REVIEW 129: HIPP-O-LANTERN

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  USA

BREWERY:  River Horse Brewing Company

STYLE:  Pumpkin Ale

ABV:  8.1%

PURCHASE:  Draft (13-oz.), $5.50

SERVING:  Tulip glass. From the tap, the usual 3/4"-1" head. Decent retention.

APPEARANCE:  Rusted orange body with a beautiful translucent glow to it. Off-white head bordering upon beige. Not much bubbling action--at least none that's visible. Light, scattery lacing.

BOUQUET:  It's a pumpkin ale; take a guess. Okay, it's also a little malty. And it claims to be brewed with molasses, though I personally found this hard to discern. Great aroma just the same.

PALATE:  Slightly heavy body with run-of-the-mill carbonation. Starts a bit sweet and takes on a somewhat fluffy nature mid-palate, just for a moment. Then it segues into a darker finish; this must be the molasses at work. Pumpkin spices (e.g. nutmeg, allspice) are constant. Somewhat piney finish with an aftertaste characterized by brown sugar and continued pumpkin-pie goodness. Well-balanced mouthfeel.

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  I find a lot of pumpkin beers to be fad-like; in other words, they seem to pay lip service to the "pumpkin crowd" (white girls?). Generic flavor. Too thin. Too watery. Not enough actual pumpkin character. Not much depth. Too one-dimensional.

This one was none of those things, and I rank it accordingly.




GRADE:  A-

REVIEW 128: BECK'S

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Germany/USA (As with Foster's, it you're drinking it here, it was brewed here. St. Louis, to be exact.)

BREWERY:  Brauerei Beck & Co.

STYLE:  Pilsener 

ABV:  5.0%

PURCHASE:  Case of 24 12-oz. bottles, $24.99

SERVING:  12-oz. bottle, poured into pint glass. Standard pour yielded a standard head (little over one inch). A faster pour didn't change that. Mediocre head retention.

APPEARANCE:  Transparent but slightly hazy. The expected straw-brass color with the expected Alka-Seltzerish white head. Faint but steady bubbling. Lacing almost nonexistent. 

BOUQUET:  Fairly clean, no-frills grainy aroma. A tad floral, but also sports adjunct-like "cooked-veggie" notes. 

PALATE:  Smooth body--for the most part--with easygoing carbonation. Simple, straightforward, and unwavering mouthfeel of mostly generic grain, perhaps a fraction of a note of hops, and indecipherable adjuncts. Agreeable but unexciting taste; nothing grabs you. Off-putting metallic vibe in the aftertaste. 

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  Here's a bit of trivia for you: According to The Accidental Billionaires (the novel on which the film The Social Network is based), this was Mark Zuckerberg's beer of choice while writing the software for FaceMash, the predecessor to Facebook. 

Here's another bit of trivia for you: Although Beck's is originally from Bremen, Germany, it is also brewed in St. Louis, Missouri, the home of Anheuser-Busch. That's right: Like Foster's, if you're drinking it in the USA, it came from the USA and not from its country of origin. No wonder this came off more as a North American adjunct than a European pilsener. Bleh, bleh, and more bleh.




GRADE:  D+

REVIEW 127: JACK-O TRAVELER PUMPKIN SHANDY

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  USA

BREWERY:  The Traveler Beer Company

STYLE:  Shandy; Pumpkin Ale; Pale Wheat Ale

ABV:  4.4%

PURCHASE:  Six-pack of 12-oz. bottles, $11.99

SERVING:  12-oz. bottle, poured into pint glass. Heady from the bottle regardless of pour speed. A normal pour produced an initial head of over three inches; a slower one roughly one inch less. Good retention.

APPEARANCE:  Hazy and semi-transparent copper-rust body with a slightly off-white head. Very faint bubbling. No lacing.

BOUQUET:  Smells like liquefied pumpkin pie . . . literally. What else would you expect from a beer that calls itself a "pumpkin shandy?" Specifically, though, aside from pumpkin itself, the scent was heavy on spices such as nutmeg and clove, and seemed to add dashes of cinnamon, allspice, and/or something more obscure. 

PALATE:  Well, the taste doesn't quite pack the same punch as did the aroma, in terms of pumpkin. It's there, but somewhat muted until near the finish. It takes a couple beats to assert itself. Very smooth mouthfeel with soft carbonation and a body that's a bit on the light side. Not as full-flavored as it seems it should be; the spice factor, so prominent nasally, is almost nonexistent taste-wise. Finish is a little toasty and malty, leading to an aftertaste that maintains a moderate amount of pumpkin but adds an accompaniment of citrus zest that wasn't evident in the aroma. (The label on the bottle does say it's brewed with lemon peel.) 

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  If you had never heard of the Traveler Beer Company, you would likely think this came from Magic Hat. And why not? Both breweries are from Vermont, the same state that gave us Ben & Jerry's. Those Vermonters and their alternative tastes. 

I love Ben & Jerry's. This? Eh . . .




GRADE:  C+

REVIEW 126: TRICK OR TREAT

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  USA

BREWERY:  Evil Genius Beer Company

STYLE:  Porter

ABV:  7.8%

PURCHASE:  Six-pack of 12-oz. bottles, $14.99

SERVING:  12-oz. bottle, poured into pint glass. A normal pour produced an initial head of roughly four full inches. A slow pour slashed it down to roughly an inch and a half. Very good retention.

APPEARANCE:  Semi-transparent body, with a ruby-burgundy color. Spongy and very tightly packed beige head. Moderate bubbling and lacing that is initially splotchy but more consistent with repeated servings.

BOUQUET:  Comes as advertised: Cocoa and pumpkin spices are at the helm. Nutmeg is prominent. You can effectively make out a pie crust. A deep whiff will leave an impression of the whole pumpkin pie in your passageways. Slightly nutty--placebo effect?

PALATE:  For a porter, this has a fairly thin and slightly watery body. Carbonation is soft and slow to assert itself. Pumpkin flavor is all but nonexistent save for some slight notes in the aftertaste. Toasted grains and moderate degrees of bitter chocolate characterize the early and mid-palate; in fact, the "toasted" factor is the through-line here. Somewhat coffee-like finish, with a continued but more suppressed cocoa presence. Overall, a palate that is amiable but ultimately not fully fleshed out; lacks a little punch.

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  This beer is called "Trick or Treat." And it was both. It was certainly a trick, because it was supposed to be a chocolate-pumpkin porter. To Crockett, it tasted like a . . . porter. Put a blindfold on me at the beginning of tonight's session, without mentioning the name of this beer, and I must admit, I would not have thought this was specifically a "chocolate-pumpkin" porter. Chocolate, maybe. But not pumpkin. 

This brew comes from the Evil Genius Beer Company in Philly. But this beer is not genius. That said, it's not evil, either. I rank it accordingly.




GRADE:  C+

Nice pumpkins. Too bad I barely tasted any in this beer.

REVIEW 125: EXIT 4

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  USA

BREWERY:  Flying Fish Brewing Company

STYLE:  Tripel

ABV:  9.5%

PURCHASE:  Draft (13-oz.), $7.00

SERVING:  Tulip glass. Initially over a full inch of head from the tap. Good retention.

APPEARANCE:  Glowing golden body with an effervescent, spongy white head. Bubbling not particularly visible. Very good lacing around the glass.

BOUQUET:  Meshing of malt, citrus, hops, and numerous spices, particularly cloves. A hint of banana. High aromatic alcohol presence.

PALATE:  If ever there were a beer with a discrepancy between aroma and taste, this is it. Perplexing to say the least. Though evident in the smell, taste-wise I had trouble making out any citrus or banana. The theme of this beer is sweetness; it starts sweet, continues sweet, finishes sweet, and lingers afterward . . . sweet. It's dextrin-happy. And the sweetness factor slightly crescendos toward the end. Fusel alcohol finish with a warming sensation, which also sees a rise in yeast and hops (though not on a pale ale level). The "far" aftertaste is somewhat spicy, as in a witbier: Cloves and coriander, with a possible touch of pepper. However, all of this is overwhelmed by the sweetness of the malt and dextrins. Tripels are supposed to sport some bitterness; this one had none. The overall taste is still agreeable; it's just lacks dimension. Thankfully, it doesn't take much effort to get through one of these; it doesn't have a very heavy body for a beer of almost 10% alcohol. Moreover, the carbonation, though prominent, remains manageable.

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  In 2009, Flying Fish began releasing various beers named after exits on the New Jersey Turnpike. Hence the name "Exit 4." (In real life, departing the turnpike from this exit will land you in Mt. Laurel, near the Moorestown Mall.) You may also notice they employ the alternative spelling of tripel, "trippel," with two "p"s. Just a note, not a criticism.

This is one of those beers that fleshes out a bit as you continue to drink it. Perhaps it's the tulip glass at work: The early going of each serving seemed sharp, whereas the latter half took on a slightly more rounded nature. That's good, but it makes for limited appeal. 

Want a truly world-class tripel? Go with St. Bernardus, or another highly reputable abbey brewery from Belgium, the country credited with originating this style. This one is more on the level of Victory's Golden Monkey, if even that; solid but unspectacular. Eh.




GRADE:  C+

REVIEW 124: SPATEN OKTOBERFEST

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Germany

BREWERY:  Spaten-Franziskaner Bräu

STYLE:  Märzen

ABV:  5.9%

PURCHASE:  Draft (pint), $6.50

SERVING:  Pint glass. Standard head of roughly three-quarter inches from the tap on both servings. Average retention.

APPEARANCE:  Dark amber-copper body with a wispy off-white head. Beautifully translucent. Outstanding lacing.

BOUQUET:  Mostly sweet malt but with noticeable presences of dark fruit, appleskin, caramel, and bitter chocolate. Subtle hints of spice, seemingly cinnamon.

PALATE:  Moderate body with easygoing carbonation. Overall mouthfeel is roasty, and gets a bit roastier towards the rich finish. Malty in the early going, but things are rounded out at the back: Dark fruit and apple notes at the finish, and an aftertaste that seems to start on an accent of toffee before seguing into bitter chocolate at the very, very end. An ever so slight touch of cinnamon seems present at that juncture as well.

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  There are six breweries that have officially supplied "Oktoberfestbier" to Oktoberfest in Germany since 1818, and Spaten is one of them. It's nice to see such an historic brewery live up to its name. 

With all due respect to Sam's version, this is an upgrade.




GRADE:  A-