TLDR Beer Club

[MaxxDaddy]

Haven't posted in a while, and since it's Halloween, I thought it would be fitting to rate a pumpkin beer. I bought this new release from Southern Tier: Pumking.



The 22 oz. bottle ran me $5.35 and weighs in at 9% ABV. Pours a clear orange with minimal white head. Aroma is all pumpkin bread, with some cinnamon or other sweet spices. Taste is similar, with pumpkin spice being the dominant flavor, followed by other maltiness, with some booze in the back. Despite the slight booze, it goes down very easy. If the palate were thicker, I’d be in heaven. I'm a big fan of pumpkin pie, I must admit. This was certainly the best pumpkin beer I’ve had, though I haven’t had too many (Blue Moon, DFH Punkin). 3.75 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

[mscags]

If you are looking for a good pumpkin beer then look no further than schlafly pumpkin ale.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/583/32767

It is easily the best pumpkin beer I've tried and I've had quite a few. It tastes just like pumpkin pie and weighs in at a nice 8%abv. You may have trouble finding it if you don't live fairly close to stl though.

[MrWookie]

Maxx,

I'd definitely look up the Weyerbacher, and IIRC, you can get their beer. It sounds like Weyerbachers might be a little thicker and darker, just like you were looking for.

[MrWookie]

I tried a new brew from a new brewery tonight. On a whim, I picked up the Incubus tripel from the Sly Fox brewery based out of Roversford, PA. I've never tried anything from this place, or even heard of them, but I felt like doing something different. The tripel came in a 750 mL bottle that ran me $8.55. I wasn't thinking about it at the time I bought it, but this is more expensive than a bottle of Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde. Unfortunately, this probably means I'm setting myself up for disappointment. I'm not sure of the ABV of this beer.



The beer pours the usual yellow-gold with a decent head. It might be a slightly thinner head than is typical for this style. It's also surprisingly clear. There's some yeast sediment in the bottom of this beer, but not enough to cloud everything like most good tripels I've had.



While I'd been setting myself up for disappointment, the smell of this beer is pretty good. I smell the usual sweet fruitiness and some of the spice. The taste is a let-down, though. It's a little too syrupy, the malt has an unusual and unsavory taste I can't place, and the yeastiness and spiciness is lacking. On an absolute scale, this is roughly a [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] beer, but that doesn't mean it's not one of the worst tripels I've had to date. I'd advise anyone thinking about picking this one up to reach for the La Fin Du Monde instead -- it is cheaper and much better.

[RunDownHouse]

Wookie,

Was there a lot of compacted sediment on the bottom of the bottle when you finished, or progressively more sediment as you poured? I can't imagine any brewery going to the trouble of partially filtering, if that's even possible, and the yeast would have to be really highly flocculating for almost all of it to drop out. I guess another possibility is they filtered it and then added yeast back for bottle conditioning, maybe even a different strain if they wanted a blend of two flavor profiles. That would probably result in less sediment, too.

[MrWookie]

I'd say there was a light amount of sediment that just barely was dislodged when I swirled the last portion of the beer around to dislodge everything. I think that filtering and then adding yeast back is a possibility.

[prk]

Max, I just logged on to review the So. Tier Pumking and you beat me to the punch! I agree with your review and had a similar opinion. I thought it was delicious and is definetly going to be revisited.

[cwsiggy]

Mr. Wookie - I too was dissapointed with Heather Ale. Still love the Elderberry Black Ale and the Pine Scots. - Different tastes I suppose... Also - I think my ratings are probably on the high side as a 4 should blow one away. I'll have to adjust going forward.

[MrWookie]

Good to know we're on the same page w/ the Heather ale. I've liked your reviews, so I'm curious what you think about some other beers.

[cwsiggy]

I'll be reviewing tons more as I live near a great store that has like 500 different beers sold as singles. I do need to get a digi cam also. For the record - my current fav micro in a bottle is Dogfish 60 IPA. My fav cheapo beer is Yuengling Lord Chesterfield Ale.