Flying Fish Oktoberfish

A bar in Philadelphia that I was at had Flying Fish Oktoberfish on draft and I did not hesitate to order a glass. The beer is amber in color and has a slight caramel aroma. The taste is hitting on sweet malts with hints of caramel and brown sugar. The beer finishes a little spicy due to the hops. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. I thought that this beer was very good overall. The caramel and hops played with each other, trying to be the more dominant flavor.

Manayunk Brewing Company

My buddy lives in Manayunk, so to start the evening off right we went to the Manayunk Brewing Company.

The first beer I had was the Schuylkill Punch, which is a raspberry lager. The beer came with no head and is a reddish-purple color. It has a sweet fruity aroma. The taste is light and malty with a nice raspberry accent. I thought that raspberry was not overdone and delicately balanced the malts. It has a slight hop finish. The alcohol content is 7% ABV. This was not a bad start to the warm evening, as it is a refreshing drink.

The second beer I ordered was the Wheat Wallop, which is an imperial wheat. The description completely intrigued me, as it is a hefeweizen “ramped up to wine strength.” The beer is an unfiltered gold color and it smelled like grapes and oranges. The taste was very sweet and fruity, definitely hitting on the grape accent. It had a dry finish due to the alcohol. The alcohol content is 10.6% ABV. I was very impressed with this offering, as there were more fruity flavors in this than a typical hefeweizen. I also very much appreciated the extra alcohol kick.

The final beer I tried at Manayunk was the Manayunk Lager, a marzen style lager. The beer has an amber color with a very light head. There is no aroma. The taste is sweet and malty and has a light finish. There are some slight sour tones on the back of the mouth. The alcohol content is 6.2% ABV. I thought that the Manayunk Lager was a good beer with a balance of sweetness and dryness.

Stoudt Pumpkinlicious

I stopped by the Stoudts Brewery on my way to Philadelphia to try the Pumpkinlicious, which is only available at the brewery. The beer is a golden orange color with a soft white head. The aroma is mostly comprised of ginger with a hint of pumpkin. The taste is heavy on pumpkin with accents of ginger and vanilla. The beer finished a little dry with an undertone of cinnamon. The alcohol content is not posted on the website, but I would guess around 7.5% ABV. I thought overall this is a very good pumpkin beer and was worth the side trip. Drinking this beer fresh from brewery could have also made the difference, as the freshness was very evident. I will make this side trip again.

Lost Abbey Judgment Day Ale

Katie at McGrath's suggested I try Lost Abbey Judgment Day Ale, and I took her up on the suggestion. The beer is copper brown in color with a light foamy head. The aroma is very sweet and hints at the intense alcohol content. The taste is malty and sweet, mostly comprised of raisins with a chocolate undertone. It finishes with large kick of alcohol on your tongue, as if you needed a reminder that you were drinking a Belgian style beer. The alcohol content is 10.5% ABV. Overall, I thought this beer was very complex and very tasty.

Stone 09-09-09 Vertical Epic

I was very excited to see that McGrath's in Harrisburg brought in a keg of Stone 09-09-09 Vertical Epic. The beer is black with a tan frothy head. It has a slight slight chocolate aroma. The taste is malty and consists of a sweet chocolate with hints of vanilla. The finish is slightly dry with a hop kick on the back of the tongue. The alcohol content is 8.6% ABV. I thought that the 2009 version of the Vertical Epic is very good and I hope that the keg is not kicked by the time I get back to McGrath's, as I definitely want another glass of it.

Bare Knuckle Stout

McGrath's in Harrisburg recently tapped a keg of Bare Knuckle Stout. I did not know until after drinking it that this beer hails from Anheuser-Busch. The beer is dark brown with no head. There isn't much of an aroma at all. It has a bitter taste with no flavor. The make up of the beer is very watery. I could not locate an alcohol content, but I would guess it to be around 5% ABV. Overall, this beer is not very good and I do not recommend it. As far as stouts go, this is a very poor one in my opinion.

Clipper City Heavy Seas Loose Cannon

The final (fourth) beer I had out of the Clipper City Heavy Seas sampler pack was Loose Cannon. It is described as hop-cubed ale, as it is a hoppy ale. It has a copper color and a very flowery aroma. The taste is all about the hops. It is sort of unrelenting in its hop bite, but has accent of citrus, most notably grapefruit. It has a crisp and slightly dry finish. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. Although this beer is very hoppy, the citrus accent makes it somewhat enjoyable. Be prepared for a hop kick in the tongue when trying this beer.