On A Mission From Puca

Word has it among the family belonging to my father's girlfriend is that her son is heading to Lakewood, New York this weekend to visit a relative. If you're one of the many craft beer enthusiasts out there only one thing comes to mind when you hear that town: Southern Tier Brewing.

Of course my father and I are going to take advantage of this opportunity to bag some loot for ourselves. The best part is we don't physically have to make the trip.

Who knows. Maybe a bottle or two of Pumking (brewed in honor of the Celtic god, Puca) is stuck in a nook or cranny somewhere up there. Maybe even a bottle of Choklat, Eurotrash Pils (which might not be out yet) or Krampus?

One thing is for certain. I should come out of this with that elusive Pumking goblet I've been planning on buying for myself. It's a good thing that we have some of our case of Pumking remaining. Now to actually find a spot for this damn thing.

Beer Review: Southern Tier Creme Brulee

Serving Type: Draft

ABV: 9.6 percent

Appearance: Southern Tier Creme Brulee pours a thick black. Just straight black. I couldn't pick up any other highlights such as a brown or red within the body. It looks like something you can chew. It's head provides an inch thickness, is more fizzy than thick and is an attractive shade of beige.

Smell: This beer smelled like some sort of an epic dessert. Good thing I had it after my meal. Vanilla is the most dominant aroma. Caramel and chocolate hints followed that up. Overall, the three aromas are extremely sweet.

Taste: Amazingly sweet. I can do sweet, but not too much of it. This has a ton. As it warms, it just becomes too much for me. That doesn't mean it's the beer. I'm like that with anything. Otherwise, the vanilla and chocolate are prominent on the front. There's also something roasty about this brew's flavor. I'm not entirely sure if it was a dark chocolate or coffee taste that was hidden somewhere in there. The darkness in flavor is almost a welcoming feeling. You're not completely consumed in sugary sweetness.

Overall Rating: 

This is a really complex beer. If you can handle the sweetness, I suggest you try it. If you've got a sweet tooth this could be right up your alley. Milk Stouts are definitely something I'm looking into exploring a bit more.

Homebrew Pumpkin Ale Underway

Just wanted to give an update on the homebrew pumpkin ale recipe my father and I had been developing. We officially began the brewing process this past Saturday.

There's not any particular way to do it, but by preference. So, we decided to roast two pumpkins before ripping the meat off and mashing it. The pumpkin meat was the very first ingredient we added to the pot of water before we steeped our Biscuit and Crystal malts.

The pumpkin started the brew off with a buttery scent and golden color. We then strained the meat from the mix before adding more malt extract to tone down the color we thought the Biscuit and Crystal would give the body.

We used two kinds of hops (Sterling and Magnum) that we found in the recipe for Southern Tier Pumking, but tried to go as easy as we could so the brew wouldn't employ a ton of bitterness.

What we wanted to be strong was the spices. We took a load of typical pumpkin spices and precise measurements from a friend via Twitter that he uses in his yearly recipe. Once they were mixed and kept in a sandwich bag, the scent could be picked up from across the room.

The beer finally took on a deep crown color with what appears to be some red highlights once we finished the wort. I'm excited for this to finish. It's currently fermenting like hell. We're hoping to be bottle conditioned in time for Thanksgiving Dinner.

After the pumpkin meat was tossed in.

The color prior to adding the hops and spices.

Monday Rant: Pumpkin Ales and Oktoberfests - Stock Up

I've already sounded off about the earliness of the fall seasonal beers being on the shelves at this point in the summer. It's pretty much a broken system. Brewers are making the product and distributors can't afford to sit on the supply or simply don't have the space in storage. I get it. I'm over it.

I still love my pumpkin ales and Oktoberfest beers. So, as I took a stroll through a local distributor towards the end of last week I came across the establishment's entire wall of seasonal brews.

There were plenty of pumpkin ales and Oktoberfest beers. Enough to last a lifetime. It was at this moment that I decided to make my first purchases of the fall season. After all, it'll most likely all be gone within the next month or so.

I picked up a case of each Saranac's Pumpkin Ale and Great Lakes' Oktoberfest. I really wanted to try the Saranac last fall, but couldn't find any. I've always heard good things about Great Lakes' Oktoberfest. It came down to that and Penn Brewery's Oktoberfest. I figured I'd be having plenty when I'm actually at Penn's Oktoberfest celebration in September.

My dad also pitched in and acquired a case of Yuengling's Oktoberfest (yet another I couldn't find last year) and decided to invest $90 in a case of the infamous Southern Tier Pumking. We've already indulged in the almighty Puca and tucked away the rest of the bottles until it gets a little closer to October.

Since pay day is this week, I'm planning on purchasing yet another case of pumpkin ale before everyone else buys it all up. Maybe some Shipyard Pumpkinhead or Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin Ale? Have to stock up now!