Lazarus Jacob's Ladder

I dig a complex beer, and Jacob's Ladder, a Tepache style wild ale from Lazarus Brewing, is certainly a complex beer.  The beer is brewed with pineapple, peppercorn, ginger, and more, fermented with two different strains of Brettanomyces, and aged in tequila barrels.  Pouring a clear gold, the 8.5% beer smells of pineapple, spices, oak, and funk.  The flavor is similar to the aroma and pleasantly tart with a dry finish.  Gonna need more of this one.

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(512) Young Funkenstein

Every year, i slowly stockpile a collection of beers to age from 1 to 12 months, opening and enjoying it all around Christmas time.  This stockpiling almost always includes a dinner beer or two as well, and i think i may have found my dinner beverage of choice for this year's Christmas dinner (if we make it that far), the 2020 edition of Young Funkenstein from (512) Brewing.  The 7% ABV beer is a copper ale aged in cabernet barrels for 2 years with wild yeast and dried Ranier cherries.  It pours a coppery, red-tinted brown and smells of cherries and a little bit of funk.  The flavor is an enjoyably sour mix of cherry and oak with a dry and slightly funky finish.  I look forward to having a few more of these.

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Circle Perfekt Pils

Summer is almost officially over...not that we ever really got a summer, but whatever...and before i dive head first into my preferred Autumn brews for the next couple months, here's a nice summertime, backyard beer from the good folks at Circle Brewing in Austin.  The Perfekt Pils is a 4.9% ABV German style Pilsner released for the brewery's 8th (!!!) anniversary.  It pours a nice, clear gold with a full and frothy white head and smells of malts and hops.  The flavor is similar, what you would expect from a well made Pilsner.  It's one of those beers that just smells and tastes like beer.  At the end of the day, you really can't ask for more.
 

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Cherub Rock Imperial Pumpkin Porter

It's that time of year again, when every trip to the grocery store ends with me bringing home six packs of pumpkin ales and Oktoberfests.  And...since COVID has basically annihilated any chance of attending an actual Oktoberfest celebration, i'm going to drink the shit out of these two wonderful styles at home, and there's nothing you can do about it.  So far i've managed to bring home a couple of old standards and a couple of newbies.  One of those newbies is the delicious Cherub Rock Imperial Pumpkin Porter from the good folks at Brazos Valley Brewing over in Brenham, Texas.  The 8.5% brew pours a lovely brownish black with a tan head and smells of chocolate, coffee, and pumpkin spices.  The flavor is a malty mix of chocolate, coffee, pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg with some hints of clove and licorice.  It's a wonderful and balanced mix of sugary sweet and pumpkin spice.  I hope to be drinking this one all Fall.

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