Have you ever been so excited about the future that you forget to live in the present? That is me to a T.
I am always planning for the future, my next move or big life goal, and so often I forget that today could be just as good if I tried to live for the moment instead of spending today planning for tomorrow.
That was where my entire weekend disappeared to, as I sat around planning for my exciting future life when I could have been having an exciting weekend full of new opportunities and adventures. But at the same time, when I put very little effort into doing something that day, I fall into comfortable habits while I'm busy plugging away at planning my entire life.
Drinking Ichabod is one of those habits.
And then I suddenly remember why Ichabod became such a habit for me to drink in the fall. It's damn good.
I have professed my love for Jaw Jacker. I've made a habit out of hoarding bottles and bottles of O'Fallon's Pumpkin Beer. I've indulged in Fermentation Without Representation.
But nothing compares...... nothing compares to Ichabod.
New Holland is my hometown brewery. Kalamazoo is (in my heart) Beer City USA, but there is a special place in my heart for New Holland Brewing Co. Mad Hatter was the first beer I ever tried (sorry dad, I think it was yours). We used to eat their pizza when I was a kid. I knew nothing about brewing, but since I've gotten older, I can identify the first time I saw a boil kettle and mash tun at New Holland.
Ichabod is just a really lovely pumpkin ale. Pouring in at an average 5.5% abv, this beer is a non-hazed deep but glistening orange with a sizable head for what I've been seeing from the majority of these pumpkin ales. About a finger's thick.
Aroma (you're probably getting sick of me saying this) was full of baking spice and crust-like, bready accents, giving it an overall pumpkin pie feel.
The taste is well rounded, starting with some spicy ginger paired with nutmeg and cinnamon, leading into caramel malts and some dark stone fruit and finishing with a touch of bitter and pumpkin earthiness.
For me, choosing Ichabod is a no-brainer for me. It tends to moderately please those who enjoy pumpkin beer and those who don't. For those that don't, they normally don't cry foul on overwhelming pumpkin flavor masking any of the "good beer" components. Lovers of pumpkin beer may complain that there isn't enough sweetness or robust pumpkin flavor, but will acknowledge that the beer is truly a beautiful symphony of how so many ingredients balance so perfectly in golden liquid form.
Don't let me just sit here talking about it, go out and look for it. New Holland distributes to Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina. Thanks, Wikipedia.
