Founder's Porter ainec
Schlafly Pumpkin
Dead Guy Ale

Don't waste your time with the Blue Moon Pumpkin - Pumpkin shouldn't even be in it's name.

sAl,

Yuengling is my go-to because where I live it's the cheapest stuff you can get while still retaining the taste-good.

I'm actually looking for a new session beer for when I want to spend an extra $5 on a 12-pack so I'm trying Sierra Nevada pale ale (hella good) and Sam Adams Boston lager (still in the fridge) for the first time.

i like boston lager as a session beer, doesn't get me quite as hung over the next day as most of the other stuff i drink

Tricerahops Double IPA

I see SirOsis already mentioned this on page 1.

Also Widmer Deadlift. Not sure if it's available anymore. I only rarely drank it when it was because the 4-pack is so tilting.

lol. NH funki.

I've been drinking unholy amounts of Brewdog stuff since relocating to the UK. Quite excellent compared to the typical limp-wristed stuff that passes as ale/real beer here.

I use their Hardcore IPA to boost other stuff by mixing. eg 2 thirds Punk to 1 third Hardcore is almost perfect - imho of course.

I've actually never had it, just liked the picture haha

I've still never tried this yet. Partly because every time I see it I can't remember if I heard it was good, or heard it was bad. B/c I know I've heard about it a lot. The other part is b/c the box/cans look kind of ugly so I just pass, but I will probably make it the next 6er I buy from my local store (which doesn't have a great variety). Sierra Nevada makes a few different beers iirc so I wonder which is their best?

There is also one called Tap Room pale ale that I'm yet to try. Anyone had this one?

Got a damn throat infection so haven't been able to drink in 2 days now.

Had some of this the other day:



It's pretty damn tasty.

I had a taste of dos equis last week and Im really liking how smooth it goes down.

Nice

sierra nevada is by far the best widely available beer. period.

Never ended up getting the Elysium or Pumking, but I did try these the other night. In order from best to worst

Lakefront Brewery Pumpkin Lager: A
The reason I ranked this the highest was because it was the best pure "pumpkin" beer in that it had tons of the spices associated with a good pumpkin beer. Tastes almost like liquid pumpkin pie with lots of cinnamon, some nutmeg, and a (perhaps slightly too strong) lingering clove taste to it. Delicious! 6% ABV

Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale: B+
Fegley's Devious Imperial Pumpkin: B+
I grouped these together because not only were they both imperials, but they both tasted very similar. Decent pumpkin flavor, very malty. Pretty high ABV% for pumpkin beers too at 8 and 9% respectively.

UFO Pumpkin: B-
Nothing crazy complex but a malty sweet pumkin flavor domintates up front. Not a ton of lingering flavor though, ends up bitter (dry?) rather quickly. 5.9% ABV.

Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale: C
I guess I suck at rating beers because this one was the highest ranked one out of the 6 on beeradvocate. Slight taste of pumpkin and bitter hops. Seems like it should be more of an IPA than a pumpkin beer. The beer is extremely dry IMO. 6.0% ABV.

Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin: F(FFFFFFFFU)
GTFO, you don't even belong in this group. For being a pumpkin ale there was hardly any pumpkin flavor or any of the associated flavors like clove/cinammon. If I wasn't told it was a pumpkin ale I never would have known. 5.7% ABV.

Really not crazy about Redhook beer, but their ESB is a solid go to beer.

yeah I've had it. Pretty good imo.

Thanks for the write-up. Ugg, this sucks. I recently bought a 12 pack of this stuff (I love regular Blue Moon) but will be on anti-biotics for several more days as well as Claratin D so I haven't drank anything. Was looking forward to it but now I know it's gonna suck. This is kind of how I felt about Leinenkugel's (iirc a brand under the Miller Brewing Co. umbrella) Oktober beer. It tasted nothing like it should. Nary a hint of being an autumn seasonal. Like you said, if I didn't see the label I would have never known.

The problem is with the recent skyrocketing popularity in these pumpkin seasonals, you have every damn brand hurrying to throw something on the market, anything, with the name "pumpkin" "oktoberfest" "harvest" or the like, and a nice looking label and many of them are just going to suck. It's unfortunate b/c they should stick to what they're good at and not try to force good beer.

This is why I think write-ups like the one you've done will be good for this thread. Those of us won't have to waste time and money on inferior fake oktoberfest brew. So far this year my favorite has been St. Arnold, which I think is a local brewery but y'all may get it in your parts, I don't know.

I have a few favorites, Left Hand Wake the Dead, Russian River Pliny the Elder, and Alaskan Smoked Porter. Also have always had a soft spot in my heart for Maredsous.

I know this beer gets good reviews, but it's the only one that's ever made me want to puke. I'm generally a fan of stouts and higher abv doesn't bother me, but this was just wretched. Maybe I got a bad batch, but I'm not gonna try it again.

new castle
yuengling
sapporo
some japanese beer i forget the name of they serve at a few sushi places down here.
blue moon (with slice of orange... lime is for gays)

i'll drink heineken / guinness / sam adams if they don't serve one of the above.

i've also had some pretty good beers at "beer places" that i can't remember the names of. most likely because i ended up getting ****-faced.

I don't drink anymore but this was my favourite:

Really must have been a bad batch. Rasputin Stout is a delicious beer.

Full disclosure, I am a manager at a Draught Emporium that has 84 taps and over 300 different beers in bottles, so this thread is right up my alley.

For some reason I am digging the Alimony Ale by Buffalo Bill's Brewery. Pretty good IPA, on par with Sierra Nevada IMO

Had all of these last night. First time for all of them except the DFH which is a yearly staple for me.












Fegley's Hop'solutely
Excellent beer. It might take over DFH 60 min as my goto-get-drunk-beer, and at 11.5% ABV it shouldn't take that many. I picked up a 4-pack for $8.99 which makes it cheaper per alcohol content than many of the craft brews. It reminded me of Troeg's Nugget Nectar with it's insane amount of bitterness and hoppiness (IBU is over 100)


DFH Punkin
Not much to say other than it's delicious. One of the best pumpkin beers out there. A few other people have already reviewed it ITT IIRC.


Southern Tier Pumking - 8.6%ABV
Everyone was telling me "you have to try this", "it's the best out there", etc. It took awhile to find some because it would constantly be sold out around my area. Found a couple bottles left at Wegman's the other night and snatched it up as fast as I could. It's considered one of if not the best pumpkin beers on beeradvocate.

I didn't like it. Had the 25 oz. bottle and poured three 8 oz. glasses for me and 2 friends. I thought it smelled and tasted like caramel or candy corn or something. Another friend smelled heavy vanilla and the 3rd said it smelled of something else non-pleasant (can't remember because I blacked out from the Hop'solutelys I had). Overall it was just too sweet.


Sam Adams Bonfire (rauchbier)
It actually tastes like burning (or smoke). Not great, not bad, just sorta meh.


Blue Point Pumpkin Ale
This is probably the most average pumpkin beer out there. Pretty heavy cinnamon flavor with a basic pumpkin flavor.

I didn't get a chance to read the whole thread, but I noticed the pumpkin beers and had to mention Shipyard Pumpkinhead, a seasonal beer that is one of my all-time favorites. I don't like most pumpkin beers, but I had this stuff on a trip to Maine five or six years ago, and always look for it around this time. Just picked up a couple of cases (along with a case of Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy, which I consider quite a coup since I live in Los Angeles).

Other favorites:

-Michelob Honey Lager. It's pretty hard to find, and I'm sure a lot of people will see "Michelob" and write it off, but it's far superior to any honey-flavored beer I've ever had.

-Samuel Adams Black Lager. I like stouts and porters, and what is great about black lager is that you get the flavor of those types of beers without feeling like you've eaten an entire meal after drinking a couple. I actually don't know if Sam Adams' version is that good -- it's just better than the Shiner version, and those are the only two I've had, I think.

-Dominion Oak Barrel Stout. Great microbrew that I've only had in the DC/MD/VA area.

-Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter. My favorite beer from my home state of Vermont (which includes great breweries like Magic Hat and Long Trail).

Ugh, worst beer in the history of beer IMO