The Session #68

This month’s issue of The Session is produced by Tiffany over at 99 Pours.  Her topic of choice is Novelty Beers:

With the onslaught of even weirder beards…erm…beers…than before, I can’t help but wonder if novelty beers are going too far. Or maybe not far enough? LOL! As a merchant of beer, I can see the place for novelty beers, as I am choosing for some customers who say, “I want the strangest beer you have.”

The novelty beer can sometimes drive me nuts. I shouldn’t see 10 pumpkin beers on the taplist in July. It just shouldn’t happen. I want to drink Oktoberfest beers in September and October, not July. A maibock is a spring beer, I don’t want to see it in January.  Heck, sometimes the seasonal Summer ales are called “Summer Ale”, and they show up in April.  Come on people. Anywho…

I love looking at a taplist to decide what I am drinking. I am not afraid to go off kilter and order something that I have never heard of (actually, I prefer that), something that I am scared of (hot peppers), or something that is using ingredients to play to the season (pumpkin). 

Thinking back to the brews that I have sampled, there are some that people would think were weird: Right Brain Little Italy Honey Basil, DuClaw HERO (2011- chocolate peanut butter porter), A billion different pumpkin and barrel aged beers (I don’t even like most of them), etc.

If I had to choose a beer that I enjoyed the most that included a unique or different ingredient, I might have to go with the DuClaw HERO (chocolate peanut butter porter). It was an easy beer to order, as I had heard that it was good, and I was in a dark beer mood at the time.  But my first reaction to the sip will be memorable. The first taste drew me into the beer. The chocolate and subtle yet appealing peanut butter tastes weren’t sickly sweet (kind of what I imagined), but rather they stood balanced with the malt and hops, like a perfect little triangle.  

I had tasted winners and losers when ordering novelty beers, but this was one winner that I could drink most days.

Fall Time Brews

Summer brews get a lot of hype.  Those thirst quenching, fruity wheat beers are easy and fun to drink while at picnics, parties and around the fire pit.  I love a good Bell's Oberon or Dogfish Head Festina Peche.  Christmas beers, with their spices, and winter warmers, with their high abv, get the attention of those looking to sip next to the chestnuts roasting on an open fire.  Packed in between those two beer seasons, are Oktoberfest beers.

I like a good malty Oktoberfest Lager.  I did my best to brew an oktoberfest ale for my wedding, it wasn't the same, but it was good. For the pure German in you, you can drink some Spaten or Paulander- easier to find German Oktoberfest beers. For the domestic side, I enjoy Flying Dog Dogtoberfest and Sam Adam's Oktoberfest.

But what else do people drink in the Fall?  I have a couple ideas of what I like.

Bring on the IPAs. Many people think that they summer is too hot to drink the hop bombs. The high IBU beers get drowned out by the Christmas beers, so drink them while you can.  It isn't quite cold enough to need the high abv beers, but the 6-7% beer might cut through the fall chill.  A perfect beer to grab would be the Sierra Nevada Estate- the freshest of the fresh, all locally grown ingredients. Grab a jacket and head outside.

The darker beers also work well when it starts to get dark earlier.  The porters, stouts and brown ales all work well.  The beers with a little extra body can carry you through the tail gate.  Picking up some Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald would impress a newcomer to craft beer or the seasoned mustached CAMBRA member.

Fall has unique beers too.  Pumpkin beers are in season.  I am not the biggest fan of them, but there are enough people that cannot wait.  Dogfish Head Punkin, Southern Tier PumpKing, Heavy Seas Great Pumpkin and (if you need some warming) Weyerbacher's Imperial Pumpkin are all great beers that give a fresh dose of pumpkin.  Goes great with corn field mazes.

Finally, find some of the unique seasonals.  First one that should come to mind is The Bruery's Autumn Maple.  This perfect for Thanksgiving beer is brewed with yams, maple syrup and other spices that would accompany a Turkey dinner. Check with the local brewpubs to see what unique ingredients they are throwing in their beers, and take home a growler.

Hopefully, you can embrace Fall beers.  They are versatile and easy to drink.  What are your favorites?