Saturday, October 05, 2013
Where Have the Tasty Pumpkin Beers Gone?
September and October have, in the past decade or so, become a time when breweries can freely experiment with adding spices galore to dark beers and sometimes saisons and creating a pumpkin wonderland. As more beer makers have ventured into these efforts, many of them have become quite good at it.
But something seems to have gone awry in 2013, as the pumpkin experiments have become more of the mad-scientist or bland-scientist variety. And finding a great pumpkin beer has become decidedly difficult this year, even from breweries that otherwise make some great ales.
One of the problems is an over-reliance by brewers on cinnamon to spice the beers, creating what might be called "cinnamon bombs." Hop bombs can be pleasantly challenging; cinnamon bombs, not so much.
The primary example of this is Elysian Brewing's The Great Pumpkin, a beer that, at its best, has been one of most flavorful in the country, approximating the taste of sticking a straw into an alcoholic pumpkin pie. The imperial 2013 version, however, is so cinnamon-heavy it's almost medicinal, and it creates a whole new level of bitterness.
Similarly but not as offensively, the Dry Dock Imperial Pumpkin also relies so much on cinnamon that it brings to mind the taste of mulled wine.
Then there is the opposite but just as prevalent trend — "pumpkin" beers that have just a hint of pumpkin and seem to concentrate far more on the base style than the special spicing. These are not necessarily bad beers, but they are disappointments when you go in looking for a new kind of creation.
A prime example of this is Denver Beer Co's Hey Pumpkin! (which I'm drinking at Freshcraft in the photo above). Denver Beer Co. normally doesn't skimp on flavor, but this is more like an amber ale with barely a hint of nutmeg, almost a starter pumpkin beer.
Epic Brewing created an Imperial Pumpkin Porter that is impressive in its strength and darkness, but the pumpkin is almost an afterthought. Ditto for Tommyknocker Brewery's Small Batch Pumpkin Ale, which is so light in pumpkin that it's forgotten even before it's down your throat.
There are a few notable exceptions to this year's patch of disappointment. Rogue Farms Pumpkin Patch Ale, for example, is a full-mouthed taste aided by a pinch of ginger that cuts the sharpness of the cinnamon.
The biggest surprise of the season, though, is St. Ambroise Pumpkin, the product of McAuslan Brewing of Quebec A full but not heavy beer with a big taste of nutmeg, it has both sweet and spicy tones and seems to capture the mellowing but intriguing spirit of the fall season. And that seems to make it a rarity this year.
September and October have, in the past decade or so, become a time when breweries can freely experiment with adding spices galore to dark beers and sometimes saisons and creating a pumpkin wonderland. As more beer makers have ventured into these efforts, many of them have become quite good at it.
But something seems to have gone awry in 2013, as the pumpkin experiments have become more of the mad-scientist or bland-scientist variety. And finding a great pumpkin beer has become decidedly difficult this year, even from breweries that otherwise make some great ales.
One of the problems is an over-reliance by brewers on cinnamon to spice the beers, creating what might be called "cinnamon bombs." Hop bombs can be pleasantly challenging; cinnamon bombs, not so much.
The primary example of this is Elysian Brewing's The Great Pumpkin, a beer that, at its best, has been one of most flavorful in the country, approximating the taste of sticking a straw into an alcoholic pumpkin pie. The imperial 2013 version, however, is so cinnamon-heavy it's almost medicinal, and it creates a whole new level of bitterness.
Similarly but not as offensively, the Dry Dock Imperial Pumpkin also relies so much on cinnamon that it brings to mind the taste of mulled wine.
Then there is the opposite but just as prevalent trend — "pumpkin" beers that have just a hint of pumpkin and seem to concentrate far more on the base style than the special spicing. These are not necessarily bad beers, but they are disappointments when you go in looking for a new kind of creation.A prime example of this is Denver Beer Co's Hey Pumpkin! (which I'm drinking at Freshcraft in the photo above). Denver Beer Co. normally doesn't skimp on flavor, but this is more like an amber ale with barely a hint of nutmeg, almost a starter pumpkin beer.
Epic Brewing created an Imperial Pumpkin Porter that is impressive in its strength and darkness, but the pumpkin is almost an afterthought. Ditto for Tommyknocker Brewery's Small Batch Pumpkin Ale, which is so light in pumpkin that it's forgotten even before it's down your throat.
There are a few notable exceptions to this year's patch of disappointment. Rogue Farms Pumpkin Patch Ale, for example, is a full-mouthed taste aided by a pinch of ginger that cuts the sharpness of the cinnamon.
The biggest surprise of the season, though, is St. Ambroise Pumpkin, the product of McAuslan Brewing of Quebec A full but not heavy beer with a big taste of nutmeg, it has both sweet and spicy tones and seems to capture the mellowing but intriguing spirit of the fall season. And that seems to make it a rarity this year.Labels: Denver Beer Co, Dry Dock Brewing, Elysian Brewing, Epic Brewing, Pumpkin beers, Rogue Ales, St. Ambroise, Tommyknocker Brewery
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Colorado Kicks A** Again at the GABF
If you would have said before the Great American Beer Festival that Great Divide, Odell, Oskar Blues and Bristol would nab zero medals this year, I would have figured the rest of the U.S. had caught up to Colorado.
As it turns out, the state's just so good at making beer these days that the rest of its breweries are catching up on the seasoned experts.
Twenty-eight Centennial State breweries walked away with 35 medals at yesterday's ceremony - a total second only to California's (49) and well ahead of third-place Oregon (24). And Funkwerks scored the biggest prize of any of the locals, hoisting the trophy as Small Brewery of the Year.
No brewery had more than two individual medals, and the seven that did spanned the spectrum: Dry Dock, Funkwerks, New Belgium, Rock Bottom Westminster, SandLot, Tommyknocker and Twisted Pine. Some of the medal winners, such as Avery's White Rascal, are at this point considered classics; others, such as Keystone Light, are not.
But if you want to set up a tasting checklist for the next year, all the winners are listed in a story I wrote for my day job at the Denver Business Journal that includes good anecdotes about a few of the beers, including a gold-medalist from the crew at Equinox Brewing (pictured above). Check it out as soon as your liver recovers from this past weekend.
If you would have said before the Great American Beer Festival that Great Divide, Odell, Oskar Blues and Bristol would nab zero medals this year, I would have figured the rest of the U.S. had caught up to Colorado.
As it turns out, the state's just so good at making beer these days that the rest of its breweries are catching up on the seasoned experts.
Twenty-eight Centennial State breweries walked away with 35 medals at yesterday's ceremony - a total second only to California's (49) and well ahead of third-place Oregon (24). And Funkwerks scored the biggest prize of any of the locals, hoisting the trophy as Small Brewery of the Year.
No brewery had more than two individual medals, and the seven that did spanned the spectrum: Dry Dock, Funkwerks, New Belgium, Rock Bottom Westminster, SandLot, Tommyknocker and Twisted Pine. Some of the medal winners, such as Avery's White Rascal, are at this point considered classics; others, such as Keystone Light, are not.
But if you want to set up a tasting checklist for the next year, all the winners are listed in a story I wrote for my day job at the Denver Business Journal that includes good anecdotes about a few of the beers, including a gold-medalist from the crew at Equinox Brewing (pictured above). Check it out as soon as your liver recovers from this past weekend.
Labels: Avery Brewing, Dry Dock Brewing, Equinox Brewing, Funkwerks, Great American Beer Festival, New Belgium Brewing, Rock Bottom Brewery, SandLot Brewery, Tommyknocker Brewery, Twisted Pine Brewing
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Holiday Beer Week, Part 1: Dark and Daring Holiday beers come in many styles, from the hopped to the heavy, but none seems as prominent as the dark beer that just reeks of warming on a cold winter night.
The bad news is that a number of the holiday darks push, like summer light ales, adventurouslessly toward a color rather than a unique flavor. But there are those that can pull of the label "dark and daring," and for them we should all be grateful.
*Bristol Brewing's Winter Warlock has long been a favorite of mine for its chewy roasted oat flavor, and this year the Colorado Springs brewery just cranks up the goodness by putting it on nitro (at least at the brewery). This smooths it out and lets the softly burned chocolate flavor stand out above the carbonation. Try it if you can find it this way.
*Great Divide's Hibernation Ale is another old standby - at 8.7% ABV it was the first big beer sold throughout Colorado. But this beer feels fresh every year. It's a big hit of both malt (on the aroma) and hops on the back of the tongue. And the high alcohol really does leave you warmed.
*If you're looking for something of the sweeter variety, Tommyknocker's Cocoa Porter seems to be picking up that characteristic more every year. It has just a hint of a vanilla cream taste and a medium-sized body, making this a perfect post-ski beer if you're stopping at the brewery on the way back down I-70.
*Left Hand's latest iteration of Paint It Black should only be drunk when not exhausted, as it's a jolt to the system. Ink black and thick as soup, the 2011 version outstrips the daring 2010 Baltic porter version because this adds just a hint of chili fire on the backtaste that lights up an otherwise fully dark mouthfeel.
*Finally, for those who like their Christmas beers like the ones that would have been drank in the 19th Century, there is Lump of Coal Dark Holiday Stout (pictured above) from Ridgeway Brewing of England. While British porters often tend to leave you with a mouthfeel of wet rope, this provides you with a dusty, even musky chocolate taste that feels it's blending old-world and new-world beer sensibilities.
This is day one of a five-part series examining the beers of this holiday season. Merry Christmas and happy new beer!
Labels: Bristol Brewing, Great Divide, Holiday beers, Left Hand Brewing, Tommyknocker Brewery
