beauty and the brew

Like the name of this next beer, I'm going to keep this review short and to the point.

This is a backlogged review from last night for O'Fallon Brewery's Pumpkin Beer (5.5% abv).

Everything about this beer screams pumpkin. To me, when I think pumpkin beer, I come to associate that very closely with O'Fallon's. The label makes it unmistakable, it has a giant jack-o-lantern on it. It's just called "Pumpkin Beer." It's written in huge white letters on a dark label.

The beer itself is the color of pumpkin pie. It's a cloudy ginger orange with very little head.

It smells exactly like pumpkin pie. You get everything in the nose, from pumpkin to spice, down to the smell of freshly baked crust.

The taste opens up a lot if you let this guy sit and warm for a few minutes. I know the aroma is tempting, but just wait a second. The pumpkin taste goes from diluted and overwhelmed by really basic malt flavors to a really prominent flavor component. General spiciness, most notably a solid backbone of cloves, ginger, and cinnamon. As I mentioned before, some beers get a bit of sweetness when you combine baking spice with sugary malts. This is one that does for me, but it's not too much. But again, from a beer that smells identical to pumpkin pie, it tastes exactly what you'd expect from that aroma.

Mouthfeel is actually one of the highlights for me. It has really solid carbonation that makes this more refreshing than some of the heavier pumpkin beers on the market right now. While it might be a little sweet to drink with all your dinnertime fall favorites, something saltier, like a pulled pork on a pretzel bun, would probably pair perfectly with this beer.

I feel like that is really what this beer has going for it. It's not experimental in any way, nor is it the most shining example of a perfect pumpkin beer. But I don't think anyone could try it and say "wow, that wasn't what I expected at all." It looks like it smells and it smells how it tastes. And that is 100% pumpkin beer.

Tonight is so beautiful.

I can't get over it. Every other year, I have dug my feet into the summer ground and refused to move into autumn, but this year I feel totally different. Maybe it has something to do with having graduated eight months ago, so I did not start school this week. I have all this extra money in my bank account from not buying books (except not really at all), I don't have to deal with lost people running around campus (except the theater I work at half the week is on campus), I don't have to worry about studying (except I have the GREs coming up), and I won't have to spend the entire week organizing the thousands of pages from syllabi I just crammed into my bag when I first received them (that one is true).

Despite the cruel fact that with the end of one of life's hardships comes another, totally different but equally difficult one, I can't help but feel somewhat accomplished as I see students running around like lost prairie dogs trying to collect what they need for the new year and hoping that they won't fail any of their classes. I totally don't have to do that this year, and it is actually pretty great.

Anyway, I broke open my beer fridge this evening and went straight for Ommegang, did not pass go, did not collect $200.

So this is my review of Rare Vos from Brewery Ommegang (6.5%), which is their amber ale.

Definitely getting a good, solid two to three finger head off the pour. Thick, frothy volume in golden white. Fades down to about a one finger head, but still, so thick and almost chunky.

There's some heavy haze in here, and the color is true amber through and through.

First off, there's a ton of candied orange peel in the aroma, as well as some apple and pear. Some very faint hoppiness at the end. There's good, solid butter caramel malts in there as well.

Right of the bat... cloves. Absolutely cloves. And coriander. This beer is super mild, more than I expected but I am pleasantly surprised. I was kind of cringing thinking it would be a very robustly sweet beer considering the aroma. No hops present whatsoever, but I licked my lips and got the slightest touch of bitterness. I am definitely tasting some apple peel, to me it is one of the strongest notes. Maybe a little bit of peppercorn as well. As it warms you get this really great, soothing bread-like quality that mixes perfectly with the mild, not-too-sweet fruit (again, like apple peel, or maybe underripe pear).




I really love this beer. As the weather transitions to fall and it gets a little cooler outside here in Michigan, this amber ale is really suiting my mood. It's not crisp and biting, it's not in-your-face refreshing or citrusy acidic. But you don't need that, because there's a really nice fall breeze coming in with the night, and it's wafting through my windows to create the most perfect temperature. It's exactly like this beer..... not too much, not too little. It's subtle, but only because it knows it's so elegant, it doesn't need to be all up in your face like that.

This beer is perfect for today.