Beer In Review: Beer For Fall
I feel some political blogging coming on (with luck, it'll pass) so I thought that I'd throw off a post about beer first.
Autumn has finally joined the ranks of seasonal ales, long dominated by Summer and Winter. Most of the top craft breweries sport some kind of Oktoberfest offerings whose taste pays homage to the Bavarian festivities. Sam Adams' Octoberfest being an excellent example.
Redhook's Late Autumn Harvest Ale is their latest seasonal creation. Compared to their Summer ale, Sunrye, this is much more flavorful. An ample head arises on the pour yielding a hoppy bouquet that'll make you think of Bavaria. The brew displays a amber-caramel color (Redhook describes it as "chestnut").
Although not as hoppy as Sammy's Octoberfest, Redhook doesn't disappoint. They use a mix of Saaz (Czech Republic) and Northern Brewer (an American - English hybrid) hops to give this beer its bite and medium to full body (by my tastebuds at least). The specialty malts are what you'd expect (Crystal, Caramel, Roasted), but the addition of German Smoked Munich malt is what really gives the Late Autumn Harvest Ale more of the Oktoberfest feel. 5.7% ABV.
Beer Guy, down at the liquor store, has informed me that Winter Ales will be out next week so once those Oktoberfest ales are gone, you'll have to wait until next year. The funny thing is, it's been so warm (5-10 degrees above average), I'm just getting my tastebuds ready for Autumn beer.
Beer Guy also informed me of a bit of bad news. After trying to get the Ten Penny Ale in for weeks, he finally learned that Olde Burnside had a fight with their distributor. The latter complained that they wanted the brewery to use a more marketable container, like say 6-packs and 12-packs. The brewer uses 1/2 gallon growlers and refused to compromise. Now the distributor won't carry them. In this battle of the wills, the distributor wins as state law prevents breweries from being involved in the distribution business, and they own the Connecticut distribution rights. Bad move for Olde Burnside.
Today's other candidate is Harpoon's Brown Session Ale. As I mentioned earlier this year, I gave Harpoon a second chance after many years of avoidance and have been pleasantly surprised. Their Brown Session Ale, though not a seasonal, seems appropriate for this time of year, and lives up to its name.
The Brown Session Ale is new to Harpoon's family. On the pout, it provides an ample head over a medium brown body, as is characteristic of an American Brown Ale. The hops are mild (IBU 22) but definitely there. No idea which ones they use though, but I'd guess Cascade.
But the appeal here is the malts. Harpoon claims to use 6 different specialty malts, including a chocolate malt. But even though there's many different kinds of malt, they don't overwhelm the tongue at all. It's not heavy. The 4.3% ABV means that Harpoon didn't overload the wort with malt. It's smooth and finishes neat.
On its web page for the Brown Session Ale, Harpoon states:
I couldn't agree more.
\_/
DED
Autumn has finally joined the ranks of seasonal ales, long dominated by Summer and Winter. Most of the top craft breweries sport some kind of Oktoberfest offerings whose taste pays homage to the Bavarian festivities. Sam Adams' Octoberfest being an excellent example.
Redhook's Late Autumn Harvest Ale is their latest seasonal creation. Compared to their Summer ale, Sunrye, this is much more flavorful. An ample head arises on the pour yielding a hoppy bouquet that'll make you think of Bavaria. The brew displays a amber-caramel color (Redhook describes it as "chestnut").
Although not as hoppy as Sammy's Octoberfest, Redhook doesn't disappoint. They use a mix of Saaz (Czech Republic) and Northern Brewer (an American - English hybrid) hops to give this beer its bite and medium to full body (by my tastebuds at least). The specialty malts are what you'd expect (Crystal, Caramel, Roasted), but the addition of German Smoked Munich malt is what really gives the Late Autumn Harvest Ale more of the Oktoberfest feel. 5.7% ABV.
Beer Guy, down at the liquor store, has informed me that Winter Ales will be out next week so once those Oktoberfest ales are gone, you'll have to wait until next year. The funny thing is, it's been so warm (5-10 degrees above average), I'm just getting my tastebuds ready for Autumn beer.
Beer Guy also informed me of a bit of bad news. After trying to get the Ten Penny Ale in for weeks, he finally learned that Olde Burnside had a fight with their distributor. The latter complained that they wanted the brewery to use a more marketable container, like say 6-packs and 12-packs. The brewer uses 1/2 gallon growlers and refused to compromise. Now the distributor won't carry them. In this battle of the wills, the distributor wins as state law prevents breweries from being involved in the distribution business, and they own the Connecticut distribution rights. Bad move for Olde Burnside.
Today's other candidate is Harpoon's Brown Session Ale. As I mentioned earlier this year, I gave Harpoon a second chance after many years of avoidance and have been pleasantly surprised. Their Brown Session Ale, though not a seasonal, seems appropriate for this time of year, and lives up to its name.The Brown Session Ale is new to Harpoon's family. On the pout, it provides an ample head over a medium brown body, as is characteristic of an American Brown Ale. The hops are mild (IBU 22) but definitely there. No idea which ones they use though, but I'd guess Cascade.
But the appeal here is the malts. Harpoon claims to use 6 different specialty malts, including a chocolate malt. But even though there's many different kinds of malt, they don't overwhelm the tongue at all. It's not heavy. The 4.3% ABV means that Harpoon didn't overload the wort with malt. It's smooth and finishes neat.
On its web page for the Brown Session Ale, Harpoon states:
While the craft beer industry has seen a growing trend in "extreme" beers, the brewers of Harpoon wanted to create something they could sit down and enjoy over an extended period of time - a session beer.
I couldn't agree more.
\_/
DED
Labels: beer
posted by DED at 4:12 PM
8 Comments:
1/2 gallon growlers?
I bought beer in a one gallon can called Henninger's (sp?) years ago. You can't really reseal beer once it's open, it's never really the same. Dang! That's my kind of drinking man's container. Growler indeed!
Lennar spam, since I know how much you love them. ;-) Free, $25,000 Lennar bucks w/ house purchase. Act now! LMAO!
Never heard of 'em. Certainly sounds scammy.
Yeah, that was Olde Burnside's point. The 1/2 gallon growlers were a bit macho. ;)
Never heard of 'em.
D'oh! It was Toll Bros. you were blogging about. My bad.
The 1/2 gallon growlers were a bit macho.
Yeah, lol, I had an 18 y.o. liver and that gallon of Henninger's helped knock my you-know-what in the dirt a few times.
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Yikes!
I like Harpoon beers. What made you avoid them?
When I first had Harpoon, sometime in the late 90's, they tasted bad to me. I'm guessing that I either had their original ale or the IPA. I know I didn't appreciate IPA's back then so that could've been it.
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