The Devil's Pumpkin Ale

The Devil's Pumpkin Ale by Lavery Brewing Company 

Trying a brew from Erie, Pennsylvania tonight. The interesting part about this brewery is that the name of the brewery is like my Aunt and Uncle's last name and pronounced the same way as they do. I figured that I needed to try this beer and checkout some beers by them. Lavery Brewing Company is the brewery that I am trying a beer from tonight. They were founded in 2009 and are in downtown Erie, PA. Make sure that you say the name right because people usually say it wrong. "It's 'Lav-ry' not 'Lav-ery'." Lavery Brewing Company, much like America – they blend flavors and traditions to bring you some truly innovative ales. Their beers span styles and stereotypes to create something distinctly remarkable. If you look on their bottles it says BREWING INNOVATIVE ALES IN SMALL BATCHES. The beer I am trying tonight is The Devil's Pumpkin Ale. Devil's Pumpkin Ale has an alcohol by volume or ABV of 6.5% and an IBU of 26. I am excited and eager to see what The Devil's Pumpkin Ale has in store for me.

Appearance of The Devil's Pumpkin Ale 

The appearance of Devil's Pumpkin Ale has a sweet dark appearance to this brew. When I look at this brew I think of a dark Halloween night and Jack-O-Lanterns. The color of The Devil's Pumpkin is a dark amber brown appearance to the beer. In addition to the appearance the beer is not thick and cloudy, the color just does not allow much light to pass through it. The color/appearance is similar to most pumpkin ales out there. Aroma of this brew is interesting and my nose is following a variety of aromas. First thing I noticed was the malt backbone of the beer, by that I mean a sweet malt aroma is the first aroma I picked up on. Second, I pick up on are the spices. I notice the clove that you would use with pumpkin and a nutmeg as well. There is a subtle hint of Pumpkin in the aroma of this brew, but it is faint and not too overpowering. Foam or head of Devil's Pumpkin Ale starts with a thin layer at the top and quickly dissipates leaving me to think this might be a unfiltered brew. 

Taste is where the good pumpkin brews separate themselves from the rest of the pack, in my opinion. First thing I noticed was the mouthfeel and the malt presences in this brew. Mouthfeel of this beer is like an unfiltered beer and I notice the spice notes played with the mouthfeel of this brew. I also think that another thing you pick up on right away is the malt backbone of this brew. There is a sweet taste to this beer, which is not too sweet like other pumpkin brews tend to be. I think the thing I kind of notice the most is the fruity taste in the beer that is pleasantly delicious and makes this brew an awesome brew. The beer is smooth and can be drank rather quickly because of how smooth the beer is. 

Tango with this Devil's Pumpkin Ale by Lavery Brewing Company

Overall I think this is a great brew and I would put this Pumpkin Ale in my top 5 Pumpkin Brews. I do not think there is a bad thing I can say about this beer. I really enjoy it and find nothing wrong with the brew. I think that anyone who enjoys Pumpkin brews should try this and check out more brews like this. Some might think this brew could be too sweet, but I think that goes well with the approach of the brew and is not too sweet.

Check out Lavery Brewing Company on their website and their Twitter: 

http://www.laverybrewing.com/

Tweet @LaveryBrewing

Hipp-O-Lantern

Hipp-O-Lantern Imperial Pumpkin Ale by River Horse Brewing Company

Trying a brew from a local brewery. Originally, this brewery started in Lambertville, New Jersey, since they have grown in size they have moved down the road to Ewing, New Jersey. River Horse was founded in 1995 and current owners have had control since 2007. I am trying Hipp-o-Lantern by River Horse Brewing Company.  Hipp-O-Lantern is a Imperial Pumpkin Ale and a beer I am really looking forward to reviewing. Hipp-O-Lantern has an alcohol by volume of 8.1%. Every pumpkin beer drinker knows that we are headed towards the end of the season, the weather is getting cooler and it makes me want to enjoy pumpkin beers more. To me honestly, end of October is the end of the Pumpkin season for most breweries. I think that the end of the season should be extended til Thanksgiving, so you can enjoy a Pumpkin beer with a Pumpkin Pie. Time to review Hipp-O-Lantern and see what is behind this brew. 

Appearance to Hipp-O-Lantern

To me when I look at this beer, I see fall in a glass. Pumpkin brew season is upon and this beer makes me think of Fall and late October. There is a deep burnt auburn orange appearance to Hipp-O-Lantern and it reminds me of Amber Ale color. Hipp-O-Lantern's color, could also be the addition of the molasses to the beer that might give the beer it's deep color. There is a thin layer of foam or head at the top of this beer. It has a brownish white appearance to it, the color makes me think some of the spices mixed with the foam. Actually it reminds me of baking a Pumpkin Pie, when you add cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves into the sugar before you add the Pumpkin in.  The foam or head also leaves some lacing upon the glass as you drink it.  Aroma wise I smell, Pumpkin and some spice notes mixed in. The aroma is too heavy on the spice side and is sort of on the sweet side. Spice aromas I picked up were cloves and cinnamon.  

The taste of a Pumpkin brew is the most important aspect of a Pumpkin beer for myself, as a Pumpkin beer fan. The first sip of this beer is so smooth. I notice the sweetness of the beer right away,but it does not follow it all the way through the finish of the beer. You first get hit with a sweet note as you take the first sip. Shortly after you begin to notice the pumpkin and the spices, before having the spices take over as you finish your sip. The smoothness of the beer makes me really enjoy this brew and want to go out and buy a case. I will say that as you finish the sip, you do pick up on the 8.1% but not in a bad way. For me, the smoothness of this beer and spices make you think you are drinking not an 8.1% beer, but like a 6% beer.  Body of this beer is medium and you do notice there is a decent amount of carbonation in this brew, but I think you really notice it because of the spice finish in the beer. 

Check Out River Horse Hipp-O-Lantern 

I really enjoyed this brew because it gave me the best of both world's in terms of a Pumpkin beer. You start of sweet and finish with a spice taste in the end. This beer was neither too sweet or too spiced base for my liking. If you really enjoy a Pumpkin brew, like I do than this is a must try brew for you. I think that most people that enjoy beer, but are afraid of a Pumpkin beer having too strong of a Pumpkin taste, this is a beer you should try as well. You do not get too strong of a Pumpkin taste that you cannot enjoy the quality of this beer. Hopefully, soon I am able to stop over in Ewing, New Jersey for a tour and get this beer straight from the source. As the Pumpkin season, closes down make sure you stop by a beer store and give Hipp-O-Lantern, a spook of a chance. 

Check out River Horse Brewing Company's Website and Twitter: 

RiverHorse

Tweet @RiverHorseBrew

Ichabod

Ichabod New Holland Brewing Company

Trying a seasonal brew from a brewing company that I have never tried before. I will be trying a brew from New Holland Brewing Company. They are located in Holland, Michigan, which Michigan is turning into a hot bed for breweries. This beer was first brewed in 1997 and has been around ever since. I am trying Ichabod from New Holland Brewing Company. Ichabod is a Pumpkin Ale. Ichabod has an alcohol by volume or ABV of 4.5% and IBU of 25. Here is a little about New Holland, "Each bottle of our craft beer and artisan spirits captures a flavor, a harvest, a season, a moment in time. We honor those who put imagination, creativity and inspiration into their work. Our beer and spirits pair perfectly with a blank canvas, fertile soil, a blinking cursor, an empty plate or the hint of a spark in someone’s eye. The opportunity for art is everywhere." They believe in celebrating art of crafting and the artist in everyone. The temperature keeps dropping and now it is officially headed towards halloween/thanksgiving and Pumpkin season. So cheers to that and let's checkout what is behind Ichabod. 

Appearance of Ichabod

Ichabod has a deep amber tint to it almost like it looks like an Amber Ale. Colorwise the beer looks like a pumpkin brew and I am extremely excited to find out the aroma and the taste of Ichabod. Aoma wise I am pulling the spices out, when I tried to take a whiff of this aroma. Nutmeg and Cinnamon are prevalent in the aroma. I also get the pumpkin aroma in the beer and am curious to see what the taste of Ichabod leaves around. The foam or the head of the beer has a orange white appearance which I believe is from the deep amber color or the pumpkin in the brew. 

Time to figure out the final verdict on Ichabod from New Holland Brewing Company. When I took my first sip, I got a faint taste of pumpkin and more of a hop note. I drank more and more, I noticed the hop note more and more. The hop I picked up on was the Cascade Hop and I think that it is not a bad thing if you are targeting most beer drinkers. I think that to call this a Pumpkin Ale is a little bit of a stretch. I think that the pumpkin does not really hit the taste palate until you finish your sip and are left with the Pumpkin spices on your tongue. 

Ichabod New Holland Brewing Company

The aroma and the color led me to believe this was going to be like a Pumpkin Ale, but the taste threw me a curveball and gave me something different. I think that if you are more of traditional beer drinker and not to high on pumpkin ales then this would be a beer for you to step into the Pumpkin Ales. Not too much pumpkin taste and more of a hop note than anything else. Even though it has a bitter of twenty five, I can still pick up on the Cascade Hop note in the brew and if you like India Pale Ales brewed with Cascade Hops you should check out Ichabod. This is a good brew just not something, I would go out of my way to get again. I know everyone has their own style of beers and I think right now my palate does not cooperate with Cascade Hops. This is a beer worth trying and exploring, to me it has more of an Amber Ale taste than a Pumpkin Ale. 

Check out New Holland Brewing Company's Website and Twitter: 

http://newhollandbrew.com/

Tweet @newhollandbrew

Pumpkinfest

PUMPKINFEST by Terrapin Beer Company

Trying a brew from Terrapin Beer Company tonight. This is the second brew from Terrapin, I have gotten my hands on. According to Terrapin website, Pumpkinfest is a blend between an Oktoberfest and a Pumpkin Ale. If that is the case then this should be an interesting brew to try and I am eager to see what Pumpkinfest is all about. Terrapin Beer Company is located in Athens, Georgia. They have come up with some really unique and interesting brews like Liquid Lunch and Liquid Bliss. Some of their main brews have come from their side projects. Like Maggie's Peach Farmhouse Ale as Side Project #7 and now this brew I am trying tonight is Side Project #8. I tried Maggie's Peach and I am curious to see what Side Project #8 has become. "So…keeping up with Terrapin’s out of the box brewing tradition, I decided to brew a beer that combines both of these delicious brewing styles." Terrapin combined Oktoberfest style ale with a Pumpkin Ale to create Pumpkinfest. Pumpkinfest has an alcohol by volume or ABV of 5.5% and an IBU of 23. 

Appearance of Pumpkinfest 

Looking at the color or appearance of this brew it looks like an Oktoberfest. The color of Pumpkinfest auburn or a amber tint to the beer.  For example,  below is a picture of Left Hand Brewing's Oktoberfest and if you look closely the colors are very similar. 

Left Hand Brewing Oktoberfest 

In terms of this being a blend of two styles of beers, the color makes you think of an Oktoberfest and the aroma makes you think of a Pumpkin Ale. The aroma notes, I am picking up are the sweet and spiced aroma of a Pumpkin Ale. While I do notice the Pumpkin side of this beer there is a subtle hint of the Oktoberfest aroma, which plays on a malt backbone to the beer. When you pour this beer, the head or foam at the top leaves a quarter inch of foam at the top, with a brownish white tint to it. Spiced aroma I am picking up in this brew is a cinnamon and a clove presence mixed with the pumpkin.  

I am curious to see how the taste combines the two styles or if it focuses on one side in particular. As of right now, this looks and smells like a combination of the two different styles. I think it will be hard to combine the two styles taste, but let's see where it will take us. To be honest, if Terrapin can pull it of this might become my favorite pumpkin seasonal beer. It would be able to appeal to Oktoberfest drinkers and the Pumpkin Ale drinkers at the same time. I took my first sip and I think taste wise I notice more of the Oktoberfest style at first. There is a note of the Pumpkin sweetness, which shows the combination of the styles but it is not as strong as the Oktoberfest flavor profile. The Oktoberfest note that I notice most is the malt, which is an important thing in this style of brew. I think the addition of the Pumpkin, plays more with the mouthfeel and not so much the taste of the beer. I pick up the spice notes lingering on the tongue after I finish drinking the beer. This is a good seasonal brew, but is not taking over my top seasonal pumpkin brew. 

Check out this combination of style Pumpkinfest 

Overall, I think Pumpkinfest is a good brew and gives the beer drinker a sense of both styles. I think though taste wise if it's going to be listed as a pumpkin beer it might need more power in the taste aspect.  If you like Oktoberfest beers, this is a beer you can enjoy while still getting a touch of a pumpkin note. If you like Pumpkin Ales, this is a beer you can enjoy as well because you get the hint of Pumpkin in the brew. I think that this is a good brew to give you a sense that fall has officially arrived and allows you to drink to fall's arrival. 

Check out Terrapin Beer Company's Website and Twitter: 

http://terrapinbeer.com/

Tweet @TerrapinBeerCo

UFO Pumpkin

UFO PUMPKIN by Harpoon Brewery 

Trying my third brew from Harpoon Unfiltered Series. So far, I have tried UFO White and UFO Big Squeeze. The third beer I am trying is UFO Pumpkin. Harpoon is located in Boston, Massachusetts. Trying the two before has made me what to try their unfiltered pumpkin brew because I liked the ones before and I am a huge pumpkin beer fan. UFO Pumpkin has an alcohol by volume or ABV of 5.9% and an IBU of 20. Altogether the UFO series has six different beers in the set. I can say after this beer, I am halfway through the UFO beer series. Harpoon was created in 1986 and recently in 2014, became an employee owned company. I think they have an awesome slogan at the bottom of their website "Love Beer. Love Life. Harpoon", with that slogan I think most can agree with the first two parts and maybe the latter. 

Appearance of UFO Pumpkin 

When looking at UFO Pumpkin, I think I am looking at a pumpkin. Color wise this beer color appearance resembles the color of a Pumpkin Pie. I look at UFO Pumpkin and see a deep burnt orange color that has a hazy appearance. The foam or head is white and lingers around to help enhance the flavor of the beer for the drinker. The head of the beer is thin, but has staying power. Aroma wise this beer is like most Pumpkin Ales, you get the spices of: Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Cloves. I think the unfiltered approach to this beer enhances them and make me really think of a pumpkin pie or pumpkin cookies. There is a subtle malt note that I picked up in the aroma, but it blends in with the Pumpkin and the spices.  

Now let's check out the taste of this brew and how the unfiltered approach changes the beer, if it does at all? Taking my first sip, I enjoyed this light bodied brew and really enjoyed how smooth UFO Pumpkin was. I notice the pumpkin flavor first then got hit with a spice note. I think the unfiltered approach to UFO Pumpkin actually helped settle the too sweet or too spice debate for pumpkin beers. The unfiltered approach in my opinion helped the sweetness and the spices to mellow out, just like baking a pumpkin pie would do. UFO Pumpkin is a brew I could drink all night and not have a problem with it, especially as we head towards Halloween and Thanksgiving. 

Make sure you check out UFO PUMPKIN and the UFO Series of Harpoon. 

I have had some great pumpkin beers recently and I am glad that has been the case. Because I have had some really bad ones, and I am glad breweries are doing a better job at them. UFO Pumpkin is one of those good Pumpkin Ales and I think the fact that it is unfiltered can appeal to many different beer drinkers. Anyone who likes a good unfiltered ale can really enjoy this beer as well as someone who really enjoys pumpkin. This is a seasonal brew from Harpoon so get it while you can, I know I might be going to get a case of this. I do enjoy that Harpoon also became a Employee owned Brewery, that is similar to New Belgium and I want to see more breweries do this instead of pairing with the Macro Breweries. 

Checkout Harpoon's Website and Twitter: 

http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/

Tweet @harpoonbrewery