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.
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.
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