The Bruery-Dogfish Head Faster, Bigger, Better, Bolder (Gradually, Quietly, Steadily)

I picked up a bottle of The Bruery-Dogfish Head collaboration Faster, Bigger, Better, Bolder (Gradually, Quietly, Steadily). The beer pours a pale golden color with a lively and lofty frothy white head. The aroma consists of lemon, wheat, orange (kumquats?), peppercorn, and grass. The taste is light and citrusy with lemon and grass on the front end with a smooth orange accent, which comes from the kumquats. The finish leaves a dry flavor in the mouth with grass, peppercorn, and some wheat. The alcohol content is 8.25% ABV. I would say that I was a little disappointed in this beer, coming from two brewing giants. It wasn’t bad, but I really didn’t enjoy the finish and thought it reminded of an adjunct lager.

Iron Hill Great Pumpkin Stout

I went to Iron Hill in Lancaster for dinner and I ordered a glass of Great Pumpkin Stout. The beer pours a pours a black color with a thin frothy tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, toasted malts, and has some faint hints of sweet pumpkin. The taste is chocolaty at first with dark chocolate before sweet pumpkin comes in to play. Cinnamon and nutmeg kick in with the perfect balance of spices and hints of vanilla come out on the finish with a light toasted malt flavor. The alcohol content is 9.4% ABV. This was quite an enjoyable beer, with plenty of chocolate flavors, but not so much that the pumpkin was masked. The spices in this beer were very enjoyable as well, without being too overpowering.

Ithaca Gorges Smoked Porter

I ordered a glass of Ithaca Gorges Smoked Porter from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a black color with a thin filmy tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, smoke, and toasted malts. I’d like to think there was more to the aroma, but the smoke masked anything else for me. The taste is smoky and dry with a nice dark chocolate base and plenty of toasted malts. The finish, as expected, was dry with smoke that lingers around for a while. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. I enjoyed the Gorges Smoked Porter very much, as it provided a solid base for the smoke to flourish rather than overpower.

Boulder Never Summer Ale

On a recent visit to Al’s of Hampden, I ordered a glass of Boulder Never Summer Ale. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white colored head. The aroma is faint but consists of malts and some caramel. The taste is smooth and creamy (this beer was poured on nitro) with caramel flavors aplenty. There is a dry lemon and pepper hop accent that takes over the mouth. The alcohol content is 5.94% ABV. For a winter warmer, this beer was quite hoppy and citrusy. I enjoyed it and thought it was best enjoyed in November, when I had it, than in February.

New Glarus Raspberry Tart

I received a bottle of New Glarus Raspberry Tart in a beer trade with Bob Peck (NoVABeer). I previous tasted this beer at Great American Beer Festival, but I never had a bottle of it. The beer pours a red amber color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma consists of raspberries, sugar, and pie crust. The taste is sweet and powerful with plenty of tart raspberry punch on the tongue. It is rather sweet with some vinegar underneath and a pie-like finish. The alcohol content is 4.0% ABV. This beer provides such a delectable experience, with its start as lightly tart and sour before transitioning into a dessert-like drink, similar to pie in a bottle.

Odell Woodcut Number 5

My buddy Matt brought back a bottle of Odell Woodcut Number 5 from Denver and brought it over to my house to share. The beer pours a dark amber color with a frothy cream colored head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of raspberry, vinegar, funk, grassy, hay, and dirt. The taste is lightly sour, but not too much, with a solid caramel and raisin base. The sourness comes out with some vinegar, raspberry, hay, barnyard funk, and a bit of lemon. The alcohol content is 11.3% ABV. This was quite the quality beer with wonderful flavors. The mixture of raisin flavors with funk and sour raspberry made for a great balance, one that took the tongue on a wild ride.

Persha Pruvatna Brovariya Medove (Honey)

The final beer in the Persha Pruvatna Brovariya sampler pack was Medove, which translates to Honey. The beer pours a honey-golden color with a filmy white head. The aroma consists of honey, and lots of it, with caramel malts. The taste is smooth and sweet with plenty of honey flavors sitting atop a caramel base. There are some faint grassy hops with a pepper accent lingering in the background. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. I enjoyed this beer very much with its honey sweetness and its underlying caramel base. It also had enough spices in the background to hold up to the sweetness.

Persha Pruvatna Brovariya Platinum Svitle

The third beer I tried in the Persha Pruvatna Brovariya sampler pack was the Platinum Svitle. The beer pours a golden color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of light sour malts, hints of caramel, grass, and lemon. The taste is light bodied and malty with some caramel, toffee, and lemon. There are some grassy hops as well, but not too much flavor. The alcohol content is 5.6% ABV. While drinkable, this beer was very light-bodied and, worst yet, light-flavored. There wasn’t much depth to its flavor, and I felt it fell rather short of good.

Persha Pruvatna Brovariya Avtors'ke

The second beer I tried in the Persha Pruvatna Brovariya sampler that my buddy Jeff brought to my house was the Avtors'ke. The beer pours an amber color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of caramel, malts, and raisin. The taste is smooth and malts with a large caramel profile. A hint of grass and pine hops show up, but are very faint. The alcohol content is 6.8% ABV. Of all of the beers in the sampler, this one was by far the best. It had some nice dark fruit flavors and plenty of caramel, with a decent amount of hop balance.

Persha Pruvatna Brovariya Stare Misto Lager Beer

My buddy Jeff picked up a sample pack from Persha Privatna Brovariya, and he decided to bring it to my house to share on Black Friday. The first beer in the pack we tried was the Stare Misto Lager Beer. The beer pours a pale gold color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma consists of caramel, malts, lemon, and faint grassy hops. The taste is smooth and malty with a light profile. There are some caramel flavors with other malts as well. The finish has some grassy hops that are faint, but complimentary. The alcohol content is 4.8% ABV. While light-bodied, this beer had some decent flavors to it. The hops were not all that intensive, but it was an enjoyable and refreshing beer.

Cigar City Warmer Winter Winter Warmer

My buddy Matt brought over a bottle of Cigar City Warmer Winter Winter Warmer to share. The beer pours a brown color with a frothy beige colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, sugar, citrus hints, and raisin. The taste is smooth and malty with plenty of caramel and raisin flavors on the front end. There is a bit of a boozy and warming finish with some pepper and a bit of plum flavors. The alcohol content 10.0% ABV. As far as winter warmers, Cigar City’s was a solid offering. It was boozy and sweet, but had enough balance in citrus and pepper to keep it from being overly sweet.

Jolly Pumpkin Fuego del Otono Autumn Fire

My buddy Matt brought over a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin Fuego del Otono Autumn Fire that he picked up from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a cloudy golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of barnyard, hay, horse blanket, chestnuts, lemon, and wheat. The taste is smooth and sweet at first with lemon before a slight tinge takes over the tongue with hay and horse blanket flavors. The finish has some pepper and chestnuts. The alcohol content is 6.1% ABV. As with most Jolly Pumpkin Beers, this one had a great funkiness to it and was a wonderful wild ale. It had just the right amount of spices for fall, and just a touch of sweetness on the front end.