A Pint Half Full

Received a bottle from my friend, Joel, of this dark beer since he was having trouble finishing. Not a good sign. This beer was featured in the Washington Post's Beer Madness in the porter style (or other dark beer style) bracket. It went up against another porter - Breckinridge Vanilla Porter (which I also got from Joel!) - and lost! What is this? A beloved DFH beer losing in the first round of THE beer tournament AND my friend can't finish it! Signs point to a beer that just isn't that great or I just can't handle with my hop-biased palate.

My last foray into dark DFH beers was the World Wide Stout and that was a tough one foe me. It was too high in alcohol, had too strong a licorice taste that bordered on crude oil and I couldn't take it even by sipping. The Palo Santo Marron is like the little brother to the stout, with a more subtle flavor profile and I think more balanced flavor. Its aged in old Paraguayan wood barrels as the label indicates and you can taste the wood in the beer in the aftertaste. Upfront, there are notes of caramel, vanilla, and some dark cherry. The 12% alcohol level balances the beer, cutting through the sweetness. Overall pretty good, definitely a sipper and for the adventurous!

It's September which means Fall is here (who cares if it's still 90 degrees outside, September means FALL!!!)  and along with that comes your Octoberfest and Pumpkin beers.  The Sam Adams Octoberfest was released last week and DFH Punkin Ale released today.  Be on the lookout for these two offerings as well as the other seasonals.

I partook in the Sam Adams Octoberfest last week at my fantasy football draft out of a bottle.  I think it'd taste better in a glass but it did have an odd taste to it.  It had a bit of the natural pumpkin flavor with a rush of sweet malt at the front of the drink and then just kind of faded.  I was a bit disappointed with it but will have to reserve judgement until I have it in a glass.  I'd say it's a little better than last year's however.

I was fortunate to attend the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale release party at the Fairfax, VA branch of the DFH Alehouse and had some fresh Punkin Ale by the pint.  I must say that it is more subtle and balanced in its flavor profile than last year's; balancing the pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugars very well whereas last year's was a bit more on the sweet side.  Definitely pick up a 4-pack if you find it and like pumpkin beers.  Enjoy!

I've been on a dark beer kick as of late in search of new flavors.  More specifically, beers with dark fruit flavors - figs, cherries, mixed with chocolate and coffee.  Dark beers I've tried seem to have less hop bitterness and more emphasis on malt and spice complexity.  Harder to find in your typical beer store but really cool when you find it.  The two beers I describe in this post are a bit of opposites - the first is a Belgian Strong Dark Ale and the other is an Imperial Stout.  Granted they are two different styles but one has a really nice balance while the other just breaks you down into a trembling mess.

The Lost Abbey Ten Commandments - Flavor profile of dark cherries, dark chocolate with a smooth and slick mouthfeel.  Great balance between that sweetness and hop flavor.  Just blends together so well.  The beer tastes like a dessert.  A bit of alcoholic warmth coats the throat as you drink it but I thought the alcohol taste was hardly noticeable and masked by other flavors.  This one makes me want to try more of this style of beers.


Dogfish Head World Wide Stout - Looking forward to it since it's a Dogfish Head Stout but what a disaster!  Waaaay too strong alcohol wise and tastes like licorice or paint thinner.  I tried to choke it down but just was not feeling it.  Strong strong dark cherries and really high alcohol content.  As it warmed, the alcohol came to the forefront and dominated any flavor profile.  Sorry DFH.  Go try Old Rasputin Imperial Stout for what this style should taste like.

I was browsing around my Netflix streaming library and saw the movie "Beer Wars" available for streaming.  I thought perhaps this movie was like "Beerfest", a comedy about a beer olympic competition.  Far from it, "Beer Wars" is a documentary about the beer industry in America, attempting to explain why the "Big Three" beer companies dominate the market and how difficult it is for smaller breweries to gain marketshare and bring their products to the masses.  The documentary pretty much demonizes the Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors companies and makes you want to never buy or drink their products again.  It highlights Dogfish Head Brewing as an up and coming brewery trying to make its mark on the beer world and contrasts the passion of one man to the profit-scheming of corporations.   The director, Anat Baron, is pretty annoying as the narrator (see Michael Moore), admits that she is allergic to alcohol, and was the CEO of Mike's Hard Lemonade prior to making this movie (which knocked her credibility down a bit for me - that stuff is weak!).  However, it's a decent documentary, creating this David vs Goliath story and portraying the craft beer world with love and passion.  I did not like the extreme bias against and repeated hatred for the larger brewing companies (we get it!) and the following of one story line which seemed to contradict the agenda the movie was trying to promote.  Read on for more of my thoughts.

Purchased from:
Whole Foods, Fair Lakes, VA

ABV%:
7%

Type:
Brown Ale

Color:
Pumpkin orange with a cinnamon tinge

Aroma:
Smells of the pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg primarily. 

Taste:
Crisp, nice blend of the pumpkin pie essences and smooth.  All the flavors work together.  Creamy.   A little sweet, but overall a thick, robust beer.  A bit of aftertaste but cleans up with a little bitterness from the hops.

Overall:
I'm going to disclaimer this right now and say that if you're not a fan of pumpkin/pumpkin pie you MAY not enjoy this beer!  I recommended this beer to a couple of my friends who went out and bought it on my suggestion and they didn't like it.  One of them doesn't drink beer so their opinion doesn't count but the other loves pumpkin pie AND beer and still didn't like it.  I think he was surprised by the mix of pumpkin with beer so it may have thrown him off (like me and the Old Rasputin - which, thinking back on it, and as one of my commenters pointed out, is truly an excellent beer). 

Anyway, this beer delivers.  As I said in my post previously, the DFH Punkin Ale really brings you into the fall season with its reminders of Thanksgivings past in its aroma and a harvest-y, hearty feel through its taste.  The flavors are balanced and you can pinpoint all the different spices.  At the same time, it's not like you're drinking pumpkin pie juice - this is a beer!  It's got some hops and malt as the bitterness and sweetness counteract each other to add to the balance.  It is creamy, smooth, and rich making it more satisfying.  It all becomes quite complex and keeps you going back for more. 

4/5

The boss "made" us go to happy hour last Friday and as I walked out into the hallway, encountered my co-workers asking where we should go. I tried playing it cool by saying "Dogfish, but I'm down with whatever" meanwhile hoping in the back of mind no one would have beef with the suggestion. Basically, the way our happy hours work out, we either go get cheap Miller/Coors/Bud Lights or we go to Dogfish Head and enjoy some quality beverages while unwinding from another long, tedious week. Usually, it's the former, and well, honestly, we deserve better than that.


So we head on over to the DFH Alehouse once again. Excitedly, I turn around as we enter the bar to see what offerings they have. "Punkin... Ale"?!!?? Apparently, the fall season is upon us! My eyes widen and I know exactly what I'm getting. I order it and take a big whiff. Pure joy as memories flood my mind of Thanksgivings past. I'm a huge pumpkin pie fan and after hearing some of the hype about this beer, it truly did not disappoint. On first sip, the beer just completely hit me with the creamy, nutmeggy, pumpkiny, buttery, pie-crusty, vanilla-y goodness that comes with your first bit of pumpkin pie with ice cream on top. Yes, it was that good. Subsequent intakes did not yield as strong a flavor as the first sip but that's good because it was not overpowering in anyway but just reminded you of that initial burst of flavor. So good; will look for this in the store in the coming months.

Next on the menu was another seasonal brew from DFH called "Aprihop".

If you didn't know, there's a new Dogfish Head Alehouse (www.dogfishalehouse.com) that opened in Chantilly, VA, not too far from the office. After visiting the Falls Church site, I was pretty excited that another one was opening up close to work (happy hour anyone?) A couple of my co-workers and I visited last week to check it out. Needless to say, the place was packed as the DFH beers are pretty popular and local to our area. I have to say this new venue is pretty nice and they have about 9-10 different beers on tap, varying in price from $5-$13. Their happy hour is $1.50 off drafts and $2 off pizza making their $5 drafts around $3.50. Not too bad to support a microbrew and their quality beers.

DFH beers are generally quite flavorful, using interesting ingredients and tend to be more hoppy (at least the ones I've tried). I particularly like their Indian Brown Ale as it's smooth, dark, and malty yet balanced.

However, this DFH Alehouse had one beer I'd been reading about that wasn't at the Falls Church one - "Theobroma"! They base their recipe off of what they believe was used in ancient Aztec drinks, including chiles and cocoa. I ordered it and it was still $10!!! This was during happy hour. I was expecting alot.