Peak Organic Fresh Cut Pilsner

Starting to get into the fall months, and then winter, so my beer preferences usually skew towards the darker and fuller varieties, but let's get in a nice pilsner while it's still warm wherever you are (it's always warm here).  Portland, Maine's Peak Organic Brewing Company only uses organic ingredients in there brews, and they've delivered a pretty tasty beer in the form of their Fresh Cut Pilsner.  The beer pours a light and hazy gold with a small, white head.  Aromas of citrus and cut grass clippings intertwine with some floral hints and pine notes.  The taste is crisp, citrus and grass with some touches of pale malt and light yeast and a nice, hoppy finish.  All in all, a really refreshing beer.  Hooray hippies!

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Mazel Hops Double IPA

Am i a fan of puns?  Yes i am.  Mazel Hops is a delicious IPA from the Shmaltz Brewing Company, a New York brewery with a whole horde of beers named with Jewish puns.  The brew pours a nice and crisp gold with white, quickly dissipating head.  Strong aromas of citrus and pine, with some bready notes abound.  The flavor starts slightly sweet with strong hints of grapefruit and orange, but finishes dry and bitter.  All in all, a great IPA.  Enjoy this one outside in the shade.

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Southern Tier Warlock

The beers from Southern Tier are often hit or miss with me, but when they hit, they tend to do it out of the park.  Continuing on my pumpkin beer kick, we have the Warlock, an imperial pumpkin stout.  It's tasty.  The beer pours a dark, dark brownish black with a quickly dissipating tan head.  Aromas of molasses, dark malts, spices, and some hints of pumpkin and bread are prevalent, while the taste was more oatmeal with spices and notes of pumpkin.  Not quite what i was expecting, but still well done nonetheless.  Enjoy this 8.6% ABV brew to wind the evening down.

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Whole Hog Pumpkin Ale

It's September, and you know what that means.  Football, colder weather (it's a crisp 90 degrees in Austin right now), and scrumptious, delicious pumpkin ale.  I was fortunate enough to try some Whole Hog Pumpkin Ale from Wisconsin's Stevens Point Brewery the other day, and i think i may have found myself my new favorite pumpkin ale.  It pours a coppery orange color with minimal head and smells of pumpkin spices, nutmeg, clove, and some toasted malts, and it tastes like pumpkin pie.  It's sweet and spicy, and sitting here thinking and writing about it is making me want one right now.  At 7.5% ABV, it doesn't mess around either.  I'm looking forward to imbibing many, many more of these this season.  Yum.

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Propolis Sahti

Let's go ahead and finish my Washington beer extravaganza with really interesting offering from Propolis Brewing out of Port Townsend.  The Sahti is a traditional Finnish style ale brewed with juniper berries.  It pours a dark and reddish color with a creamy beige head and some decent lacing on the glass.  The aroma has hints of banana and coriander mixed in with the aforementioned juniper berries.  The flavor is a little different.  When the beer is brewed, the mash is filtered through something called a kuurna, a device made of juniper twigs lining a wood trough.  The taste is complex, a fine mix of really bready malt and yeast, some fruit and pine notes, and an undercurrent of licorice.  It took several instances of going back to the well before i began to appreciate it.  This is not something you would want to drink everyday, but as a pre or post dinner treat, it's a good way to go.  Viva la Washington beers!  We'll be back to tasting from the rest of the country next week.

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