Pumpkin Ale

Thanks to Joshua Schipp for saving me one of these beers the other night and bringing it back to the house. I remember the first time I tried this beer was back in the summer of 2010 when I was working for the Cleaning crew at Augustana and I found a whole six pack left over in the fridge in one of the houses. Unfortunately I never got around to reviewing it. Luckily now, I have the chance.

Appearance: Coppered gold with a oranged hue...really looking like a true pumpkin ale! There isn't very much of a head aside for a minor accumulation of bubbles on one side of the glass. I'm guessing this is because of the natural oils in the pumpkin. Carbonation seems to be very strong with persistently rising bubbles.
Aroma: Earthy and choked full of pumpkin that even borders on a cucumber/squash-like scent. Herbal, complemented with notes of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Taste: More on the gourd side of a pumpkin beer. It leaves out a lot of the sweetness that I normally would like to see in these beers, especially the brown sugar complement. The spices revolve around nutmeg and ginger (the cinnamon seems to be absent in the taste). A bit of a peppery taste rounds out the finish. Otherwise, there really isn't much complexity to this beer.
Mouthfeel: Very light feeling, with a bot of an oily feel on the lips. High carbonation spikes the entire tongue on its way down. Palate is left dry.
Overall Impression: Flavor is a bit unimpressive. It tastes like I'm drinking a gourd smoothy (though without the body and debris). Spiced finish, but luckily not overdone.


70/100

Alimony Ale (IPA)

Much appreciation goes to Veronica Smith for allowing me to take one of these beers from the six pack she brought to the Josh Schipp voter registration event. I tasted it alongside a wealth of tortilla chips and salsa, along with a continuous cycling of quesadillas from the kitchen and interspersed music. I got around to reviewing it the following night after practice.

Appearance: Snifter served. A nice glassy golden pour leaving an amber color within the glass. The beer exhibits a mediocre filmed head an a drying wet white lacing along the side of the glass. For the most part it is clear allowing the subtley visible carbonation to appear to rise uniformly to the surface.
Aroma: A nice bouquet of caramel toffee malt followed by the nicely integrated, but subtle citrus aroma. Some toastiness as well as a mild DMS funk along the mid line of the scent. Some fruitiness and bits of pine arise amongst the more dominant senses. Some sour element.
Taste: Quite sweet and maybe puckering, though the flavors do not show up at all off as the aroma may have presumed. The caramel takes a background along with some honey, but still holds elements of the foundation. More predominantly is the Pine and fruit flavors rounding in the mid-taste and out with a dry grapefruity sappy bitterness. Dark fruit and grape skins show up too in the middle of the end of the beer. The finish leaves the palate grassy with the bitterness remaining on the sides of the tongue. As the beer warms some orange peel character arises which nicely complements the unique malt profile. A very juicy IPA.
Mouthfeel: Very smooth and extremely crisp. The carbonation is medium but contributing to the well crafted body of this beer. Some tackiness, but that's negligible while the finish leaves the palate very dry and very resinous with a bit of a prolonged aftertaste.
Overall Impression: I like this beer for the fact that it is extremely clean tasting and refreshing. The hop taste is exactly as if they were coming out of the bag. The malt wasn't what did it, but more the basic fresh taste and the complexity in the bitterness.


87/100

Blueberry Oatmeal Stout

Thanks to my Dad, Steven Rosley for getting my this as a component to the around the world winter mixer pack from world market. Used as a comparative tasting to the Dark Horse Tres Blueberry Stout.

Appearance: Soapy tan grey head that sticks to the sides of the glass in a spotted random matter of lacing. Black in color but not as thick looking as the Tres.

Aroma: More of candied blueberry sugars with a limited barley and malt character. The tartness of the beer is immediately apparent.

Taste: Just blueberry, it lacks the flavors of any real stout and just exhibits the tastes of a blueberry fruit puree. Sure the color is deceiving, but all is masked by the tart fruitiness of this beer. Some barley tannin or Golding bitterness in the end,but doesn't work well with the flavor. Too sweet to start and an uncomplimentary addition of complexity to the beer that throws it all off.

Mouthfeel: The texture is quite smooth and drinkable, but not as thick as the Tres. The beer goes down a lot more fluidly, but has some thickness to it as compared to the Tres which both starts and ends thick. Carbonation is very light and forgiving, contributing little to the overall development of flavor.

Overall Impression: Eh, not a very impressive beer. Perhaps a great one as an introductory beer to girls who have spent their lives in the Milwaukee macro-beer section, but nothing to be really enjoyed and savored. By all means get it for the girl who needs a gateway to the good beer. You need to start somewhere.


73/100