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.
I know what you're thinking: "we thought this was Harvest beer week - this is a pumpkin ale!" Admittedly, we let this one in under the radar because: a) we couldn't find another harvest beer, b) it is a pumpkin harvest beer, and c) none of us had ever tried it before.
So, Day 5 brings Tommyknocker Small Patch Pumpkin Harvest Ale, purchased at Vintage Estate Wine & Beer.
The label is very descriptive, with a picture of a miner elf (a "Tommyknocker"), and it includes this story: "Tommyknockers slipped into the mining camps of Idaho Springs in the 1800's with the discovery of gold in our mountains and streams. These mischievous elves, though hardly ever seen, were often heard singing and working. They guided many fortune miners from harm's way and to the gold they sought." It also lists the key ingredients (pumpkin and molasses) which takes the guessing out of the taste (we assume, pre-taste). It is a spice/vegetable beer with 15 IBUs and 5% ABV.
Overall average rating: 8.0/10
The color is dark red, and it is soda-like in its carbonation with a quickly dissolving head**. It smells like pumpkin pie with aromas of molasses, pumpkin, cloves, cinnamon - you know, all of those delicious fall spices. The taste is similar to the smell, very much fitting the description on the label. It has a medium thickness and tastes like pumpkin pie with a slight metallic finish.
Shawn- I love the aroma; it has a homey, warming smell. The metallic taste takes it down a little for me, and I scored it a little lower because of that, but I would drink this again, 8/10.
Angela- I loooove pumpkin beers, and this was a really good one that I will drink again. It is more pumpkin than harvest tasting, so it belongs more to a week devoted to pumpkin beers, 8.5/10.
Chris- The smell is sweeter than the taste, so I was slightly disappointed. It is overall enjoyable and pleasant, and I will be drinking this again, 7.5/10.
**We have been pouring each beer from the bottle into individual tasting glasses. We believe this may be affecting the heads on these beers (i.e. why they seem to diminish so quickly). We will be changing our pouring to avoid this for future entries.
Day 4 of Harvest week is Breckenridge After Rakin' Autumn Ale, purchased at Vintage Estate Wine & Beer.
Remember when I said that Southern Tier's Harvest Ale could be a good "raking leaves beer"? Little did I know there already was an "after rakin'" ale! The label is brown and tan with leaves - very autumn appropriate. It is made with Bavarian hops and Munich malts, and "warms the soul, soothes the spirit." It is an Old Ale and 6.7% ABV.
Overall average rating: 7.5/10
As this beer was being poured, I commented how "dark and delicious" it looked. It has a caramel and dark red color, and it is borderline opaque. It also has an off-white head that diminishes quickly. It has a unique, sweet woody aroma. The thick sweet smell reminded us of caramel and molasses. The taste is definitely thicker than the previous beers, although the guys find that it smells thicker than it tastes. It is refreshing with a distinct maltiness, like an English bock, with a sour malt finish.
Shawn- This would be a very good beer to drink after working outside in the fall. I will definitely drink this again. I find that the more I drink of it, the more I want to drink it, 7/10.
Angela- I LOVE this beer. I will absolutely drink this again, and I can see it as an after rakin' beer.. or perhaps a relaxing in front of the fire beer :), 9/10.
Chris- This beer is very appropriate for the time of year. It is well-named and would be a good beer to enjoy cold on a cool day, 6.5/10.
Today's beer is Abita Pecan Harvest, purchased from Vintage Estate Wine & Beer.
The label is orange and brown, nothing too exciting. I kind of dig the retro 70's look of it. It is brewed with Louisiana pecans. According to the label, most ales with nutty flavors/aromas don't use actual nuts, but the natural oils from the pecans give this ale a light pecan finish and aroma. It is suggested as a pairing to red meats, seafood, and gouda cheese. It is a nut ale and 5% ABV.
Overall average rating: 7.2/10
This beer yields a slightly off-white, somewhat carbonated head, with a clear/translucent red amber color. The aroma gives off wafts of pecan, malt, and caramel, but not too much of any particular scent. There was a nutty sweet taste - pecan, maybe honey-glazed. It seems ridiculously carbonated and thin, but with no hop bite.
Shawn- I am pleasantly surprised with this beer. It gives me a homey feel - delicious, warming, the smell of pecan pie, 7/10.
Angela- It has a very unique flavor. I really enjoy the nuttiness and well-roundedness of the flavors. I liked it much more than the previous two because it had a more harvesty taste, 8/10.
Chris- I think it smells like pecan baklava (Angela- we had just eaten baklava, perhaps it had some influence?). It definitely seems to be what a fall/harvest beer should be because I get more fall-time flavors from this beer, 6.5/10.
Today's beer is Southern Tier Harvest Special Ale, purchased from Vintage Estate Wine & Beer.
The label is orange and tan with a picture of wheat at the bottom - Shawn thinks it's a little boring. The beer is brewed with 4 varieties of hops and 2 types of malts. It is an English-style Extra Special Bitter and 6.7% ABV.
Overall average rating: 4.8/10
The appearance was a clear/translucent amber, with a slight off-white head that faded fast. The aroma is citrus hoppy, the guys guess cascade and/or simcoe hops. The taste gives a slight hop bite at the back of the tongue with a clean hop finish.
Shawn- Southern Tier usually makes amazing beer, but in my opinion, this is not one of them. I was expecting more of an autumn beer and less of an IPA taste. Simply because this beer is darker in color does not make it an autumn beer, 4/10.
Angela- I usually love Southern Tier beers - I find that the name of their beers usually let you know exactly what it will taste like (e.g. pumking, choklat), but this was somehwat unexpected. It was a little hoppy for my liking, though I could see this as a lawnmower beer on a warm day.. perhaps a raking leaves beer?, 5/10.
Chris- The hop taste is consistent throughout the beer, although I would classify this more as an IPA than a fall/harvest beer. This is one I would drink in the springtime more than in the fall, 5.5/10.
