Saucony Creek Captain Pumpkin's Maple Mistress

I was at my local store the other day, chatting with the owner, when I saw this bottle on the counter. I'd just been reading about it on BeerAdvocate so decided to grab one. This would be my first pumpkin beer of the season too so that's fun. Maple Mistress is a 9.5% Imperial Pumpkin made with pumpkin, maple syrup, and other spices.

Nose was full of cinnamon, nutmeg, and earthy pumpkin. Thicker mouthfeel, definitely due to the higher than average ABV. The initial wave of flavor is all cinnamon. Just a huge flavor bomb of it. Following that was a decent amount of bitterness, but that quickly faded into the cinnamon for me as I drank more of the glass. I didn't actually get much of the maple though others have claimed to taste it. If you like cinnamon, you'll love this, that's for sure. I'm not sure I liked it as much as, say, Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin, but it's a bit different because of the huge amount of cinnamon so that's something.

New Belgium Cascara Quad

New Belgium seems to put out a lot of beers in their Lips of Faith series. We don't get them here in Philly but they are distributed close by so I'll see them sometimes during travels or just see people picking them up when they hit some stores. I'm not quite sure why they brew so many since a ton are absolutely mediocre but maybe it's fun? This bottle was sent to me by my buddy in San Diego. Cascara Quad is a quad, obviously, brewed with dates and aged on coffee cherries (which are not cherries but the, like, coating around a coffee bean).

Okay, yeah, the description didn't fill me with confidence that this is more than a weird mix of odd ingredients, but I like quads so I thought it would at be least okay. Silly me, I guess, as this beer was thoroughly mediocre. Nose was light, mostly chocolate and a bit of booze with maybe a little bit of date. Medium bodied. An odd flavor started things off, sort of like a mediocre quad awash in alcohol. Didn't get any coffee, but I don't know if coffee cherries actually have any flavor so maybe I should have expected that. As I drank more, the alcohol became more and more prevalent with the beer portion just being mediocre and getting overwhelmed. It's a shame as a good quad is awesome, this just isn't one of those. Regardless, it's still fun to try new beers, even if sometimes they are terrible. Still, you shouldn't waste even a few dollars on this, take my word for it.

Jolly Pumpkin La Roja

I haven't had much luck with Jolly Pumpkin honestly. Their bombers trend a bit more expensive in Philly and I've never been terribly happy with the dollar to taste ratio after buying them. It's funny, too, because some people absolutely love this brewery. I mean, good for them, I just don't get it. However, I'd read about La Roja and thought it could be their one beer that I actually like and enjoy. Turns out I was correct!

Vinegary nose with a hint of caramel. Right away, I had a good feeling about it. In the body, the vinegar was a bit more muted than the nose, but still the major flavor. Mixed in sharp bite from the oak barrel, vanilla, and then some acetic sourness in the finish. Jo thought the oak was almost bitter in the beginning but got used to it as she worked through her glass. I agreed though I didn't mind as much. Either way, the bitterness faded after a while and it became even more enjoyable. This was worth buying and I was happy to finally give it a try.

Bear Republic Cafe Racer 15 at Kite & Key

A week ago Thursday, Kite & Key did a small tap takeover with a bunch of Bear Republic beers. With the exception of Tartare, all of them were still on tap when I made my weekly visit on Tuesday. At least I'm pretty sure that's true. I did manage to stop in last Friday to get Tartare, though, which is still as awesome as I remember. Some people on BeerAdvocate are arguing with me that it is too sour, but they are just wusses. I chose Cafe Racer 15 for my beer on Tuesday which is a double IPA.

Sugary sweet, melon like nose. Not malty sweet for the most part, more just sugar based. The body had a similar melon sweetness with some light earthy notes in the back. A bit thicker than most IPAs but somehow still a bit dry at least in the beginning. Hops and sweetness was nice through most of the glass, but there was a boozy quality to it that grew a little cloying as I drank more. By the end, the 9%+ ABV wasn't anywhere near as well hidden. Still, depending on what you are looking for in a double IPA, this was decent enough.

FiftyFifty Eclipse Elijah Craig (12 Year)

I've been drinking beers off my basement shelves ever since Pax was born since we haven't been going out as much. That means I've been opening bombers more often and actually working through my collection. Since I've already worked through a lot of the more normal stuff, I've popped some slightly more special beers into the refrigerator and drank them on random weekends. Hence the Mother of All Storms from yesterday and now this was a bottle from late 2011. This beer was FiftyFifty Eclipse Imperial Stout aged in 12 year Elijah Craig barrels.

Caramel, chocolate, and fudge made up the nose. Very inviting aroma. Nice mouthfeel, thick and a little chewy. Body was sweet chocolate and a rich fudge with some vanilla in the background. The bourbon was really well integrated with the stout and didn't overwhelm anything. Pretty delicious offering from them. I'd read that this was commonly one of people's favorite variants and I can see why.

Pelican Mother of All Storms

I'd read about this beer a bit as Pelican has allowed online sales of it over the past few years so I've briefly contemplated trying to obtain some. However, they didn't ship to PA (like mostly everyone else in the US) so I just kind of shrugged and moved on with my life. This year, though, my buddy Matt got a few and offered me one of the bottles to defray some of his costs or just to be nice. No work to try an awesome sounding bourbon barrel barleywine? Uh, sure, I'll do that!

Huge caramel, raisin, and cherry nose with a little bit of saltiness. No idea on where salt came from but I wrote it down so it must have been there. Quite thick which is nice. First sip was awesome, absolutely delicious. Raisins, chocolate, caramel, and a nice sweet finish. A slight bite in the aftertaste kept it from being cloying. No alcohol heat either. Just an amazingly put together beer and everything I want in a bourbon barrel barleywine. So good and glad I got to try this.

4 Hands Reprise Centennial Red Ale

Stopped in at Kite & Key like usual and while there were a couple changes in the beer list from last week, I'd been contemplating ordering the 4Hands Reprise Centennial Red Ale the past few times so I just went ahead and got that this time.

I enjoyed a couple of 4Hands beers during beer week which was why I was interested in trying this. Big sugary citrus nose. No bitterness, just a lot of orange and lemon and a little sweetness. Body was mostly bitter with some citrus in the middle with the sweetness missing. The finish was pretty clean though there was some lingering bitterness. While the citrus from the nose didn't quite come through in the body, still a solid beer. Nothing to go crazy about, but a good choice to order if you see it.

On a separate note, I noticed that Kite & Key was doing a Bear Republic tap takeover on Thursday. Now that I know Tartare is there thanks to PhillyTapFinder I'll definitely be stopping in for a glass of that before I pick up Paxton. Had it once and it was awesome so looking forward to trying it again.

Green Flash Silva Stout

Another gift from my San Diego buddy, this one came as a surprise in the last box. He sent me another of Green Flash's more limited beers, too, but I haven't had a chance to open it yet. It's in the refrigerator at least! Silva Stout is their Double Stout aged in bourbon barrels.

I liked the nose. It had a mix of smooth coffee, vanilla, and a little bourbon. Pretty thick, almost milkshake like. Body was creamy with coffee and vanilla and finished with a little bitterness. This was pretty good though my notes don't go into too much detail unfortunately. Glad I got to try it though since we don't see many (or possibly any) of Green Flash rarities here in Philly.

New Glarus Enigma

This was actually just a random gift from my friend Matt when he was dropping off a different beer for me. I didn't even know what style it was when I opened it, but it turned out to be an Oud Bruin, possibly with cherries.

Since I didn't know what kind of beer this was, the nose was a huge surprise. Sort of sour cherry mixed with some caramel sweetness. The body was very similar with a lot of sour cherry and caramel with a little tartness in the finish. Very soft sweetness meant it wasn't cloying even though the caramel was a strong flavor and it continued that way throughout. My wife liked it quite a bit too. After discovering that it was an Oud Bruin, the flavors make a ton of sense too. This makes me wish I could try more of their sours as the softness made for a solid drinking experience and it was quite good. Unfortunately, the beers are brewery-only releases for the most part and I'm too lazy to try to trade for them. Oh well, still glad Matt gave me this. Thanks Matt!

Goose Island Matilda Lambicus

Things are going pretty well with my weekly visit to Kite & Key. It's back on Tuesday now, too, which means I don't have to go to the gym afterwards. Way easier. This trip I was lucky enough to get one of the leftovers from their Goose Island event last Friday, Matilda Lambicus, a special version of Matilda that seems to undergo secondary fermentation with some brett yeast. Or something like that.

Unfortunately, I don't have a clear recollection of the regular Matilda to do a good comparison so we'll just have to treat this as its own beer. Fruity nose, almost melon like. Not too strong but present. Body was similar with a slight melon flavor up front, some nuttiness from the malt, and then a bit more sweet fruit in the finish. Didn't change much as it warmed up. I didn't feel like I got much from the secondary brett fermentation though maybe the melon like fruit flavor was from it. Totally a fine beer, but didn't really feel the difference like I did between Sofie and Sofie Paradisi.