I love beer. Let me repeat that: I love beer.
After years of drinking craft beer and supporting the “don’t-call-it-a-movement” movement, I have always wanted a forum where I could have an opportunity to share my deep dive into the ever-evolving world of beer. Those that know me know that I like to boast about my almost 600 beers I’ve tried since October 2013 (thank you, Untappd for providing me a way to simply document these brews on the fly). I also have been told that I have this uncanny ability to frequently recommend a beer based on a friend’s preference in style or commonly come back to work from a weekend of trying new things and making co-worker’s salivate when I describe something I have recently had.
To kick this off, I’ve decided to start this series off by reviewing only pumpkin beers (this link redirects to the top pumpkin brews on Beer Advocate). Given that it is autumn and it seems like every brewery has a take on the relatively new style of a pumpkin brew, it wasn’t hard to find eight pumpkin beers I haven’t tried on the shelves at my local liquor store. Additionally, I’ve been a huge fan of the style since I first tried Schafly’s excellent take on making pumpkin pie in drinkable form (I’m reviewing this one as a way to revisit my favorite pumpkin beer) and have wanted to explore the style now that so many breweries are putting their own twist on the format (watch this space for the bizarrely delightful Boulevard Funky Pumpkin sour brewed with pumpkin spices).
Check this spread! See any of your favorites?
Before you rush to the liquor store to buy these brews so that you can play along, I wanted to give you a preview of the format I will be using for all reviews in future blog posts. I’ve based this system on my go-to place for brew reviews, Beer Advocate, and have only subtly changed the formatting for the purpose of the design of this page. Below, you will find the formatting along with brief descriptions of how I’ll be approaching each review.
BREWERY & BEER NAME
Brewed By:
Name – This will always have a link to the brewery.
Location – This will be linked to BreweryMap.
Style: So many beer styles, so little time.
ABV: Alcohol by Volume for the uninitiated.
0.0 / 5.0
Look: 0.0 | Smell: 0.0 | Taste: 0.0 | Feel: 0 | Overall: 0.0
Brewery at a glance: Here I will provide an overview of my thoughts on the brewery where I will provide rambling reflections on my experience with their beers or stories of pilgrimages to see their holy mecca.
Look: This rating will be based solely on appearance. I will describe the color, the amount of head when poured, and whether the lacing (foam on the edge of the glass) sticks around after the head dissipates.
Smell: I’ll try my best to use my schnoz to tell you what it is I’m smelling.
Taste: My tongue and words will do their best to make you taste what I’m tasting.
Feel: In some places this is described as mouth-feel. This is where I will be describing the beer’s carbonation feel, where the taste hits the palette, and whether it feels heavy, boozy, light, or overwhelming on the tastebuds.
So that’s it! I’m looking forward to having you play along with me by buying your own Pumpkin mixed pack and writing your reviews in the comments below. For now, if you have any recommendations on Pumpkin beers that you would like to see me review, please leave a comment on this page so that I can convince Aly that 15 pumpkin beers are better to review than eight.
Cheers,
-J