Next up is New Holland's Cabin Fever Brown Ale, purchased at Vintage Estates.
The label has a log cabin in the snowy woods with smoke coming out of the chimney - looks like a nice place to hibernate for the winter :) The beer has hints of rye, roast and raisin which mix with a subtle caramel sweetness. This should be paired with roasted meats, dried fruits, gruyere and smoked cheeses. it is 16 P and 6% ABV.
Overall average rating: 6.5/10
This pours a reddish brown with a carbonated caramel head. The aroma is of caramel, molasses, and a faint rye scent. The taste is very similar with flavors of caramel and malt with a side tongue bite and back of the tongue lingering.
Shawn- This beer gives a warming sensation, but it doesn't develop enough. I'm not a fan of the big hop finish, 6.5/10.
Angela- The finish is different with the hops with the caramelly malt flavor, but I don't get as much hop flavor as Shawn. It's a thick and good cold weather beer, 6.5/10.
Chris- This is a fairly thick brown ale, very fitting for the name, 6.5/10.
Next, we venture to Marshall, Michigan, to the Dark Horse Brewing Co. for thier Boffo Brown Ale, purchased at Vintage Estates.
This beer was brewed years ago and then put in semi-retirement for a while. It is now a year-round beer that is a favorite to many employees at the brewery. This pushes the envelope as to what an American Brown Ale is to most people. "Flavors of malt, caramel, toffee, and a mild earthy nutty finish allow this beer to be paired with hearty food and sips of bourbon." This is 6.5% ABV.
Overall average rating: 5.7/10
This beer is a dark coppery red color with a quick to diminish white head. Aromas of chocolate, caramel, malt, and oakiness are very present. The taste starts out rich, but thins quickly. It has a front and back tongue bite, with a hop finish and a slight metallic after taste.
Shawn- It could use a sweetness to alleviate the metallic after taste, 5/10.
Angela- This is slightly richer than the last beer, though I wish it were richer. Also, the more I drank, the less I tasted the metallic flavor, 6/10.
Chris- This has potential. It tastes like a nut brown, though I would appreciate a more nutty flavor, 6/10.
Our next beer is http://www.gooseisland.com/pages/beers/3.php Christmas Ale purchased at Cornersburg Party Shop.
Goose Island changes the recipe of this beer slightly each year to give its customers something to look forward to. It is an American Brown Ale best enjoyed in a nonic pint glass (where the glass bulges out a couple of inches from the top) and can develop in the bottle for up to five years. It is 6.2% ABV.
Overall average rating: 5.8/10
It is an orange-y amber colored beer with a quick to diminish off-white head. There is citrus hop in the aroma, as well as a pine/evergreen scent (from the hops?) and a rich sweetness (honey?). We taste hops at the beginning, then cherry with an earthy honey finish.
Shawn- It reminds me of a honey cough drop, something you'd curl up with if you aren't feeling well. It's like the beer version of a hot toddy, 6/10.
Angela- It's an okay beer with a unique flavor, but not one that's very drinkable for me, 5.5/10.
Chris- It's alright, but I think more could have been done with the flavor because the hop overpowers whatever else there is, 6/10.
Our next pumpkin beer has a pretty awesome backstory: DogFish Head Punkin Ale purchased at Havana House.
Backstory: It is located in southern Delaware and was first released in November 1994. The cool part is that it is named after a locally-known event - Punkin Chunkin, which from what I gather, is where people build devices to launch pumpkins into the air and then into the ground. Sweet! It is a full-bodied brown ale brewed with real pumpkin, brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It is 7% ABV.
Overall average rating: 7.2/10
The appearance reminds Chris of Blue Moon - it's translucent and orangey amber in color. The aromas are allspice, pumpkin, cinnamon, and light nutmeg. The taste gives a front tongue bite, a slight metallic taste, and a clean, crisp finish. We taste brown sugar, molasses, and a little wheat.
Shawn- I like that the flavors are poignant and not overpowering. You can definitely taste the flavors without them consuming what you're tasting, 7/10.
Angela- I would definitely drink this again. It has a good taste and a good pumpkin flavor, 7.5/10.
Chris- I get more out of the smell than the taste, though I think it is well-balanced. The metallic taste knocks down my score a bit, 7/10.
Our final Harvest beer is The Bruery Autumn Maple, purchased at Vintage Estates.
The label is red, orange, and autumny with a really well-worded description. It is explained how the beer should be served (temperature, what type of glass), as well as how to properly store it (it can be aged up to five years). It is bottle-conditioned, unfiltered, and brewed with yams (17lbs. per barrel!), molasses, maple syrup, and spices. It boasts: "We don't need pumpkin in our beer! Big, bold, spicy, and oh so yammy, our delicious Brown Ale is perfect for those cold autumn nights."
Can I just say how much I love that they used the phrase "oh so yammy"?! Anyway..
Overall average rating: 5.8/10
We poured this bottle into a large pitcher to properly distribute the yeast in the beer. It is red and caramelly and very difficult to see through, as bottle-conditioned beers tend to be. It yields a big, frothy, long-lasting head, although there was no lace which one would expect from a bottle-conditioned beer. The aroma gives off smells of maple and sweet potato, as well as a little apple even though there is no apple in it. There is a woody taste (Shawn says it's birch), with a very slight tongue bite and a yammy molasses finish.
Shawn- It looks like a good hard cider, but it's not. It reminds me of a mediocre attempt of Life & Limb (a collaboration of Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada), but it needs bitterness/hops to counteract the sweetness, 6/10.
Angela- I was incredibly excited to try this simply based on the description. The aroma was wonderful, but the taste left a little to be desired. I am going to buy a bottle to set aside, however, so I can enjoy it with my family's Thanksgiving dinner. I think it would pair really well with those flavors based on the ingredients, 5.5/10.
Chris- This beer gave me a flavor combination of apple pie and sweet potato pie. I also get a definite cider smell and taste, even with no apple in it. It has a lot of flavor but not a lot of body; it could use more malt. I was slightly disappointed considering how much it was talked up, but I would still drink it again, 6/10.
Day 6 brings us back to Harvest ales with the Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale.
This was purchased at Vintage Estate Wine & Beer. Quick plug: we love this place. If you have never been, you must go. They have over 900 bottled craft beers and over 1000 wines and 24 craft beers on tap. They also offer mead (yum) and single malt scotch, as well as appetizers and flatbread pizzas.They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff, and it really is a fantastic place to drink something delicious while hanging out with friends, and even making some new ones!
And now, back to the Tumbler..
There is a picture of a fall scene at sunset on the label - a little Bob Ross-eque :). The fresh-roasted malt is used straight from the kiln, and it gives a "gracefully smooth malt character perfect for an autumn afternoon". It is a brown ale with 5.5% ABV.
Overall average rating: 4.8/10
It yields a thick eggshell-colored head and is slightly translucent with a beautiful deep cheery red/medium red amber color. It has a rich, malty aroma, along with scents of nuttiness, nutmeg, and citrusy hop (perhaps cascade?). The taste is medium to thin with a lingering metallic finish. The guys chatted a bit about this, saying that's something one would expect in a can, not a bottle, thinking perhaps it was left in the keg too long. The hop flavors bites the center of the tongue and diminishes quickly.
Shawn- It is autumny in the sense of fitting the season, but I feel the taste left a lot to be desired. The aroma was better than the taste, in my opinion, and I was minimally impressed, 4/10.
Angela- This is not my favorite harvest ale, but it is probably my favorite Sierra Nevada beer, 5/10. (My score would likely be higher if we were judging it against other beers from the brewery.)
Chris- It has the autumn flavor distinct to the time of year, though the smell was stronger than the taste. I didn't find it to be a very exciting ale, but I would be willing to drink it again, 5.5/10.
