Sierra Nevada's 30th Anniversary Jack and Ken's Black Barleywine Ale

I'm always excited when I get a beer in a corked 25.4 ounce bottle. Not only does it bring back fond memories of other delectable beers, like Brooklyn Brewery's Local Number 1, but it's also just fun and sophisticated-feeling to pop open a bottle of beer. Having already thoroughly enjoyed Sierra Nevada's 30th Anniversary Fritz and Ken's Stout, I had high expectations for the 30th Anniversary Jack and Ken's Black Barleywine Ale. The brew did not disappoint.

The barleywine is nearly black and produces a thick, creamy head. My first sip inspired the comment, "holy shit, this tastes like a stout." Jack and Ken's Ale is super smooth and grainy sweet with a slight alcohol finish (which shouldn't be a surprise given its 10.2% ABV). It definitely tastes more like a barleywine as it warms, but it retains that stouty roast chocolate undertone in its flavor assault.

In summary, this beer is yummy. Quit pinching pennies and drop the $10 to buy a bottle of this and another $10 for the Fritz and Ken's Stout, if you can still find it.

Shipyard's Smashed Pumpkin mixed with Guinness Extra Stout

As mentioned in my previous post reviewing the Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale, Shipyard's Smashed Pumpkin Ale is one of my absolute favorites of the fall seasonal brews. A 22-ounce bomber will set you back about $6, but the taste is well worth the investment. Shipyard has managed to do what no other brewery can; brew a pumpkin beer that actually tastes like pumpkin and not just pumpkin pie spice. Sure, the cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg are present, but they are all bound by a sort of meaty-savory pumpkin undercurrent that other pumpkin ales lack. The hefty 9% ABV is very well masked by the complex flavors and textures.

The back of the bottle suggests that the consumer "try adding a little Shipyard Blue Fin Stout to Smashed Pumpkin for a fall warmer." What a novel idea! During my recent trip to Boston, I was tantalized by the availability of Cape Ann Brewing Company Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout. On a solo trip to the bar to watch the Padres bend over and give up a chance at post-season glory, I eagerly ordered a pint of the pumpkin stout. Just as the San Diego Dads disappointed, so did the beer. It was a decent stout, but there was no sign of anything having to do with pumpkins or fall or allspice. The resulting feeling of deception lead me to drink much more than one man should have ever consumed in a 3-hour window.

Unfortunately, Shipyard's Blue Fin Stout is not available in California. After consulting another amateur beer connoisseur with easy access to the stout, I decided that Guinness would provide the most suitable replacement. I love stouts, but I've never been fond of Guinness. I pleaded with my insider source to recommend a delicious chocolate or oatmeal microbrewed stout, but he insisted that a lighter dry stout would be more true to the Blue Fin taste. So, I dropped an additional $4 on a 22-ounce bottle of Guinness Extra Stout and waited for the 100-degree temperatures to subside.

The result of mixing 3 parts pumpkin ale to 1 part stout is delicious. The Guinness completely hides any lingering hint that you might be drinking a 9% ABV brew. The spice and pumpkin taste of the Shipyard ale are somehow accentuated, not dulled by adding in the stout. I'm not sure if I like the "fall warmer" any better than the straight Smashed Pumpkin Ale, but it's damn good nonetheless. I'd like to try this again with a slightly more chocolaty, less objectionable stout.

Stiegl's Lemon Radler

At the height of the Californian summer, my girlfriend, sister, and I ate dinner at a Burmese restaurant in Oakland. The food was fine, but the real highlight of the meal was the small pitcher of "Burmese Cooler" that we shared. The cooler consisted of a light pale ale mixed with lemonade and ginger to create an incredibly crisp, fresh, and dangerously chugable thirst-quencher.

Stiegl's Lemon Radler, brewed by Austria's largest private brewing company (or so it is claimed on the label), was recommended to me by another friend as something comparable to the "Burmese Cooler" that I had described. The Radler is made by mixing equal parts Stiegl Goldbräu Premium Lager and lemon soda in 16.9 ounce bottles that sell for about $4.50. There are apparently two other flavors, raspberry and grapefruit, that are also brewed by Stiegl. The resulting beverage is incredibly light, smooth, and bubbly. The lemon taste is subtle and not really sweet like you might expect a lemon drink (like Sprite) to be. However, the Radler lacks the crispness and refreshing zing that the ginger (and maybe the fresh-squeezed lemonade) added to the "Burmese Cooler." This brew is refreshing at first, but quickly becomes more like drinking a diluted citrus cleaning product as the bottle warms and the carbonation decreases. Ok, maybe it isn't quite that bad, but I'd be very tempted to treat a bottle of this as if it were Gatorade after a triathlon if I drink it again. No need to worry, shotgunning a Radler shouldn't even lead to mild intoxication since it clocks in at a featherweight 2.5% ABV.

Old Dominion Octoberfest! is not a party!

Yes, I know that Anheuser-Busch bought Old Dominion in 2007. Still, I enjoy their Lager, and their Oak Barrel Stout is not too shabby. So when I saw their Octoberfest! [emphasis theirs] at our local grocery store, I thought it was worth a try. I was wrong.

They describe it thusly, "Our Autumn Seasonal beer is a traditional Maerzen style lager. We use eight types of imported German malts and four hop varieties to create this copper-colored fest beer." All I taste is malt. There are hints of burnt caramel and an attempt at spice, but really it's just a strong malt flavor. At 5.6% ABV, it's slightly higher than your typical beer, but a six-pack will run you $8.99.

Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale

Despite the recent string of 104 degree days in northern California, fall is upon us. This means that the thick stouts and porters of winter are just around the corner. Before we have the pleasure of chewing those malty seasonals, we must endure the notoriously hit-or-miss pumpkin ale era.

For whatever reason (perhaps the lack of a legitimate autumn), the west coast seems to provide few pumpkin brews for review. Thankfully, I'm in Boston for a week for my girlfriend's sister's wedding and can dabble in some beer reviews while she is busy zipping dresses and curling hair. I've already inhaled a draught pint of the Dogfishead Punkin' Ale and have been tempted twice by one of my favorites, Shipyard's Smashed Pumpkin. My choice at the liquor store up the street, however, was Smuttynose Brewing Company's Pumpkin Ale.

I like my pumpkin ales to meet two simple criteria:

1. Be brewed with actual pumpkin, not just spices.
2. Not obliterate your senses with cinnamon, clove, and all-spice.

Smuttynose easily passes these two tests. The pumpkin taste is present, but not overpowering. The ale is smooth and crisp at first, but seems to develop a sort of skunky IPA taste as the bottom of the bottle approaches. Smuttynose certainly deserves entry into the upper tier of pumpkin ale brewers, but its 5% ABV $1.80 per bottle concoction pales in comparison to its east coast rivals like Saranac, Shipyard, and Dogfishead.