The Rack is Full

As we inch ever so closer to the time that the winter brews will be hitting the market, I think that it's a decent time to express my thoughts on the crop of pumpkin beers that some of us stocked up on and might have even devoured by now.

If I'll take one thing from this year's pumpkin brews it's that spices seemed to be the dominate aspect in just about each of the pumpkin seasonals this year. More often than not, this morphed into the form of a complaint as I tried more and more of them. Less pumpkin and quite a lot of spice.

Was it because the possible lack of actual pumpkins when some of these beers were made? I've addressed the possibility of using frozen or preserved pumpkin in a post in the beginning of the year. I don't feel like looking for it out of fear of getting worked up because something tells me it could have been posted in the summer. If you remember correctly, that's when a good number of these pumpkin beers actually hit the shelves.

Cisco's Pumple Drumkin. Spice heavy, but this year was my first try.

I understand that some recipes call for a hefty dosage of spices. Still, I just felt like an abnormal number of pumpkin beers this year were unusually dominated by some of those flavors. This year was very unlike those in the past. Is this a direct result of rushing a product to the demanding public? The timing of it all?

If everything goes as planned, I should be at one of my favorite local Pittsburgh pubs that's putting a few pumpkin beers on cask this evening. One of which is Southern Tier's Pumking (which tasted just fine this year) and East End Brewing's Nunkin. A beer brewed with just about everything but the pumpkin. I'd be perfectly fine with being smacked in the face with spices while drinking that one. After all, isn't the the entire purpose of the beer?

Punkin Crisis?

As we continue to make our way out of the blistering heat of summer and inch into fall, those of us that love pumpkin beer around the time that it's actually meant to be consumed have pretty much stocked up on what we needed to get us to this point.

With that said, most of us also know that once Southern Tier's Pumking and Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale hit the market, it means that it's pretty much a wrap on the pumpkin beer releases. At least here in the Pittsburgh area the only one I don't know of on the shelves yet is Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale. I've never had a problem getting either in the past. Some odd news might imply that I might not get much of one of these beers this year.

I recall cases of Pumking last year being at the same limit of two cases per-customer, but it is in the neighborhood of $8-$10 cheaper than it was. As for Punkin, I've seen a two case limit at the very worst. I'm not entirely sure if this store on Browns Hill Road is the only one that got 10 percent of what it ordered, but it usually has one of the largest beer inventories that I know of around me.

If the batch of Punkin is small this year it might be a lot tougher to find some. I planned on getting my case this weekend. Now, I'm not totally sure it will last until then. We'll see how it goes. My worst case scenario is that I end up forced dipping into the six or so bottles I still have from last year's case. Not that bad of a fallback.

Don't Drink the Paint, Sir

This is really interesting. Perhaps this is the the newest fad in American craft beer culture. It seems to have already taken a foothold in Europe. I came across an online article from Time Magazine that made mention of something called "Beertone Swatches."

If' you're familiar with Photoshop then you know what a a color swatch is. In essence, these seem to be exactly what they sound to be. CMYK and RGB codes for colors of beer. As I mentioned earlier, this fad seems to have developed some popularity in Europe with the colors of its beers. It seems to be only be in the beginning stages here in the states. This is evident by the mention of Founders Brewing being one of the first American breweries to get involved in this movement on the Beertone Facebook page.

I interestingly clicked on the Time article because the title made mention of beer colors in home decor. You most likely would have as well. Doesn't the thought of Anchor Steam-colored walls sound tempting? Sadly, the article made no mention of actually being able to buy paint colors yet. Possibly in the future?

I have previously dabbled in this kind of stuff before. The background of this blog (if you're not on the mobile version) is a vivid orange color. That's because I took a photograph of Southern Tier's Pumking into Photoshop and brought out the simple eye dropper tool. I liked it so much that I actually incorporated it into my background.

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: Fall Seasonal Beer - Not Too Shabby

A billowing, yet refreshing glass of Southern Tier Pumking.

Everyone knows about my expressed anger about the early release of pumpkin ales in the last few weeks of August. I'm long over that and have stocked up accordingly. I've also let it be known that the summer season is most likely my favorite due to the numerous types of brews that are released during the spring and summer months.

Now, if I didn't have summer to select from in this process I'd definitely be happy settling with the fall seasonal brews. As a matter of fact, it wouldn't be settling at all. I'd take it in a heartbeat if I was forced to. The changing  leaves and nippy Pittsburgh air this past weekend (along with a gorgeous photograph of a Pumking draft I snapped) have led me to believe that fall is pretty much here. There won't be many hot days from here on out.

Fall is one of the most festive times of the year. All of the kids in our local neighborhoods are gearing up for Halloween in just over a month. Thanksgiving is right around the corner as well.

Being festive also includes some awesome beer, which there is a plethora of. The two main ones are pumpkin ales and Oktoberfests as everyone knows. They both signify some of the things we love to do during this time of the year, mainly congregating and consuming brews. Don't worry, I do realize thatOktoberfest originated in the Bavarian part of Germany. We just continue much of that historic tradition over here in America.

These beers are historic in value as well. I've mentioned the Oktoberfest factor already. The pumpkin ales, from what I can find, are kind of like a reincarnate of beers that some of the first settlers in the New England area made. It's still somewhat debated as to how the pumpkin was actually used/substituted, though.

Some of the flavors of these brews reflect the season perfectly. The spices such as vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg used in pumpkin ales are consistently used in certain holiday dishes of the season. The actual pumpkin needs no explanation as many will be carved and set on your porches.

I was down at the beginning of the fall beer season, but I knew it wouldn't last. it's time to enjoy these fabulous concoctions.

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!

Beer Review: Southern Tier Old Man Winter Ale

It's now officially December which means most of us beer bloggers are sampling the winter fare in order to pass our thoughts along to our viewers. Thus far on this blog, the winter ales haven't netted many points according to my rating scale. That's why it's always a good option to try some more. Southern Tier Brewing Co. produces one of my favorite beers out there with it's Pumking concoction. Here's the first winter ale I've tried from this brewery.

Serving Type: Draft

ABV: 7.2 percent

Appearance: Just like any other winter warmer you come across, Old Man is a dark, nut brown. So far this season, the head on this beer was the thickest and had the most retention. I wouldn't exactly call it the thickest of all heads I've come across, though. Old man is also very well carbonated.

Smell: Very piney. It smells just like it was poured from the trunk of a pine tree. Slight hints of caramel hide behind the overwhelming pine scent. It made me want to put on a pair of long johns and get outside for some sledding.

Taste: Old Man tastes very hoppy and piney. There's as much pine taste as there is in the smell. This beer would taste much better if the caramel lingered behind in the taste as it did during the first waft.

Overall Rating:  

I'm starting to think that most winter session beers taste similar to each other. Of the three winter ales I've reviewed, one tasted similar to this one (Full Pint Festivus). The other was way off and not in a better way.