Terrapin Pumpkinfest

While at a booze bake-off at Shady McGrady’s in Harrisburg, I ordered a glass of Terrapin Pumpkinfest. The beer pours a brown color with a bubbly white colored head. The aroma consists of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and caramel. The taste is light with pumpkin but strong with cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice flavors. There is a dry finish that leaves cinnamon and toasted malts behind. The alcohol content is 6.1% ABV. I’d say that Pumpkinfest was a pretty decent fall seasonal, but could benefit from a little more pumpkin and slightly less spices. I would order it again, but there are also better pumpkin beers out there.

Troegs Scratch 75- English IPA

Another beer I got to try while at the American Homebrewers Association rally at Troegs was the Scratch 75- English IPA on cask. The beer pours an amber color with a thin bubbly white colored head. The aroma consists of toffee, caramel, butterscotch, and grass. The taste is sweet and spicy with flavors of grassy hops and lemon. The finish brings out burnt toffee, caramel, and a bit of a funk. The alcohol content is not posted yet, but I would assume it to be about 6.5% ABV. Scratch 75 falls under the category of sweeter IPAs and it definitely had the English hop funk to it. It’s not quite what I am used to in IPAs, but is a nice throwback to the original style.

Selin's Grove Brewing Shade Mountain Oatmeal Stout

The final beer I ordered at Selin’s Grove Brewing Company on The Beer Circle Central PA Beer Tour was the Shade Mountain Oatmeal Stout. The beer pours a dark brown color with a creamy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of toasted malts, molasses, chocolate, and milk. The taste is dry and chocolaty with toasted malts, roasted flavor, and a bitter hop finish. The alcohol content is 4.8% ABV. While this beer has a great focus on chocolate and molasses, the bitter hop finish is what makes this beer an excellent one. The milky accents as well make it very easy to drink and quite tasty.

Selin's Grove Brewing American Pale Ale

I ordered a glass of Selin’s Grove Brewing Company American Pale Ale while on The Beer Circle Central PA Beer Tour. The beer pours a cloudy amber color with a frothy white colored head. The aroma consists of lemon, pine, caramel, orange, and tangerine. The taste is bitter with lemon on the front end and a good caramel base. A dry finish appears with pepper spices and leaves behind some pine, orange, and tangerine. The alcohol content is 5.7% ABV. This was very nice pale ale with a perfect balance of bitter and sweet.

Selin's Grove Brewing Wit

On The Beer Circle Central PA Beer Tour, I ordered a glass of Wit at Selin’s Grove Brewing Company. The beer pours a golden color with a thin bubbly white colored head. The aroma consists of lemon, grass, and a few barnyard hints. The taste is big on lemon with a nice grassy undertone. Earthiness comes out on the finish and gives great character to this beer. The alcohol content is not available online, but I would estimate it to be about 4.5% ABV. This was a wonderful beer for drinking outside on the patio in the summer, as it was refreshing and complex.

Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans

I ordered a glass of Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans while on The Beer Circle PA tour at Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a black color with a frothy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of smoke, vanilla, chocolate, and toasted malts. The taste is smooth with a strong vanilla presence and a light smoke background that gets stronger as it lingers. Balancing out all of the flavors is a peppery finish derived from the hops. The alcohol content is 5.9% ABV. The addition of vanilla beans to this beer really made it smooth drinking, but it did not eliminate the strong smoke presence. I loved how the smoke intensified as it it lingered in the mouth, and I would drink this again.

Firestone Walker Wookey Jack Black Rye IPA

My buddy Matt brought over a bottle of Firestone Walker Wookey Jack Black Rye IPA to share at our weekly bottle share. The beer pours a black color with a lofty and frothy tan colored head that leaves a lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of rye, chocolate, toasted malts, pepper, and cream. The taste is smooth and chocolaty with a solid creamy mouth feel before rye spiciness takes over. The finish leaves some toasted malts linger behind. The alcohol content is 8.3% ABV. I was surprised as to how smooth this rye beer was with a great creamy mouth feel. It was easy to drink and overly smooth, and I loved every second of it.

Brouwerij Boon Horal's Oude Geuze Mega Blend

Another beer that Russ brought to The Beer Circle bottle share was Brouwerij Boon Horal’s Oude Geuze Mega Blend. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white colored head. The aroma consists of barnyard funk, horse blanket, lemon, grass, hay, and straw. The taste is dry, funky, barnyard, horse blanket, and lemon. There is a really dry finish with some pepper and grass as well. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I thoroughly enjoyed the geuze and its overly funky flavor. It really hit all of the flavor notes I expect out of a geuze, and I would recommend it.

The Bruery Sans Pagaie

A beer that Russ brought to share at The Beer Circle bottle share was The Bruery Sans Pagaie. The beer pours an orange color with no head at all. The aroma consists of funk, vinegar, raspberry, and wheat. The taste is tart, raspberry, vinegar, cherry, and grass. The finish is also tart and very dry with a great funky flavor to it. The alcohol content is 5.8% ABV. I thought this was a nicely tart American Wild Ale that was rather easy to drink. It’s not the most intense sour beer, but was great for a warm summer evening.

Anchorage Brewing Love Buzz Saison

During a bottle share after The Beer Circle PA tour, Paige brought out a bottle of Anchorage Brewing Love Buzz Saison. The beer pours an amber color with a bubbly white colored head. The aroma consists of wheat, barnyard funk, pepper, red wine, and grass. The taste is dry, wine, pepper, wheat, and a barnyard funk. A bit of lemon comes out in the finish with a great dry finish. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. The red wine aspects to this beer absolutely rocked my tongue and made it a more than impressive beer. If there ever was a beer to help the wine aficionados convert to beer, this may be the one.