Traveler Jack-O Shandy

Traveler Jack-O Shandy - Ale brewed with Lemon Peel with Natural Flavors and Pumpkin added (2013)

Brewed and Bottled by The Traveler Beer Company in Burlington, Vermont. USA.

Autumn Seasonal (New).

12 fl. oz. / $2.25 USD / 4.4% ABV

About: "Driven by an obsessive love of high jinks, the Jack-O-Traveler spent his days cooking up mischief for everyone who crossed his path. One of his favorite pranks involved tricking unsuspecting bar patrons into buying him beers and then skipping out just when it was his turn to buy a round. Representing the darker side of Shandy, Jack-O-Traveler is an alluring beer illuminated by the tastes of fall. He strikes the perfect balance between bright refreshment and seasonal spice. Jack is brewed with fresh pumpkin, for a delicious, dark hued, Shandy-inspired beer."

Thoughts: I was actually really surprised to see this suddenly on the shelves. It came rather unexpected. This company had just released three different versions of their Shandy beers and it happened real quick, so I didn't think they'd take on Pumpkin so soon. Jack-O poured a real cloudy amber orange with a slightly grayish head on top. There's not really any carbonation to be seen and it's not the prettiest of beers, despite being a la-de-da Shandy.

This beer smells pretty awesome though. Heavy, massive amounts of cinnamon with a sweet malty undertone to it. Smells a bit like pumpkin pie, and I like that. Can't really get any of the lemon peel in the scent though.

It's really good. There's no bitterness to this at all, but I'm not letting that bother me. This stuff is sweet all the way through, but it's not intensely sweet, nor is it mild. It's damn near perfect. By far the best shandy I've ever had. It's malty for the most part, and the mixing of 2-row barley and wheat is such a great combination to mix with this cinnamon and pumpkin. I'm glad they didn't use pale malt with the wheat because I think it would have really suffered from being too light if that were the case. Here it's pretty indulgent and hits in heavy waves at first before pulling back and riding out with that wheat. It's cool stuff. The hops are pretty mild and are definitely overshadowed by the spices here, but this tastes more like a real beer than a shandy actually. You can still tell it's a shandy obviously, especially a few seconds after swallowing each gulp when that sweetness really hits and the lemon peel comes into play. But that just adds another dimension to this drink. It tastes like a really good store brand pumpkin pie, and that's more than I can say about some of the other pumpkin brews that totally suck.

The mouth feel is pretty thick and a little bit sticky. It's not too drying so perhaps they didn't just dump a bunch of cinnamon powder into this, but instead used "natural flavoring". Whatever they did, it feels right, smells right and tastes right. Honestly, I'm really surprised. Don't ask me why but I thought for sure this beer was going to suck. But man this is one terrific tasting brew! Cool label too.

Het Anker Lucifer

Brouwerij Het Anker Lucifer - Belgian Pale Ale (2013)

Brewed and Bottled by Brouwerij Het Anker in Mechelen, Belgium.

Year Round Brew.

25.4 fl. oz. / $9.99 USD / 8% ABV

About: "Lucifer entered the market in the mid 1980s under the label of Liefmans breweries. It was an extension to the popular segment of strong, blonde beers. After Liefmans Breweries disappeared, Lucifer fell into the hands of our neighbours and friends Duvel Moortgat. However, they only wished to concentrate on Liefmans’ fruit beers. Lucifer was in danger of dying a silent death. But we didn’t let it get that far, our conscience couldn’t allow this to happen. Het Anker received the right to produce and commercialise Lucifer. May we roast in hell if it doesn’t follow the success of our own beers!

Lucifer, as the name might suggest, is similar to Duvel. Ok... A Belgian golden, it has sweet malt and a light fruitiness on the nose. The flavor is quite delicate, with a nice bready sweetness up front, a light fruitiness throughout, and long dry finish. Hops: Magnum, Spalt, Saaz"

Thoughts: Today is my son's birthday. He's almost two days days old. Fuck to the yeah! So I thought I'd celebrate tonight with the beer I named him after. Loud ass pop off of the cork. Simple enough pull with a little snug, but not too slippery or stuck... if you know what I mean! Smoke comes firing out. Much like the hell-fire of a newly condemned soul thrown into an unforgiving world of despair.

Well son of the morning star, if this ale isn't a lot lighter than I had expected it to be. Not that I assumed it would be blood red, but... with a name like Lucifer, I figured it would at least be RTTDD. Absolutely massive head on this! It... just... won't... die. Down, that is. Total fluff. This has to be the whitest head I've ever seen on a beer. There's an insane amount of carbonation rising up. The brew is a total cloud of dirty yellow color. Major lacing all around.

The scent is immediately crisp, fruity, no doubt of the Belgian variety. It smells very refreshing, and a little bit spicy. Need I say... tempting? This really is one beautiful smelling beer no doubt about it. It bounces all over the place but at the same time remains in the same spot, like a figure 8.

Taste is just like the scents. It's slightly dank, rustic, tingling, enticing, fruity, zinging, and the flavors just bounce around in the mouth like Q*Bert on a 3-D pyramid pedestal. It's not overly sweet or wrecking, nor is it dull or lousy in any way, in fact, Lucifer tastes fucking great. It feels good and is you can tell immediately that it's a well crafted and cared for beer. It's got a gentle spice, and after the swallow it's a total mellow feel. This beer tastes not only awesome, but it light as a feather while leaving you stiff as a board.

Mouth feel has a heavy foamy feel when you keep it inside for a while. This stuff puffs out quickly. It does go down smooth as HELL though, and leaves a crisp, almost drying sensation. I didn't know that this was a Pale Ale going into it, but I haven't had too many like this for a while... especially strong ones with Belgian influence. The taste was like one big flashback to my past. Not only did this beer surprise me, but it enlightened me as well.

Wachusett Pumpkan

Wachusett Pumpkan (2012)

Autumn Seasonal (New).

12 fl. oz. (x12) /  $11.99 USD / 5.2% ABV

About: "Wachusett Brewing Company is releasing their newest beer, Pumpkan Ale. With the recent installment of the canning line, this will be the third aluminum packaged product added to the portfolio. Pumpkan is a session amber ale with a 5.2% ABV and 20 IBUs. The use of Two Row, Cara Crystal Wheat and Caramunich malts create a perfect balance to the pumpkin puree and Blonde Belgian Candi Sugar. The combination creates a deep orange color with the subtle spice flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg."

Thoughts: From a visual standpoint, this is a really nice looking beer. The color is rich and deep, and the frosty white head topping the brew is dense and frothy.

The scent is very crisp, but unfortunately light and subtleties are not my best area. It smells of mashed and cooked pumpkin along with malts but that's about it. The spices don't come out all that much.

Taste is bitter. Spice is light. Spice does not linger. It's watery. Spice is soft and overpowered by the bitterness. Definitely not sweet enough. It's very earthy, leafy, kinda dirty and grassy. A little peppery. Little bit sour, not horrible but way more sour than I usually like, especially in a pumpkin beer. Needs to be sweeter. Could use a little brown sugar, more cinnamon and less of those grassy hops. Otherwise it's decent and there's nothing wrong with it. It's a standard pumpkin ale and that was their downfall perhaps, after producing a very above average Imperial Pumpkin Ale on their first try.

The initial rush of natural pumpkin, however light it is, is good but it falls flat really fast. An unfortunately weak offering. I wonder how much Belgian Candi Sugar was used in this... a teaspoon? Or does it being of the "Blonde" variety have something to do with it? It's pretty abysmal in terms of the letdown. Still better than Pumpkinhead though, and again, that ain't sayin' much.

I read the press release for this beer before it came out and I was really looking forward to it. After all, just take a fucking look at that can design. It's awesome!! Not only that, but last year I had Wachusett's Imperial Pumpkin Ale (which was their first bottling of the product) and it downright blew me away. I found it comparable to Pumking (in terms of quality), though very different, and graded these beers similarly.

Am I being too hard on this perhaps because I was looking forward to it so much? It's better to not get psyched about a beer you haven't tried before, I know, but I was fairly confident that this would have been a lot better. Meh. I ended up using most of the cans as chasers, and in that particular requirement, this beer served its purpose quite well.

Huyghe Delirium Noël

Huyghe Delirium Noël (2011)
Brewed and Bottled by Brouwerij Huyghe in Melle, Oost-Vlaanderen. Belgium.
Winter Seasonal (Limited Release)
25.4 fl. oz. / $11.49 USD / 10.0% ABV

About: This is their Christmas Ale. That's about as much info as I could find.

Thoughts: Don't know what to expect with this one. Elephant on the cover with a Christmas hat (I guess Pink Elephants are their thing). The bottle says absolutely nothing about what's inside other than it's a Belgian Christmas Ale. I searched online and got big stocking full of absolutely nothin'!

The cork popped out with authority and as I stared inside the bottle, the grey smoke inside didn't rise or even seem to move. Just suspended in dusk. I poured it out into my glass and the bubbles were extremely furious, all different sizes of them, rising up, rolling, popping, growing, seemingly climbing all over one another. I've never in my life seen a head like this. It's fuckin' alive, man! It's like that black venom symboite... only instead of black goo, it's bubbles in a beer. But it was moving just like in Spider-Man 3 when it crawled up PP's arm. Poured a light, yet pretty murky amber with light shades of reddish-orange. After going completely nuts the head pretty much all but disappears.

First smell is that familiar Belgian yeast. Here we go again. A little bit of fruity, sweet and sour wine. 

Sweet malts up front. Dark fruits. Immediate warmth. No un-pleasantries. No shock to the senses, and actually quite smooth. Let's try it again: Minor spices, and a little fizz. The smell and tastes are completely different, thank the dark lord! Those flowery hops almost scared me for a second there, especially after my last encounter with 'em. The taste isn't exactly remarkable, like say for instance, Monk's Blood... but it tastes very good. The uber-hops are pleasantly subdued by the malts here and there's a low level lingering sweetness about it. Otherwise, it seems pretty plain for a Belgian Spiced Ale.

Very silky and smooth. Goes down so easy and doesn't have a bite to it. Finish is basically non-existent aside from some minor hop nibble on the tongue. It's tame but welcomed.

This is a very Nice brew that isn't Naughty at all. For a 10.0% the alcohol doesn't show itself at all. It's invisible! There's no bitterness and no sour. It's sweet, semi-sweet and the slightest bit grassy once it's all drank and done. Being free of all funk and dank, that's a good thing this time around... I just wish there was something in there to spice things up a bit.

Tröegs Mad Elf Ale

Tröegs Mad Elf Ale (2011)
Brewed and Bottled by Tröegs Brewery in Harrisburg or Hershey, PA. USA.

Winter Seasonal: October thru December (Limited Release)

12 fl. oz. (x3) /$7.65 USD / 11% ABV
22 fl. oz (Giftset w/ Mad Elf glass) / $18.99 USD / 11% ABV (2013)

About: "The Mad Elf, a cheerful creation to warm your heart and enlighten your tongue. The combination of Cherries, Honey, and Chocolate Malts delivers gentle fruits and subtle spices. Fermented and aged with a unique yeast, this ruby red beer has significant warming strength that underlies the pleasant character of this intriguing yet delicious Ale. The Mad Elf, a jolly and delicious beer for the Holidays. Malts: Pilsner, Munich, Chocolate / Hops: Saaz, Hallertau / Yeast: Belgian Spicy Yeast / JuJu: Pennsylvania Honey, Sweet and Sour Cherries."

Thoughts: Poured a very rich deep red like cherries or cinnamon. Very cool. There was little to no head, that slowly formed once the brew was poured and faded pretty quickly.

Smells delightfully mischievous. Honey and cherries come out upon first present inspeciton, then some spicy, ultra-grassy hops. 

Hit with a pretty sour mix of the hops and Belgian spicy yeast at first, then the sweet cherry flavor rushes in... and then those strong hops and yeast again. Alcohol tingling follows and lingers. I expected this to be sweeter than it is. In fact, I'm a bit turned off by the strange taste... that I can't figure out what it reminds me of. [I decided to check some words on ratebeer.com ("big no-no" to rate beer and read reviews at the same time, but I'm flabbergasted here) and one guy said it tastes like Cherry cough syrup with pennies and band-aids in it. Right when I read that shit, all I could think of was band-aids. That's what the smell is! I guess people who don't get cut a lot might not notice it. I'm not getting cough syrup or medicine at all, and the pennies, well, they're light.]

This sucker dried me out mad quick. I've never got this much of a dry mouth from any booze in this short amount of time. It's medium, goes down quick and that's about it.

Alright, so I poured two of my three bottles in a glass and it was very clear red. Yet I just held up the third bottle and it has floaties all throughout it (didn't check the first two). They've all got the same batch number and are only about fifteen minutes apart. I just poured the third beer into my new TapouT glass and they're gone. It looks just like the other glass. As I hold it up in front of this white blog screen, they're both identical with several rising bubbles throughout (it seems like there's minimal carbonation as there was no head, but bubbles are going crazy rising up - more than I've seen in a lot of other brews). Am I going Mad? Or is this Elf fucking with me!?

I find this incredibly disheartening and feel saddened. I've got two buddies who have been talking to me about going in on that huge ass bottle of this stuff with myself paying half and them covering the rest (me keeping the bottle and the box), and at this point I'm sure it's not going to happen. In fact, one of 'em just said to me earlier today, "Yeah, but wouldn't that suck if we bought it and it tasted like shit?" to which I replied, "There's no fuckin' way. I'll try one out and let you know." Well, it doesn't taste like actual shit. But I'm not growing fond of this one at all as I continue to drink these 36 ounces.

Man, I so wanted this beer to rock. I've had it in the fridge for two or three weeks! Just waiting for the right time. But it's so funky, and I've got this dry tickle in the back of my throat and my tongue is dry and the aftertaste is so bitter. And while the sweet and sour cherries, honey and near-invisible cinnamon is a nice touch, it really doesn't balance out that obscene Saaz hop and yeast taste... or whatever else that is.

It's been warming for a while now as I write this. I just poured both halves of each cups into my mug. The head gets a little thicker this time around, but it's gone just as I finish typing this sentence. I'm having a tough time finishing this. Fuckin' Saaz hops! I can kinda taste what goodness there is in the brew, but I'm searching for it and that is wrong. Bottle reads: 2011-2012 11:57 Batch # 110718. High alcohol. A semi-sweet flavor, that's totally corrupted. I'm feeling pretty buzzed and I guess that's the best thing I can say for this brew. Sadly.

Tröegs Mad Elf Ale (2012)
Winter Seasonal.

12 fl. oz. /$2.99 USD / 11% ABV

About: "2012-2013 13:44 BATCH# 120913"

Second Thoughts: Cap let out a loud hiss. Poured a honey color out of the bottle that developed into a ruby red in the glass. Head was super quick to form and left a nice look to the beer in this glass.

Well, it certainly smells like I remember it! Though, back then I didn't really know what the hell was going on in this one. There's tons of Belgian yeast. It's strong... real heavy, man! Sour cherries and a hint of natural honey comb back it up. Smells pretty good. Sour, tart, heavy and quite simply nuts.

Time to dig in! E-gah man. Yup. It's still some harsh ass brew that's for sure. Even now that I've become more accustomed to stuff like this particularly with trying some experimental beers, meads and strong ales, this stuff still made me wince on the first gulp. This ale is majorly boozy, and it comes on strong. The tart cherries blast you with puckering flavor, and the honey (while it's a very nice touch) doesn't hold that sour stuff back. Not that it's really a problem. The flavors of everything here mingle together very well after all. But man, is this stuff intense. Nice malts though.

Mouth is very tingly, and hazy on the back of the tongue.

I was really looking forward to trying this one again after last year's batch completely baffled me. This year's edition  however, reminds me of the exact same thing... which is a good thing, that they're consistent at least. I'm pretty sure that Sazz Hops might not be the culprit here, as I've tried a few more brews with them, but they weren't really strong in any factor. Now that I'm a bit more "educated" I think that it may be the yeast and that mix of cherries. Then again, these fuckers could be drinking the stuff and pissing it back into the bottles for all I know.

Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale

Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale (2011)
Autumn Seasonal. 
Brewed and Bottled by Shipyard Brewing Company in Portland, Maine. USA.
12  fl. oz /  $1.79 USD /  5.1% ABV

About: "Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale is a crisp and refreshing wheat ale with delightful aromatics and subtle spiced flavor. This beer was first brewed in August of 2002 at Federal Jack’s Restaurant and Brew Pub in Kennebunk, Maine where Shipyard began. Awards include a 2008 European Beer Star Silver Medal and 1st Place at the 2007 California Brewers Festival. Malts: 2-Row British Pale Ale, Light Munich, Malted Wheat  / Hops: Willamette, Hallertau / Yeast: Top-Fermenting English."

Thoughts: I dig the whole Headless Horseman dude on the label, but will I dig the beer?

Pumpkinhead poured a slightly cloudy yellow. Kinda looks like pee. Even though the head faded in less than a minute, there are a lot of rising bubbles in this, so it seems that there's some pretty decent carbonation.

 

Well if it smells like pee that's for me. I'm just kiddin'... smells like a watered down malt liquor mixed with natural ice with a little bit of creeping nutmeg and cinnamon. Huh, I guess I wasn't kiddin' after all.

Tastes pretty standard for a second then the flavor disappears and it's like a quick fading seltzer. It's weird too, because you can feel the spices when the brew fills your mouth, but when your brain goes to process it they run like hell. Not getting any of the pumpkin either. Wait, is there pumpkin in this? QUOTE: "To make Pumpkinhead, the brewery doesn't just toss some pumpkins into the brew kettle. The beer is made with a natural concentrated spiced pumpkin extract, which is added to a wheat beer during the brewing process." They don't toss pumpkins into the brew kettle? Well why the fuck not?!

Kinda foamy, and a little bit silky.

 

Aftertaste is pretty horrid. Not that I mind the taste of Natural Ice (I'm no snob when it comes to that beer - bring it on!) but I'm not intent on pouring concentrated pumpkin spice in the stuff. How is this beer so popular? I see frat boys and chicks buying it all the time. Oh wait, that explains it. Sorry Shipyard's Pumpkinhead "ale", but we're not going to be partying down anytime soon. Moving on.

Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale (2013)

Autumn Seasonal.

12  fl. oz /  $1.49 USD / 5.1% ABV

Second Thoughts: TWO YEARS LATER. So a few weeks ago the really small divebar that I frequent got rid of their Budweiser on tap and replaced it with Shipyard Pumpkinhead, a drink that I consider to be the Bud Light of pumpkin beers. Bud Light is still on tap though, as are Coors Light, Heineken, and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. SN Pale Ale took the place of Shock Top Raspberry Wheat which took the place of Miller Light I think. That particular tap line made a huge step up. It's cool that they have a real craft brew and a seasonal on tap now, but this place really only caters to Coors Light drinkers. Nobody ever drank Bud there, except for myself and a pal from work. Of course a pint of regular beers are $2.50 while SN is $3.25 and Pumpkinhead is $3.75. I got four pints of the Shipyard Pumpkinhead at $2.50 before the price was set on it. I also got it with Cinnamon and Sugar around the rim.

Shipyard Pumpkinhead is a piss yellow beer that smells like cinnamon, wheat and water. It actually smells OK at first, but gets worse as you start to drink it. The taste is watery as hell and the spices are really subtle, with cinnamon coming out on top of everything. There's no real pumpkin whatsoever and it just tastes really synthetic. It's pretty pathetic for a pumpkin beer, though it's probably the most popular pumpkin beer in the world. Considering Coors Light is more than likely the most consumed beer on the planet, that shouldn't surprise anyone. The cinnamon and sugar around the rim of the glass didn't do much to improve upon the beer itself, aside from giving me a distraction from the watery nature of it. And I don't think that a pumpkin beer should NEED to have this done to it in the first place. It should taste good enough on its own.

Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat Ale

Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat Ale (2011)

Brewed and Bottled by Shock Top Brewing Co. (Anheuser-Busch, Inc), St. Louis, Missouri. USA.
Autumn Seasonal (Yearly Release)
12 fl. oz. / $ 1.49 USD / 5.2% ABV

About: "Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat is a traditional Belgian-style wheat ale brewed with ripe pumpkins and a variety of autumnal spices, including nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves, for a refreshingly smooth beer that fully captures all the flavors of fall."

Thoughts: The artwork is a variation on their original logo and it works quite well, especially when you look at all three side by side and notice all the neat little differences. The colors are festive and spot on for the season.

Cloudy and orange, like honey mixed with water and tea leaves. The head was very bubbly at first, but after about a minute it was never to be seen again.

The brew pretty smells light, and isn't really all that stimulating to the senses. I'm getting a little bit of the wheat, while the other ingredients are lingering about. There's a very mild, slightly citrus whiff.

Yeah, this one is pretty middle ground. It's not too sweet and not at all bitter, but it starts to get a little sour after a while. Kind of metallic too. I'd say this is just about on par with Harpoon's UFO, and I really wish I would have tried them back to back to back to see just which one is the least interesting. Not that this tastes bad at all (the light wheat flavor gives it a bit of an advantage), but it's nothing to be excited about. It's still just a slightly spiced up chaser and not anything stand-alone.

Very watery, but it leaves a mysterious feeling. Synthetic?

I much prefer their Raspberry over this. One thing that Shock Top has going for 'em is their logo dude there. He is one cool guy, and not that I've gotta tell you, but  I've always had a fondness for sunglasses on weird fruit and veggie characters / mascots. Great artwork and design by these guys (very appealing - no pun)... hopefully they'll improve on their recipes though.