The Quest to Find the Best Autumn Beer.....

So I will fully admit that I get really odd cravings.  We are talking similar to how most pregnant women act, that happens to me regularly.  Lately it has been something that pregnant women could not consume...pumpkin beer.

I was first introduced to pumpkin beer by my amazingly awesome sister.  She works at a brew pub that makes a seasonal pumpkin beer.  http://oldepenkazoo.com/  Now, while I much prefer their vanilla porter or hefenweizen they make - this beer is really good.  If you live in Michigan or visit Michigan, I suggest going there (see sister - free advertising!)   I would always get a pint or two of their pumpkin beer when I was in town, but never really craved it.  I also informed my sister of the pumpkin bomb that I tried last year and it is now on their menu, but that is a story for another day.  Now that I moved down south and when I was in Boston, I would get a 6 pack of some pumpkin beer - and it might be gone by Christmas time.  This season, however, I cannot get enough pumpkin beer.

So this led me to wondering, what is the best pumpkin beer?  Then I decided to expand that even more, what is the best autumn seasonal beer?  I then traveled to my local Total Wines and purchased every fall seasonal beer they had in single bottles that was not an IPA (I hate IPA, much to my craft beer snob friends dismay...you know who you are).  I did not count up all of the bottles, but it is somewhere north of 30.  Also, because there already has been an argument as to a bottle being "misclassified" and it was not actually a "fall seasonal" beer (yes some of my friends are that dorky), I am making the disclaimer that this was what Total Wine considered a fall seasonal.  Needless to say, this project is going to take a little while.  The favorite before this endeavor is Olde Peninsula's pumpkin beer, followed closely by Dogfishhead's pumpkin beer.

Now without further ado, here are some of the ones that have been tried:

Victory's Festbier 
Rating - 7.75


image - http://victorybeer.com/beers/festbier/

This beer is currently tied for the winner so far.  It played with the fall spices without becoming too sweet, was very drinkable, had a bit of a nutty taste and overall was just very good.  It also was an excellent accompaniment to my chili and good while watching the Falcons beat the Eagles, allowing me to taunt the my friend who had chosen the Eagles to win that game.

Southern Tier's Harvest Ale
Rating - 4

image - http://www.southerntierbrewing.com/for%20download%20page/downloads_harvest.html

Similar to how some of the teams I chose to win the earlier games on Sunday...this beer disappointed.  It was bitter and way too hoppy for me to enjoy.  For those of you that actually like the bitter taste of hops that make it so you cannot taste anything else in your mouth for the next hour, you might enjoy it.  Granted it is a ESB, but I was not paying that close of attention when purchasing these beers.  Not a winner.

Beck's Octoberfest
Rating - 5.5



image - http://the-beer-fan.blogspot.com/2010/09/becks-oktoberfest.html
This beer was just meh.  Nothing remarkable, no reason to go out of your way to purchase.

Shiner's Octoberfest
Rating - 7.75


image - http://beernews.org/2010/06/shiner-96-to-come-out-of-retirement/

I will admit that I do enjoy Shinerbock, was thrilled when it starting getting distributed in Michigan, and normally have a bottle in my fridge.  I also was a fan of their Oktoberfest.  It was sweeter than most Octoberfest styles, but I have always been a fan of sweet and overall the caramel and toffee tones made this a very nice beer to drink.


That is all for now...more to come.  And yes I do realize that none of the beers I have tried yet are actually pumpkin, despite the craving.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These may be my favorite fall treat, also clearly made for the Wake Forest tailgate.  To be upfront and honest, because I hear those things are important, only the football ones here are pumpkin.  The "WF" ones are yellow cake with chocolate frosting because that is what one of my friends requested and well I aim to please.

So onto the deliciousness of the fall cupcakes

Ingredients - cupcakes
2 cups canned pumpkin (I have never tried it with actual pumpkin, but if someone does - let me know)
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs
1 and 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
2 tsp cinnamon (this is to taste, I prefer lots of cinnamon and nutmeg)
2 tsp nutmeg (this is to taste, I prefer lots of cinnamon and nutmeg)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar

Combine the canned pumpkin, canola oil and eggs in a mixer.  Beat well.  Then slowly add flour, mix to combine.  Then add everything else.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes (I am not sure about the actual time because I have a sixth sense as to when my cupcakes are done - mostly by checking them frequently).  If you can put the toothpick in them and it comes out clean, it is done.

Ingredients - frosting
1 brick of cream cheese (not sure off the top of my head how much it is, but you know what I am talking about - the stuff that comes in the box, also I used the reduced fat it no one knew)
1/2 stick of margarine
1 bag of powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp milk

The key to making this frosting if you want to do things such as pipe it is to put the liquids in last - remember a little goes a LONG way in frosting.  So first combine cream cheese, margarine and powdered sugar.  Also make sure to start the mixer slowly so not to have the powdered sugar coat your counter. (I tend to have a problem remembering that if I add more powered sugar, then I end up with powder sugar all over my phone, move phone and somehow have to IM my friend to call said phone and find out I had put it in the silverware drawer.  But hey I am forgetful).

After it is combined slowly add the vanilla and milk.  And I mean add a very little, let the mixer do the work, if it is not as thin as you want, add a little more, and keep going.

Then spread on the frosting and/or pipe however you want!  Enjoy fall yumminess!

Mulled Cider and Mulled Wine

I have failed at posting anything in a while, and for that I am very sorry.  However, feel free to blame my job and working 18-20 hour days for while, which put everything else in my life on hold.  I am now caught up and you will be getting at least 3 posts today.  You should feel special.

If you are like most of America (I think there are some non-American readers out there, so I need to explain these things), it became autumn very quickly.  Also, random aside note - autumn is such a better word than fall, it is a little bit more classy and makes the season seem more friendly in general.  I went to the amazing Wake Forest tailgate that my friends throw every home game this past Saturday.  I realized that I might be cold, therefore I made hot mulled cider and hot mulled wine to keep warm while grilling, dancing to the tunes, heckling people with the microphone to the stereo-system and generally hanging out.  The cider was a hit, the mulled wine did not get touched.  Granted it ended up being a very male dominated tailgate, so this might explain it.  I enjoy both.

Unfortunately I did not take any pictures, so I will leave it up to your imagination.

Mulled Cider

1 gallon of cider

1 bottle of spiced rum

a little (about 1/2 cup) of bourbon

mulling spice mix*

For my mulling spice mix I use the following

- cinnamon

- nutmeg

- cloves

- star anise

- all spice

- a couple of juniper berries

(you can also normally just by this in a lot of stores)

Pour cider and liquor into a saucepot.  Put all mulling spices into either a spice bag, tea difuser if you are using whole spices, or piece of fabric and very tightly wrap a rubber band around it to prevent the spices from leaking out.  Simmer for a couple of hours.  I also put a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg directly into the saucepot, but I really like cinnamon and nutmeg.

Mulled Wine

(Note - similar to sangria everyone's recipe for this is very different)

1 bottle of a red wine

1 cup of triple sec

1 cup of sugar

mulling spice mix

Pour red wine, triple sec and sugar into saucepot.  Put all mulling spices into either a spice bag, tea difuser if you are using whole spices, or piece of fabric and very tightly wrap a rubber band around it to prevent the spices from leaking out.  Simmer, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, then continue to simmer for a few hours.

Garnish both of these with a cinnamon stick.  I did not bring these to the tailgate, because well it was a tailgate.