A Dogfish Halloween

Evening all!

So many pumpkin beers to drink, so much time to drink it in! We've done 3 so far and while some are good beers, they're not what I would consider the penultimate pumpkin beer still. Our quest won't be stopped by a Fall mediocrity, we will press on! And with that, I introduce Dogfish Punkin Ale as our next tasting.

Being in Dogfish territory, I got pretty excited when I saw this on the shelf. Dogfish is known for it's high quality, consistent good beers. They're also known for going way out of bounds in the brewing department, coming up with modern day recipes to ancient brew or mixing the craziest flavors together to see what happens. The beer is so easy to recognize on your local liquor store shelf thanks to they're great and solid branding. What's behind the label?

That color is unexpected, right? No your eyes or my camera are not deceiving you. That beer has a distinguishable redness to it's ale. A dark amber beer with a ruby glint. It has a small beer head but brought quite a lot of carbonation to the table.

On taste, this is a 'spicy' beer. Allspice and nutmeg pack a powerful bunch in this beer. The brown sugar practically sticks to the glass. It even has the slightest hint of a mead-like sweetness. I let this beer sit a little while and was surprised how much the beer softened up and became a much lighter and balanced sweet beer than when it was first popped open. What about the pumpkin? On initial tasting, the nutmeg and allspice overpowered it completely. However, after letting it sit, the spices mellowed and among the brown sugar sat a medium-body pumpkin flavor. I'm not totally convinced this was successful as a PUMPKIN beer. It was definitely successful as a fall beer, and I'll definitely buy this before the season is over. I toast Dogfish to a UK PINTRS rating.

Halloween at the Shipyard

Evening readers!

Tonight's pumpkin beer hails from one of my favored breweries, Shipyard. I've reviewed their beers here before, but this will be the first time a embrace their pumpkin offering, Pumpkinhead, with my palate. Let's see where this ship sails.

I'm so use to the typical Shipyard label that this one throws me for a loop. Small point to critique them on, but I think they could embrace their navel history with a pumpkin twist. But what do I know. This is a very recognizable beer in your local store, and it has been for years.

It's a very frothy pour. lots of carbonation that quickly settles. It's a lighter color, definitely on the lighter side when compared to most pumpkin or Oktoberfest beers. I'd even say it's the color of a turned leaf, which is poignant considering the time of year we see this selection. The aroma is very light. So far, I'm not overly impressed. '

Whereas I've been harsh on beers that are light on pumpkin when they call themselves a pumpkin beer, Shipyard walks a very thin plank and manages to stay on. I'm reminded when I try, and fail, to bake. Were I to try and bake a pumpkin pie, I'm pretty sure I'd leave out several ingredients and come up with a flavor like this. It's a rawer pumpkin flavor, not incorporated with sugar but hinted at with sugar. There's the slightest copper aftertaste in a swallow that is light and bubbly. After several minutes I was surprised at the hidden sweetness in the beer. Halfway through the glass it was more noticeable. Shipyard Pumpkinhead is promoting pumpkin with spices that I thought were balanced in such a way to bring out a pumpkin flavor, not overpower it. For it's balancing act I give Shipyard Pumpkinhead a UK PINTRS score.

So far we've seen lots of average and decent beers, some fails, but nothing excelling. I'm still waiting to be wowed!

Shipyard Sets Sail

Hello all!

Today we've got one of the more popular of the craft breweries (at least in New England), Shipyard Brewing Company.  A brewery with it's roots grown deep in Maine, the brewery has some serious success throughout the country and is able to boast a 38 state market.  That's no small feat for a craft brewery and today I picked up their flagship (no pun intended) beer, the Shipyard Export Ale.

Shipyard Export is hard to miss on your local liquor store's shelf.  It's label is very matter-of-fact and looks classy not cheesy.  Shipyard Brewing Company provides some great in-depth information on each of their brews, including a specific breakdown of hops, yeast, and malt used. It's described as lightly sweet, subtle, and clean at the finish. Do they pull it off?

Ignoring the strange curvature of this photo, the color is really quite pretty. It's sharp and golden color is inviting and it is devoid of smell. On first taste you'll want to draw comparisons to a flagship ale of one of the Big 3. However, take some more time with it. It's definitely refreshing, but there is a lot of subtle flavor to discover. There are slight citrus undertones with the sweetness, quite flavorful but homely simple all in the same.

Maybe not full in flavor, but easy to drink with plenty of flavor to last throughout the glass.  Maybe the name is affecting me, but this really is the perfect beer for a clam boil. I'm comfortable in giving it a UK PINTRS rating, as it is a great flagship ale for a brewery that has a lot of depth. Consider this a nice tip to a bigger iceberg.

A Placid IPA

Hello all!  We're going back to Lake Placid Brewing Company to give their Lake Placid IPA a shot. Again, I recommend checking out their website as the story behind the brewery, especially their Ubu Ale, is pretty cool.

The IPA selection from Lake Placid Brewing Company has the same logo as their Ubu Ale but with color variations.  I'm partial to how they've designed the labels across their selections as it makes them very recognizable regardless which beer but is also subtle enough to differentiate from the four selections they offer.

The IPA has very little smell after pouring, with a large head that settles quickly.  It's color is a darker-than-amber variation in the IPA category. Lake Placid Brewing Company describes this IPA as overloaded with American hops. If by overloaded they mean tame, then yes. Seriously, this IPA is much more refreshing than I originally expected and was somewhat light on the hops.  This could be the kind of American hops used (sorry, no further information there). In either case, they did successfully manage to create a balanced IPA. Along with the balance is a pleasant but slight malt sweetness.

There isn't much else going on in this IPA but I think as IPAs go it's a nice selection to have, especially for the casual IPA drinker.  It's hard to pull off a subtle and flavorful IPA.  Not quite as good as it's Ubu Ale, the Lake Placid IPA earns itself a UK PINTRS score.

Talk About Tail

Welcome all for another edition of Good Brew Hunting!

Our brew today hails from the West Coast, brought to us by Mendicino Brewing Company. While the company's website leaves something to be desired as far as design, it is full of information on their beers. They have two breweries, one north of San Francisco and one at Saratoga Springs, NY.

Today our tasting from Mendicino is Red Tail Ale.  Red Tail is considered the brewery's flagship beer, brewed as an amber ale. Of note is the brewery's use of bottle conditioning their beers, whereby fermentation continues in the bottle after bottling by adding active yeast right before capping.  So what's behind the plumage of this Tail?

Poured, the beer has a nice light brown tone. Best way to think of this is your common acorn color. The beer's head is actively bubbling at the pour and is of similar consistency to your common amber ale. There's nothing of note regarding the beer's aroma, perhaps slightly floral but that may be a stretch.

The beer does shine on taste. First sips are a delicate balance of sweet and hoppy bitterness. You don't have to go too deep in the flavoring before sensing the caramel in the brew either. The carbonation is also perfectly blended for a beer with full flavor.

There isn't too much more to say about Red Tail Ale as it really isn't complex for an amber ale. But it strikes me as the perfect foundational beer for a brewery to stand upon. This is the flagship of Mendicino Brewing Company for all the right reasons. In closing, because it's such a solid performer as an amber ale, I give it a UK rating.