyed and rated highly.  I felt like I was drinking pumpkin pie.  There was something about this beer, the spice was not overly powering, the perfect amount of sweetness.

 #3 - Heavy Seas - The Greater Pumpkin 



One word - AWESOME - this was brewed in Bourbon barrels so it is quite different than the other pumpkin beers.  The bourbon, wood, and pumpkin was a nice balance.  Highly recommend.


#4 - The Bruery - Autumn Maple




 I have to say I was a little hesitant, I don't always dig The Breury's beer, but this was delicious.  It is brewed with yams so it was a nice change from the pumpkin tasting.  It had a nice mix of spice and also a hint of vanilla.  I could see this going well with some turkey breast and maybe some glazed root vegetables.  Don't know why, but I think I will try serving that next year or if I find it in time for this Thanksgiving.


 #5 - Cape Ann Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout 


 I am only putting this on the list because of the polarity that was expressed in the group that tasted it.  I hated it the first time and it grew on me the second time.  I don't know if that had to do with too many pumpkin beers that I was taste-testing and wasn't giving this a fair shot or I like more zing to my beer and this was just too AVERAGE.  Jury is still out, I would say try it if you don't like a strong pumpkin flavor and are a stout fan.  There were a few people in the group that really liked this.


#6 - Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale


I am on and off with SA.  I have had some very nice beers lately like their new Imperial Stout and their Latitude IPA.  This beer was surprisingly good.  Maybe not a Shipyard, a Weyerbacher or Smuttynose, but it was tasty.  It was not overly pumpkin-like but had a nice mix of spice and pumpkin without being overly sweet.

Hopefully, you will still have time to check things out, although, I was at the liquor store and the Christmas beers were out and there was nothing left in way of pumpkin, so like I said bookmark this for next year!  Stay tuned, I will be posting another beer post very soon that includes a few Italian micro-brews I recently tried and we will be having the November Beer Meeting this week.  I will also be posting a little about Mike and I's first homebrew which we will try on Thursday - Brewtal Alpha Porter....

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1 comment:

  1. You can get me to drink any pumpkin beer just as long as you put cinnamon sugar on the rim of the glass!! ;)

    ReplyDelete

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