The Pike Brewing Co. - Harlot's Harvest Pike Pumpkin Ale

Tis' the season...

Remember to brush and floss, daily.

...for experimental-fall themed brews. Behold (but not too seriously), the Harlot's Harvest Pike Pumpkin Ale from The Pike Brewing Company in Seattle, Warshington (how Poobah pronounces it). When you think Fall, you think: leaves dying, the onset of winter, the beginning of real football (not hand-egg), and....probably pumpkins, especially if you are Wiccan. But, only speaking for myself here, there should be a gap between thinking about beer and pumpkins, together. I'm a craft brewsman when I wake up and even more so when I get to bed (after I've drank a few...or 5), but this combo just made me pause for a moment. But as a true craft brewsman, I knew there was only one way to find out if beer and the pulpous-pumpkin could peacefully coexist; to drink it.

Poured this baby into a pint glass and observed an oaky, coffee-colored tint with a nice, thick head that disappeared after a few moments. The rest, I gotta tell ya, was something that I don't care to repeat any time soon. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up eating pumpkins for sustenance (or being Wiccan), but what's certain, for me, is that pumpkins and beer should never mate and birth a beverage again. After a sip, my mouth was coated with a semi-thick layer of evolving flavor. First taste is reminiscent of a brown ale, subtle but with lightly-present flavor. As the mili-seconds ticked by after the sip, the pumpkin-ness started to rear it's orange, lumpy, stem-capped head. And as it showed up...I wanted it to go away. The flavor evolved from even-tempered brown ale into a pumpkin party covered in pulp with no party favor baggies (nightmare shit). After swallowing, my tongue was confused as to whether it just drank a mild ale or pumpkin pulp juice. Not recommending this brew or pumpkin ales in general would make me less of a crafts brewsman than I truly am. It's my first sampling of the seasonal-variety, so I won't judge as harshly as my taste-buds want me to.

Give it a shot if you're into experimental, "out there" style brews. I'm giving it a:

The Lizard King pondering pumpkin ales...

Dig it,

Jordan

12 Bar Brews - Wicked Riff IPA

So here we go, another "IPA"...

Conspicuously vague label, intriguing...

Alright, here we are with a bottle of "homework", as given to me by Barry Watson, my boss and the brain behind Pint Defiance. The extra-curricular work to be done was this mysterious bottle of oat soda called "Wicked Riff IPA" by 12 Bar Brews, a hole-in-the-wall brewery located in Woodinville, WA (their tasting room is closed Sunday through Thursday, which rules, if you truly dig the micro-brewing craft). 

Poured this screwball into a Pint Defiance pint glass which, once filled, was alight with a dull but bright (retarded-sounding I know, but I was there!) honey-caramel hue which was easy on the eyes enough to forget you were supposed to drink it. The brew itself is an enigma of flavor; a clash of sweet and bitter flavors which leaves my tongue as confused (but stoked) as a nursing home resident after receiving a knuckle-sandwich from Mike Tyson for lunch (even though the nursing home resident was far from stoked, unless he/she was a huge Tyson fan). I've got a citrus-colored 1970 Chevy Malibu with a cotton-candy-swirl interior crashing head-on into a hop-covered 1974 Datsun 260z with a gas-tank full of ginger extract.

This one is a beauty for two reasons; vagueness, and originality. As soon as Barry placed this one in my hands, I could only guess about it's origin, and as a true fan of micro-brews, that gets you stoked. And as I finally tasted it, it put my taste-buds into a benevolently-schizophrenic state, which I dearly hope I get to experience again! Whoa.

My Rating:

and a 

That's a 4.5....(DRINK THIS!)

<3,

Jordan

American Brewing Co.'s Breakaway IPA

First review, let's roll.

Right before I poured in some Apple Jacks

Picked up a frosty 22 oz'er from the brand-new Pint Defiance, a specialty beer store and taproom in Tacoma (2049 Mildred St.) after my shift, just got hired, stoked, enough commas....OK one more, now I'm done. Poured it into a "Pint Defiance" emblazoned pint glass that I also picked up. Thinking this is gonna be a pretty legit gig.


For me, a significant component to purchasing a bottle of beer is how the label grabs your attention. Clearly, it's what's inside that counts, the exterior is simply a billboard attempting to convince you. But let me just say, I appreciate a good-looking, eye-catching, and well put together label. When it comes to this one, I was stoked. I took a more detailed picture for you to enjoy/be saddened by, doesn't matter to me....

Colorful, well-designed, Steve Yzerman (probably), a badass label.

Poured into a nice caramel-bronze color with a solid finger.25 (1 finger and a quarter) head with great retention as I drank, the kind where you can measure the size of your gulps with distinct lines. It's never smart to judge a book (or beer) by it's cover. Unless you are familiar with the author (or brewer/brewery) and in this case I wasn't, proving the theory correct. But hey, regardless of a beer's quality I still appreciate a proper label. Despite the aesthetics, ABCo's Breakaway IPA didn't deliver as fully as I was hoping for. For being labeled as an IPA, it lacked in hoppiness and shared the extra room with a malty flavor and mouthfeel. Being on a current IPA binge, the taste-bud assault that a good IPA can bring was missing from this one which disappointed me slightly. Outside of my expectations, this is a quality stab at the IPA variety. Might be the simple fact that I've been craving the IPA aggressiveness lately, but in all honesty not much can be taken from ABCo's effort. Well-rounded, and unique, give it a shot.

My rating:

Love,

Jordan




ABCo's website - http://www.americanbrewing.com/

Stone Cali-Belgie

Stone Cali-Belgie - 6.9% - IPA (sort of)

I had this sucker-fish a long time ago but don't recall writing a review.  I had it again the other night at Local Habit and then stopped by the Stone South Park store on the way home from the North Park Market (which isn't a fun market).  I wanted to get my friend an Enjoy By IPA but they were out, so I grabbed this gem for $4.25.  What a steal.

I don't know if I can describe it better than Stone does, but I'll give it a shot because I'm awesome.  It's basically a California IPA with Belgian yeast.  And it tastes exactly like you would imagine, pouring one part a solid (not amazing, just solid) west coast style IPA in a glass and one part Belgian (I had to educate myself on that one.  You say Belgian beer not Belgium.  The example was you wouldn't say you like England beer, you would say English.)  white.  It has a perfect balance of hops with the nice smooth, lemon vanilla flavours often found in a Belgian white.  The aroma puts out very strong yeast notes.  It's a really enjoyable summer beer - but who are we kidding, any beer is good in summertime, but you know what I mean.  Cheers mates, if you see it give it a shot, you won't be disappointed, I'm not.

I really enjoyed this one.  Maybe I'm a high grader by this is definitely a Gandalf, 5/5.

Growing out BEERds Rating Sytem

Greetings Beer Enthusiasts!

As my good fellow Earl "Grey" Gerlach mentioned, we will be teaming up together to share with you our experiences regarding our encounters with specialty beers of all variety's from every corner of the globe (until Curiosity Rover finds the first pub on Mars, probably some good Kölsch out there). As you journey on with us through the wide and wondrous world of beer, we ask for and welcome your input in any form, be it; compliments, concerns, shit-talking, recommendations, or anything related to beer (yourself in a bikini, enjoying a brew, women only please). Welcome aboard!


Now back to business...


In congruence with the Beard theme this blog has taken on, we've crafted a rating system that will help us more clearly convey to you our opinion on a particular beer. Our fancy rating system will be applied to every beer we bring to to the blog. The system is based on a number scale from 1-5 ("1" being the lowest and "5" being the highest, with 1/2 ratings being in the mix also) and each one will be represented by an epic beard (or lack-thereof) that's been worn by a legendary person.

The rating system is as follows:

5 - A wizard beard, represented by Gandalf.

4 - A philosopher beard, represented by Confucius

3 - A lumberjack beard, represented by Paul Bunyan

2 - A hippie beard, represented by Jim Morrison (on acid, which actually qualifies him as a "6" rating regarding his enlightenment from his acid-trip, but after some hours he comes down to his present rating of "2")

1 - a tyrant beard, represented by Adolf Hitler

So that's that! Check-up on us regularly for insightful input on rare, specialty beers and comedic banter, we are more than stoked to bring it to you. Cheers!

- Jordan

Stone Smoked Porter w/ Chipotle Peppers

First post.  By Lord Gerlach himself  (old lacrosse reference).

A quick preface.  Me and Jordan Yergler, or Jordinho - if you can't pronounce that correctly you must more of a sheltered life than Brendan Fraser did in Blast From The Past - (who lives back in Tacoma, WA), used to do beer reviews and post them on each others Facebook.  So we came up with this wicked cool idea to collaborate and just post on here.  You'll be able to tell the styles of writing apart, and we will reference it.  This should be fun and each post will be short.  Stay tuned.

So I remember talking beers with a fellow Marine beer fan, and this beer came up.  My opinion is drastically different from his.

Stone Smoked Porter w/ Chipotle Peppers (5.9%).  I wish I had a regular one to side by side compare it with, but whatever.  When I poured the beer I was expecting an overwhelming aroma of chipotle, but just got a very subtle bite.  It tastes very similar to the smoked porter (as it should), but with perhaps more of a woody, maybe oak flavor.  A solid malt character and not bitter at all for a porter.  It reminds me of what Guinness SHOULD be.  (Note, I'm not a Guinness hater in a Irish Pub, but beyond that - get over yourself it's not thick and the flavor is minimal).  I get a subtle hint of heat at the end of each drink, with it becoming more pronounced as the drink warms.  I almost get more of a black pepper flavor than chipotle though.  I liked it, a lot more than I thought I would.

4 of 5 BEERds

And sidenote to bullshit on.  I actually acted like a grown adult and did grown adult things the other day.  Like mop my hardwood floor for the first time since I moved in over 5 months ago.  Haha.  Then I went on a date to a wine tasting on an empty stomach and convinced multiple people that I grew up in Debron, Illinois on a farm with cows.  It was fun.