Beer!

I've got beer in the chatroom

Picked up about 9 bottles of Stone's "RuinTen" Triple IPA today.

Such a deal for a triple IPA; 7.99 for a 750ml bottle. As usual while this is loaded with hops, there's also a strong malt backbone to offset it. BeerAdvocate rates it a 96 (World Class) and I agree.

Need to see if the Beer Shoppe in town has that one, Stone is quality.

Dark Horseman wrote:

Need to see if the Beer Shoppe in town has that one, Stone is quality.

Yeah, they are. Stone and Founders are my two favorite breweries. And Stone seems to have very reasonable prices most of the time.

tohostudios wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

Tried something new:


http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1416/58811/

This one was good but it kicked my ass. I figured since this was only 5% more ABV than I'm used to I'd be able to handle it. I was wrong. After barely a quarter of the bottle I felt myself getting dizzy and light headed.

That looks right up my alley.  BTW, if you're used to about an ABV of about 8%, I'd advance slowly because once you get up over 9 or so I think the effects get much stronger.  Trust me, I learned the hard way.

Having some more of it with some chocolate cake. The coffee bitterness (this is certainly a stout) compliments the sweetness and richness of the cake. Again with just a handful of sips I'm starting to get buzzed (REALLY buzzed). Might have to save more of this. Luckily I have a rubber stopper that keeps it from going flat.

Although I don't necessarily agree with this, I still found it funny :

That pretty much works for Pumking. 

That stuff is way too "vegetable-ly" tasting.  The best way to enjoy that one is to mix it with one of the other autumn beers that has a lot of cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices but no pumpkin.  I usually buy a couple of bottles of Pumpking for that express purpose.

But this year's Schafly's Pumpkin Ale is a winner on its own again.  I don't know what happened a couple years ago when it was really weak but the last 2 years have been excellent again.

So, I had my first Sam Oktoberfest of the year last night. 22 ounces of pure enjoyment.

Yeah, that's a good one.  I just picked up Sam's Fall Variety Pack at Sam's Club today.  It has 4 of those in it.

You beer snobs should be pleased to know that I've branching out lately. More Yuengling Lager, less PBR. This past week I even had some Olde Speckled Hen (British ale) and some Lone Star ("The National Beer of Texas").

Fall is definitely coming soon cuz the pumpkin beers are starting to flood the stores. During the past couple of Fall seasons I've tried numerous pumpkin brands/blends and even tho none of'em out and out sucked, I still failed to see what the big whoop de doo was about.

Anyway, I think I finally found one that I like enough to buy a second time - Shipyard's "Pumpkinhead." I picked it up on a whim at the store yesterday and sez to myself "If I don't dig this one, I officially give up on pumpkin beers." Fortunately I liked this one a lot. It's got the right balance of pumpkin sweetness but still tastes like beer. Cool label artwork too.

I've seen some Shipyard beers around here but I don't think I've seen that one.  I'll have to keep my eyes open.

Sierra Nevada has an Oktoberfest out that they made in conjunction with a German Brewery. Not usually a lager fan but it's very good. With the Fall on the way i'm excited for the coming of the many Stouts mixed with coffee, salted caramel, vanilla etc.

The Shipyard Pumpkin is not bad at all. I had one last season at the local pizza joint the wife and me frequent. She gets hers with the sugared rim. I do not.

Fat Freddy wrote:

You beer snobs should be pleased to know that I've branching out lately. More Yuengling Lager, less PBR. This past week I even had some Olde Speckled Hen (British ale) and some Lone Star ("The National Beer of Texas").

Fall is definitely coming soon cuz the pumpkin beers are starting to flood the stores. During the past couple of Fall seasons I've tried numerous pumpkin brands/blends and even tho none of'em out and out sucked, I still failed to see what the big whoop de doo was about.

Anyway, I think I finally found one that I like enough to buy a second time - Shipyard's "Pumpkinhead." I picked it up on a whim at the store yesterday and sez to myself "If I don't dig this one, I officially give up on pumpkin beers." Fortunately I liked this one a lot. It's got the right balance of pumpkin sweetness but still tastes like beer. Cool label artwork too.

I was just perusing your HubPages and I had an epiphany.  Have I got a beer for you!  One of my favorite Belgians (note the name):

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/259/1708/

tohostudios wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

You beer snobs should be pleased to know that I've branching out lately. More Yuengling Lager, less PBR. This past week I even had some Olde Speckled Hen (British ale) and some Lone Star ("The National Beer of Texas").

Fall is definitely coming soon cuz the pumpkin beers are starting to flood the stores. During the past couple of Fall seasons I've tried numerous pumpkin brands/blends and even tho none of'em out and out sucked, I still failed to see what the big whoop de doo was about.

Anyway, I think I finally found one that I like enough to buy a second time - Shipyard's "Pumpkinhead." I picked it up on a whim at the store yesterday and sez to myself "If I don't dig this one, I officially give up on pumpkin beers." Fortunately I liked this one a lot. It's got the right balance of pumpkin sweetness but still tastes like beer. Cool label artwork too.

I was just perusing your HubPages and I had an epiphany.  Have I got a beer for you!  One of my favorite Belgians (note the name):

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/259/1708/

I've seen that one several times but don't recall you ever talking about it. Guess I need to give it a shot.

I think you'd love Abt 12 DB!  Until I found Gouden Carolus Blue, Abt 12 was my favorite Belgian.  Proceed slowly though; 10% ABV.

Well, I bought Shipyard Pumpkinhead at my favorite beer store today.  I haven't tried it yet but I've been reading reviews on Beer Advocate.  Most of them are like this:

Quote :

Consumed from the tap on a few occasions. This beer is everywhere in CT in the fall months. Pours pretty nice, somewhat golden in color with a small head. Smell is where it starts to get weird, it seems like some artificial flavoring going on. Taste is kind of rank. It starts too sweet and there are weird flavorings. I swear I taste mothballs or something. I usually can only tolerate two sips before I give it back to the person drinking it. By far the worst pumpkin beer I've had. Buyer beware

Or this:

Quote :

Thin, watery, lifeless -- flavored with way too much cinnamon.
This is literally the worst pumpkin beer I've had. Even Shock top is miles ahead of this -- and that's saying something.
Tastes like a cheap bottle of 60 cent soda from a gas station.
Really bad, SHIPYARD. I've never liked a single beer you've brewed, and now you've literally insulted me with this.
*drain pour*

Oy vey!  And I've got 6 of 'em to drink???  I'll give it a shot and formulate my own opinion but I usually agree with the consensus BA reviews so I'm not holding out much hope.

OK, I couldn't resist.  I just poured my first Shipyard Pumpkinhead.

First impression?  It's pretty meh but those reviews above are great examples of hyperbole.  Yeah, the pumpkin (what there is of it) smells and tastes artificial.  And yeah, it's heavy on the sweet side.  But it's not horrible and certainly not a drainpour.  Try Blue Moon's version; now THAT'S a drainpour.

Yuck!  I also bought a sixer of Uinta's Punk'n, another one I've never tried before.  This one is pretty bad; it makes the Shipyard one taste more like Schlafly's Pumpkin Ale (still my "gold standard" for this style).

This BA review about sums it up for me:

Quote :

This truly makes me think of something that may have been a better pumkin ale that was watered down with a significant amount of club soda, much like I believe another reviewer said. I can't recommend this, and I won't try it again - there are much better pumpkin beers out there.

I don't know if I'll be able to drink all 6 of these.

A-h-h-h-h-h...

After trying 2 pumpkin beer wannabes, I had to pour one from The Master.  No one tops Schlafly's Pumpkin Ale.

tohostudios wrote:

A-h-h-h-h-h...

After trying 2 pumpkin beer wannabes, I had to pour one from The Master.  No one tops Schlafly's Pumpkin Ale.

Sadly, that one is never available around my neck of the woods (though I always check). The Shipyard one wasn't bad but your assessment of it pretty much sums up how I felt about it. If I can find the one I tried last year I'll get that again (and approach it more carefully than I did when it kicked my ass).

Yeah, I just checked Schlafly's distribution map and it looks like Arkansas is the closest they get to your neck of the woods.

They apparently are in New Jersey however so FF has no excuse.

http://schlafly.com/beers/distribution/

I've yet to try a pumpkin beer I like, a couple are palatable but nothing I really enjoy.

There are 2 pumpkin beers I enjoy, Schlafly's Pumpkin Ale and O"fallon's Pumpkin Beer. I've tried more than half a dozen others and they range from OK to drainpour.

tohostudios wrote:

Yeah, I just checked Schlafly's distribution map and it looks like Arkansas is the closest they get to your neck of the woods.

They apparently are in New Jersey however so FF has no excuse.

http://schlafly.com/beers/distribution/

I have yet to see any Schlafly products in my neck of the NJ boonies.