Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale Review

Name: Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale
Style: Pumpkin Beer
ABV: 5.7%

Next up on Sam Adams Fall Sampler pack is their Harvest Pumpkin Ale. I have had a their Fat Jack from before but this is the first time I've had this particular beer. Not really much else to say, so let's get right to it.

Harvest Pumpkin pours a clear crimson color with some moderate visible carbonation. The head pours a soapy khaki-colored head with some soapy lacing.

The nose starts out with some cinnamon & nutmeg notes which is followed by some pumpkin pie sweetness. There's also some mild toffee maltiness and faint floral hoppiness tucked away in the back.

Flavor-wise, the pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg notes all seem to come at you at once. After this, it finishes with a bitter floral hoppiness and a light spicy yeastiness.

This is a decent pumpkin beer but it leaves something to desired. At the same time, it isn't what I would consider terrible. My advice would be to get this as part of a mix-a-six and decide for yourself.

Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale - 7.5/10

Sam Adams Harvest Saison Review

Name: Sam Adams Harvest Saison
Style: Saison
ABV: 6.0%

I recently came into possession of a Sam Adams fall seasonal pack, which just so happened to be on sale, I'm guessing to make way for the inevitable winter seasonal pack which should be arriving in the very near future; Plus I can't argue with an $8 twelve-pack! As such, I'll be taking a look at each beer in this pack, with the exception of the Octoberfest which I have already reviewed.

The first beer I'll be trying out was actually the one that grabbed my attention when I picked this up, which is their Harvest Saison. According to the label, this is a Saison brewed with oats, wheat & rye. For the record, I've never had a Saison brewed with rye, let alone a Saison from Sam Adams so I'm very eager to try this out.

Harvest Saison pours a dark hazy yellow color with some mild carbonation. The head is pretty foamy and the lacing is very abundant.

The nose starts out with Belgian yeasts and cloves before transitioning to some light malted wheat notes and slight rye spiciness. Judging from the description on the label, it's holding up true so far.

The flavor is fairly Belgian yeast forward upfront with some rye spiciness. This is followed up by some malted wheat notes, berry fruitness and light floral hoppiness. The aftertaste is a bitter hop aftertaste and light rye spiciness.

The body is moderate in weight but the carbonation is relatively light. Thankfully it goes really well with the flavor profile and helps keep everything in check

I'll admit that my expectations were that this would be good, but not great; After all, I can't seem to remember having a bad beer from Sam Adams. With that said, I was very impressed with the overall flavor and just how complex this was. I was a bit skeptical of the inclusion of rye in this beer but it actually works out quite well. If you're still able to try this out, I would highly recommend checking this out, particularly to fans of the Saison style!

Sam Adams Harvest Saison - 9.25/10

La Trappe Isid'or Review

Name: La Trappe Isid'or
Brewed By: Brouwerij de Koningshoeven
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
ABV: 7.5%


A few posts back, I expressed my desire to dedicate some more reviews to imports and what better way to do this than with a review of a Trappist Ale? For those who don't know, a Trappist beer can only be referred to as such if they are brewed by Trappist monks. Today I have a beer from Brouwerij de Koningshoeven called La Trappe Isid'or.

Now I've had many beers before but regrettably I have never had a Trappist ale before today. It's not because I was weary of the price or anything like that; It had just never crossed my mind to try it out.

Dark brown/orange color with some mild visible carbonation. The head is fairly thin in appearance and the lacing is somewhat on the sparse side.

The nose starts off with some strong candied caramel maltiness with some fairly strong booziness. Some dark fruit notes are also present in the aroma but I'm not picking up on much in terms of sheer hoppiness.

The flavor is fairly identical to the flavor. It starts out with some strong caramel maltiness and dark fruit notes before ending with a caramel malt and bitter hoppiness. It's fairly robust tasting beer and the booziness is not as strong as it was in the nose.

Bodywise, it's fairly moderate in weight and the carbonation level is between that of mild and moderate as well.

You know what? This is pretty good! It's got a nice robust flavor profile which makes for a wonderful beer. If you have access to this beer in your area, I would check it out! With this in mind, I will be definitely be seeking out more Trappist ales in the future!

La Trappe Isid'or - 9/10

Fulton The Libertine Review

Name: Fulton The Libertine
Style: Imperial Red Ale
ABV: 8.5%

If you're reading this right now, you're probably trying to escape the monotony that is the Thanksgiving family get together. If so, then a very Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Nick's Beer Blog; And by us, I mean me!

Today I've got a beer from the Fulton Brewery called The Libertine, which is an Imperial Red Ale. I'll admit that until now, I have never had an Imperial Red Ale although I have had numerous Red/Amber ales before. So I'm going into this not exactly knowing what to expect and, of course, with an open mind.

Libertine pours a hazy dark red color with some mild carbonation on the bottom of the glass, but it's hard to tell in the rest of the glass because of the haze. The head takes on a very thin khaki colored appearance and the lacing is sparse.

The nose starts off with some dark fruit notes along with some strong toffee & caramel malts and a hint of roastiness. I'm also picking up on some light floral hoppiness, but it is well masked by the maltiness.

The flavor has some dark fruitiness which are backed up by the strong caramel & toffee malts. The floral hops are also fairly light here and show up in the back of the palate. Some rye spiciness and a bit of booziness encompasses the overall flavor as well.

The body is moderately weighted with some mild carbonation. When you take into account the flavor, it matches it quite well.

The Libertine is no doubt a good beer but I'm not exactly sold on the Imperial Red Ale style. It is an interesting concept no doubt but I think the rye could be toned down to give it some more balance. As it is right now, it's good but I think the asking price is a little too steep

Fulton The Libertine - 8/10

Stone Cali-Belgique IPA Review

Name: Stone Cali-Belgique IPA
Style: Belgian IPA
ABV: 6.9%

Thanks to my now frequent visits down to the Twin Cities, I've been able to get my Stone Brewing fix on a fairly regular basis. Which leads us to today's beer: Stone Cali-Belgique IPA, which is a their Belgian IPA. I also just realized that my past 4 reviews from Stone Brewing (including this one) have been an IPA-style beer. Next time I grab some Stone, I'll be sure it's not an IPA.

Pours a clear orange color with some mild visible carbonation. The head takes on a foamy thin white appearance and the lacing is rather abundant.

The nose has a strong grapefruit & citra hop profile upfront with some strong clove & and belgian yeast notes in the back.

The flavor has some strong Belgian yeast esters upfront which is followed by some mild banana notes. The citrus hop and grapefruit notes show themselves in the second part of the flavor but aren't quite as prominent as they are in the nose. As for the aftertaste, it's mainly a very strong bitter hoppiness and a moderate Belgian yeastiness.

The body is fairly moderate in terms of weight but it's light carbonated. It's a pretty easy beer to drink and it allows you to enjoy the flavor this beer has to offer.

While I think the flavor could use some more hops upfront, Cali-Belgique is another excellent beer from Stone Brewing and is worth checking out if you get the chance.

Stone Cali-Belgique IPA - 9/10

Goose Island The Muddy Review

Name: Goose Island The Muddy
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.0

I've got a new release from Goose Island Brewing and it's the third release that I'll be having in the "The" Series. It's the name I've given to the limited release series that Goose Island has been releasing recently. First came The Illinois, an Imperial IPA named after Frank Lloyd Wright's conceptual mile high skyscraper that would've been built in downtown Chicago. Then came The Ogden, a Tripel which is  named after William Ogden, the first mayor of Chicago.

The newest addition to the series is The Muddy, an Imperial Stout that gets it's name from Muddy Waters, who is responsible for the creation of the Chicago Blues scene, which first rose to prominence in the first half of the 20th Century. According to the bottle, this is is brewed with licorice.

The Muddy pours a pitch black color with some high visible carbonation. The head takes on a thin khaki appearance along with some sparse lacing.

The nose starts out with rather strong roastiness with chocolate malts, dark licorice and light vanilla notes. With the exception of the light vanilla, this is a very dark & roasty smelling beer and the licorice and roasted barley work in conjunction with the chocolate malts to make this possible.

Sure enough, that dark and roasty aspect carries over into the flavor. It starts out with a strong roasted barley taste which is followed up by some chocolate malts & dark licorice before being topped off with a bitter hop aftertaste.

The body is quite hefty and the carbonation is pretty moderate. It also possesses some thickness so it does feel a bit chewy.

The Muddy is a nice, dark and roasty Imperial Stout that is sure to please fans of the style. However like The Ogden before it, the asking price is a bit high when you consider that it only comes in a 4-pack, which is around $15 before taxes in my area. My advice would be to do what I did and buy a single bottle and try it out before deciding if a 4-pack is worth the price of admission.

Goose Island The Muddy - 8.5/10

Boom Island Silvius Review

Name: Boom Island Silvius
Style: Belgian Pale Ale
ABV: 5.5%

Tonight I'm going to review a beer from Boom Island Brewing Company, a brewery that takes it's name from the area of Minneapolis which it is based out of. They have been open for about 3 years now and specialize in making Belgian Style Ales. At the time of writing they are available only in the Twin Cities. For this review, I've got their Silvius, which is their Belgian Pale Ale.

Silvius pours a hazy dark orange color with a moderate amount of carbonation. The head is very foamy but the lacing is sparse.

The aroma starts off with a moderate floral & citrus hop profile. The back end of the nose consists of a mildly roasty caramel malt backbone and some light Belgian yeasts.

However the flavor is surprisingly caramel malt with some fairly strong roastiness, which is followed up by some Belgian yeasts, mild citra hops and ends with a dry roasted malt finish.

The body is fairly light but the carbonation is on the moderate side, so this beer is pretty easy to drink.

Silvius is a solid Belgian Pale Ale. Were this available in my area, I would definitely be buying this regularly. For the time being, I'll have to get my fix whenever I visit Minneapolis.

Boom Island Silvius - 8.5/10