Cambridge Brewing Company: Brett Semetary

One year ago, or so, on Halloween night the fine folks at Cambridge Brewing Company put a batch of their Great Pumpkin Ale in oak vats with some lovely brettanomyces and let the demons due their work.
Fast forward almost one year and here I am sitting at the bar at CBC and I get the privilege of ordering this fine beer. It pours immediately cloudy, with a strong nose of all spice and funk. I can't quite describe funk, but when you smell it, you know it's funky. The immediate taste is that same funk sour with a ripe gourd and cinnamon and some other spices. The finish is all brett. As someone who loves sours, this beer is just bliss. In a world of much too sweet pumpkin beers this tart masterpiece is a much needed break. I'm definitely gonna have to make one more trip to CBC before it's gone.

Alltech: Kentucky Pumpkin Barrel Ale

Industrial super complex Alltech has been planning to take over the world against Superman for what feels like decades. Attacks on our modern computer system, buying airlines and colluding with oil companies to raise gas prices, buying the Daily Planet to control the media, and all around mayhem are just every day activities for Alltech.
Apparently one part of their plan to destroy Superman is through his other weakness, Pumpkin Beers. Let's face it, Clark Kent enjoys sweater weather, and what goes better with the leafs changing in Metropolis than a nice warm feeling pumpkin beer. The problem is, it takes like 50 beers to throw Superman off his game, and Lex Luther know it. So what did he do? He came up with a beer that was much stronger than the ordinary pumpkin beer, but equally as drinkable as beers half the strength.
Kentucky Pumpkin Barrel Ale has strongs smell of wood in the nose. The head quickly fades in my snifter that they recommend I use. (Maybe another even more secret plan that I don't even understand?) The taste is very upfront bourbon, with vanilla and woody tones in the front and cinnamon carrying up the back. The finish is dry and easy with the strong booze from the bourbon leaving a nice linger at the end of the sip. Realizing the trap, Clark decides to light up a cigar, sit back and sip rather than pound them back. Plan foiled.
Wait, sorry, I was thinking of Lexcorp, I have no idea who Alltech is. Quick google search and they're a distillery and brewery company in Kentucky, but their world domination plans are unknown at this time. Either way, it's a nice beer to sit back and sip on a chilly patio somewhere.

Beer Works: Pumpkin Ale Part 1

Part one of a two part plan to make pumpkin beers. First pumpkin beer, a simple ale with even amounts of spice and gourd flavors. Later I'll get into the second plan, Beer Works Black O'Lantern Pumpkin Stout, but the first beer from them is Pumpkin Works Ale. A very well made ale that balances a brown ale perfectly with all the spices you'd find in any typical pumpkin beer. Some of them are heavy on cinnamon, or all spice or nutmeg but Beer Works blends them all seamlessly in this beer, with just a nice touch of that gourd flavor from the pumpkin. It's not too dessert-y but just a good drinking pumpkin beer. I'm genuinely impressed with this one. Nice job, I might even buy a whole 6er to have as it gets even colder. 

The Tap: Marzen Scorsese

There's no shortage of puns in the beer world, but oktoberfest beers usually just get called oktoberfest. Thankfully, The Tap in Haverhill has stepped up to the challenge of a good pun for a fest beer, Marzen Scorsese. Since their label relaunch The Tap has been churring out excellent beer and Scorsese is no different.
Pouring a deep amber with a thin lace of head, this beer has sweet breads in the nose, mixed with some citrus buried deep in back. It drinks very smooth, with just a nice bubbly sweetness of toffee and caramel. The finish has a touch of bitterness but the sweetness is definitely the overriding presence in this beer. Very delicious, and would've been worth raising a stein with. Excellent beer.

Boulevard Brewing: Mid Coast IPA

I'm gonna cheat a little. Boulevard Brewing has released a new 12 pack that includes to new beers that have never left the tasting room. And while this beer isn't technically fall related, it came out in the fall, and it's freaking delicious.
Boulevard Brewing Mid Coast IPA is a 100 IBU beer but only clocks in at somewhere around 5.5%. The smell was immediately grapefruit and piney hops. It gave off a very nice head that lifted up in my mug and was a beautiful clear straw color. Once it hits my lips though, it's a beautifully balanced beer that carries a nice touch of sweet malts with a blast of amazing pine and grapefruit and some tropical fruit and finishes with a lovely bitter coating on my tongue to finish. This is how you balance an IPA, without too much sweetness, just enough malt to carry the hops. If this was a 6 pack I'd buy it but I guess I'll have to settle for the 3 I get in the sampler 12 pack.

Left Hand Brewing: Oktoberfest

Left Hand Brewing has been seriously effected by the floods in Colorado right now, including being forced to put out bags of their malted barley in place of sandbags cause it was all they had. It's going to be a tough road back for them, so we should start by buying a 6er of some of their beer.
Left Hand Oktoberfest has the most upfront bite to any Oktoberfest I've had. It has a bit of a resiny smell sitting over sweet breads in the glass. The hit on the tongue is a very strong bite of hops, with a little curdle in the booze from this guy. It's a strong Oktoberfest, up around 6.5% or so, and you can feel the warmth in your chest. The bitterness comes back after the sweetness fades and leaves it sitting on the tongue after it's gone. Definitely the most American of the fest beers I've had so far, with a big beefy hop presence through the beer. Nice interpretation, though I don't know if I could fill a stein with it cause I might not make it through too many of them. Still delicious though.

Wasatch Brewery: Pumpkin Ale

Wasatch Brewery was Park City, UT's first brewery since prohibition, and rather recently, they started popping up on the shelves of stores in Massachusetts. Let's see how the few folks who imbibe make a pumpkin beer.
Wasatch's pumpkin pores very clean, with very little head that fades quick. It has faint smells of all spice and nutmeg. The taste is light bodied with some light spicing, but the taste that stands out the most is surprising, Pumpkin. The taste is very gourd with some subtle bitterness in the finish. This is definitely the most pumpkin tasting pumpkin beer so far, but after that, it doesn't have much else going on. Worth it if you want a serious gourd beer.