Food, Booze, & Baggage

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Into The Pint Glass: Pumpkin Beer

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Into The Pint Glass: Exploring Pumpkin Beers

Today is the day, it’s PUMPKIN BEER day!! I’m interested to see what everyone has come up with for this one. You have two-weeks to pick up a pumpkin beer of your own and join Katie and me! I even included a few lists to help you out, to sample some of those deemed “best” if you don’t want to roll the dice.

Pumpkin beer is not really a defined “style” of beer. It’s basically a fruit beer; a beer based on its additions not the base style of the beer brewed. For example, a pumpkin ale, may start out as a saison, a brown, a stout, or whatever and then the pumpkin and spices are added to it. Under the BJCP guidelines, pumpkin beer is classified under the Spice, Herb or Vegetable beer category. Pumpkin beers can contain real roasted pumpkin, pumpkin puree, pumpkin flavoring, and/or just pumpkin spices (like nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, ginger, and allspice). This beer is wildly popular in the US market. It’s a seasonal beer, released in the Fall. It’s the beer lover’s answer to the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

It’s also a hotly debated issue in terms of what is the “best” pumpkin beer out on the market. I personally don’t think there is a definitive answer for that question, but to get you started on your pumpkin beer journey here are a few lists:

I had a little fun with our next to last Into The Pint Glass, and invited a few friends over to help me out with my pumpkin beer tasting. Shannon (Brass Honey) and Ester (Local Adventurer) plus husbands in tow, came over and participated in my little experiment. We had our own little pumpkin beer show down. The beers are listed in order of voted favorite to least favorite. There was no criteria, other than voting on best liked. It wasn’t scientific 🙂

This was our results and I’ll tell you a little more about each one from my perspective below.

#1 Alaskan Pumpkin Porter

#2 Ballast Point Pumpkin Down

#3 Coronado Punk-in Drublic

#4 Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela No.1 Pumpkin Ale

#5 Fantome Boo

Into-The-Pint-Glass-Pumpkin-Beer-Showdown

Alaskan Pumpkin Porter, Juneau Alaska

This was the groups favorite. It was a good beer, easy drinking, but not my personal favorite of the tasting.

Smell: It smelled exactly like pumpkin pie to me.

Taste: Roasty with a bit of chocolate/caramel. It had a bit of pumpkin earthiness with just a hint of spice, not overwhelming.

Ballast Point Pumpkin Down, San Diego California

This was my personal favorite of the tasting. I found it had enough pumpkin and enough spice to make it a true pumpkin beer, but not overly spicy.

Smell: Caramel, a little earthy

Taste: It is earthy, but more pumpkin spice than pumpkin. It has a touch of caramel, maltiness that balances out the spice.

Coronado Punk’In Drublic, San Diego California

This was my number 2 for the tasting and as the group our 3rd favorite. This is an imperial ale, being a bit higher in alcohol.

Smell: Like pumpkin pie

Taste: This was surprisingly not sweet or heavy. It seemed lighter and more pumpkin than spicy.

Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela No.1 Pumpkin Ale, Dexter Michigan

This one I knew would be out there for the tasting, and this was the only one that I had tried previously. It is not your traditional pumpkin beer. Jolly Pumpkin specializes in barrel-aged beer, and tend to be on the sour side.

Smell: Earthy

Taste: Sour, earthy, lighter. Not much pumpkin or spice to it.

Fantome Boo, Soy Belgium

Really we just picked this up because Fantome beers are a bit of a rare find and we wanted to share it. I’m not 100% sure it was a pumpkin beer at all, despite the picture 🙂

Smell: Smokey, leather

Taste: Smokey, earthy, apple. A sour, earthy, smokey brew. Not my favorite.

Do you have a go-to pumpkin beer?

Into The Pint Glass


Into The Pint Glass: Bock

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Bock

Guten!! Welcome back fellow beer drinkers. We are exploring a German beer style today the Bock. Let’s dive right in, shall we?

Bock is a dark, strong, malty lager beer of German origin. It originated in Northern Germany in the 14th century in Einbeck. Starting in the 17 century it was recreated by Munich brewers using the lager method of brewing. The name “bock” came around because of the Bavarian accent of Munich citizens, referring to Einbeck as “ein Bock” or “billy goat”, thus the beer becoming known as Bock. This is also why many logos and advertisements for Bock feature a goat. While the original version of Bock was dark, modern versions can range from brown to light copper.

The Bock category includes several substyles:  

Maibock (helles bock, heller bock) is  a paler, more hopped version. Maibock is often considered a Spring beer.

Doppelbock (double bock) a stronger and maltier version. Doppelbocks were first brewed in Munich by the monks of St. Francis of Paula.

Eisbock a much stronger version made by partially freezing a Doppelbock and removing the ice to produce a higher alcohol, more concentrated flavored beer.

This was another one that I had a bit of trouble finding. Maybe we should re-name the link-up “hunting for beers” 🙂 Anyway, of course the one I found is not exactly a straight forward Bock, what fun would that be?

Blondibock by Mammoth Brewing Company, Mammoth Lakes, CA

Mammoth Brewing Company

This is the first beer I’ve tried from Mammoth Brewing Company. Apparently, according to the above label they brew and bottle at the highest elevation brewery on the west coast. Sounds pretty cool! The Blondibock is a blond bock that is then barrel-aged on bourbon barrels.

Smell: Sweet, bourbon aroma.

Taste: Very bourbon forward, but not at strong alcohol burn noticeable. Finishes fairly clean with a hint of sweetness. This one is an interesting beer, I mostly get bourbon. It’s like drinking water-downed bourbon, I do not get any beer flavor profiles.

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Into The Pint Glass: Cream Ale

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Into The Pint Glass Cream Ales

Step right up ladies and gents, to our latest edition of Into The Pint Glass. This week we are exploring Cream Ales, not to be confused with cream soda for those of you not partaking. I’ll let Katie take it away on what is a Cream Ale…

Did you have a hard time finding a cream ale? I’m sure you did. Cream ales are part of the Hybrid category, which means they don’t really fit in anywhere. Which means they are kind of like the Harry Potter of beers*. They could have gone into the Lager category (aka Slytherin) but chose to become Ales (Gryffindor). Unlike Harry Potter, they aren’t always very interesting. They are often referred to as the ale version of American Adjunct Lagers (and you all know how we feel about *that* style) and the BJCP style guide even calls it an “American lawnmower beer.”
 
The reason *we* think they are interesting is because the way they are brewed. Ales commonly, if not exclusively, ferment at the the top of the barrel at warmer temperatures. But Cream Ales traditionally were made in cooler temperatures so that they could be more crisp and less fruity. During Prohibition, or what we like to call The Dark Ages, Canadians favored this beer. When the worst period in American ended, we stole the style back after they had taken much care and refined it and we made it our own, just like we do best. 
 
*My day is complete when I can make a Harry Potter reference.

Well, I certainly had a hard time finding a cream ale when I went searching, only one for me to share today.

Cali’ Creamin’ by Mother Earth, Vista, CA
Cali'-Creamin'-Mother-Earch-Brewing

This is a vanilla cream ale by one of our local breweries right outside of San Diego. I have had this beer before, so I knew it was a good one. Honestly, cream ales are hard to come by and this was the only one BottleCraft was carrying the day I went. ABV is 5.2%.

Smell: Hint of vanilla, pretty much smells like a vanilla cream soda.

Flavor: Vanilla on the front with a creamy mouthfeel a little bit of a bitterness at the finish that cleanses the palette.  The vanilla does not overwhelm, just a hint so not a sweet or dessert-like beer. Very nice beer, that is very drinkable. I like, I like it a lot.

Have you tried a Cream Ale before?

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Don’t miss the last four Into The Pint Glass, next up is Bock on September 17th.
Beer-Styles-June-thru-October

Into The Pint Glass: Hefeweizen

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Hefeweizen

Well HELLOOOO THERE!! Katie and I are back Into The Pint Glass, that time of the month where we drink and talk about beer, and today we are discussing Hefeweizen. This is one of the styles I’m know, for well, pretty much hating except for a very select few. However, this is also a style that many people are a huge fan of. Let’s talk a little more about the style and then I’ll explain where my dislike comes from (because I know you guys are dying to hear all about it)…

Hefeweizen is a German-style wheat beer, also known as Weissbier. “Hefe” means yeast and “Weizen” means wheat, so Hefeweizen translates as yeast wheat. Unique to Hefeweizen is it’s phenolic character, producing flavors of clove and banana. Other flavors associated with this style is bubblegum or Band-aid. By German law it must contain at least 50% malted wheat. Of course American craft brewers do not have to hold this standard. Hefeweizens are noted for their low to no hop bitterness. Most hefeweizens are cloudy due to their high wheat content and yeast sediment, however they can be filtered, to produce a Krystal version of the style.

Hefeweizen has deep roots in Bavaria, though referred to in Germany as Weissbier (not Hefeweizen). Weissbier means white beer, which you will recall from the Wit post, that Witbier is also referred to as white ale. However, Hefeweizen/Weissbier and Wit are two different sub-styles of wheat beer. They are not the same. Hefeweizen is more malty and has the characteristic yeast flavors, whereas Wit is characterized by the addition of spices. Hefeweizen’s origin is German and Wit’s is Belgian. It can be confusing…so just drink it 🙂

Now back to me and my issues….I do not like the characteristic flavor profile associated with Hefeweizen, that banana, clove, bubblegum flavor profile makes me gag. I do like it, and can generally tell just by smell whether or not it’s a drinkable Hefeweizen for me or not. I don’t think it’s a beer style I’m ever going to adapt to.

Mango Hefeweizen, Garage Brewing, Temecula, CA
Garage Brewing Mango Hefewizen
I decided to grab this one because 1. mango (I like mangos) and 2. I had never tried Garage Brewing.

Smell: Super fruity, definitely mango, but I also picked up orange. This smelled like juice, it is that fruit forward. This one did not turn me off already in the smell department, onto tasting.

Taste: Crisp, a little tart/mango/orange flavor, well carbonated, and overall quite refreshing. This had none of the banana/clove flavor profile, or it is well masked. It was not that fruity in taste, despite the smell. Yay, I picked a winner! This would certainly be a hefeweizen I would drink again. This has an ABV of 5.5%, so a good middle of the road beer for sipping.

Do you have a beer style that you identify as one you know you dislike? Don’t say all of them, because my response is you just haven’t tried enough 🙂 


Into The Pint Glass