Rambles: Checking out some new fall beer releases

In additional to the fall season bringing great running weather, there's plenty of new fall beer releases.  I've been checking out the various "macro-craft" breweries fall releases, and here's a little round-up of what I've tried.


Sierra Nevada Flipside Red IPA 
Leave it to Sierra Nevada to produce a hoppy fall release.  It's brewed with red caramel malt which blends which blends with the citrus and tropical hop flavor and a soft resin-like finish.  I found this one pretty satisfying.

Anchor Brewing Bigleaf Maple Autum Red 
Brewed with maple syrup, I found this one woody, a little grainy and lightly earthy with toasted malt flavors.   I've long been an Anchor fan, but I didn't find all the flavors to work for me in this particular execution.

Uinta Punk'n
From Utah's Unita Brewing, it's a dry beer  with amber malt, the slightest hint of pumpkin, a little nutmeg and virtually no hops presence.  If you don't like beers that taste like pumpkin pie, this is the one for you.

Anderson Valley Fall Hornin' 
What's great about this one is that it tastes just like a big ol' pumpkin pie, with lots of pumpkin, nutmeg and other aromatic spices sitting atop plenty of lightly sweet, toasted malt.  Another reason to be a Anderson Valley fan.

Sudwerk Harvest Lager
OK, let's get this out of the way.   Sudwerk out of Davis, CA makes pretty straightforward traditional German beers, and rarely delves into any particular creative or original.  That didn't stop me from trying their Harvest Lager, a light, clear, dry and fresh with a little toasty malt character.  No, beers like this aren't very sexy but a well executed lager like this one is an underrated simple pleasure.

Guinness Red Harvest Stout

Beer Geeks who sneer at this brew are ignorant
of beer snob history
 

Even Guinness is getting in the seasonal fall beer act.  These days, beer geeks tend to sneer at Guinness as a multi-national macro beer.  There was a time, maybe 20 years ago back when craft beer was a lot harder to find and ordering a Guinness Stout conveyed a certain beer sophistication, since most everyone else in the bar thought it tasted like mud.  As you might have guessed, I enjoyed many a Guinness back in the day, high on my horse and content I was in the know enjoying the good stuff, while the rest of the unwashed was wallowing in light lagers.  So for you beer geeks who insist on sneering at Guinness, please learn your beer snob history.  As for their Red Harvest Stout, it's a surprising light beer, with the classic Guinness roastiness and a touch of caramel malt, and works for me as a refreshing fall session beer. 


Stone 17th Anniversary Gotterdammerung IPA - OK, it's not a technically a "fall beer", but I loved the anniversary release from Stone.  And let's just say I've found their annual anniversary releases to be very much a hit or miss proposition.    This one has got lot's of biscuity malt, with strong spicy grapefruity punch of hops.  I like it!

The Hermitage Brewing Fall Beer Trifecta

From left to right Oktoberfest, Burn's Bitter, and Fruit Crate Pumpkin Ale

Fall is my favorite season, it's crisp cool days making for perfect running weather.   Fall is also the time most breweries put out their fall beers, traditional malt forward beers with a toasty and caramel flavors and low hop profiles to capture the flavors of the season.   Being a malt forward kind of guy, I tend to be a big fan of fall beers.  Wouldn't you know, South Bay's Hermitage Brewing is putting out three new fall beers, and gave me a chance to try them over at their brewery.   I ran into one of my beer blogging inspirations, Hermitage Brand Manager Peter Estaniel at the brewery tap room who gave me the low down on the beers.   So without any further ado, let's delve into these fall offerings.


Burnes' Bitter
The Burnes' Bitter, is well, bitter.  It's got a crisp, clear underlying malt and as Peter explained, "all the hops in this beer come from the UK."  I found the bitterness more herbal and tea-like as typical in British beers, without the spicy or fruity character other hops might bring to the brew.  At 4.5% abv with it's palate cleansing bitterness, it worked quite nicely as a session beer.

Oktoberfest
Traditional Oktoberfest's are light lagered beers that are a little toasty or caramel with a light hop character specifically designed for large scale consumption in the traditional beer orgy that is Oktoberfest.  This is not your traditional Oktoberfest beer, and that's a good thing.  Hermitage uses Common Yeast which gives it a musty character, the requisite toasted malt, and healthy doses of hops that lend a fruity character and more bitter finish to the brew that is far bigger, stronger and more complex than a traditional Oktoberfest.  Call it a "West Coast Oktoberfest" and while purists may cringe, enjoyable and memorable brew.

Fruit Crate Pumpkin Ale
And now we get to the star of the show, Fruit Crate Pumpkin Ale.  As Peter described, "we took a bunch of organic heirloom pumpkins grown on a nearby farm, then roasted them at the brewery, then ground them up and added them to the brew kettle.  The yeast ferments out of lot of the sugar so it has a little different taste them people might associate with pumpkin".    Unlike many other breweries, Hermitage doesn't add any additional spices to their pumpkin beer.  The base beer is best described as an Imperial Red, very smooth, malty and a little caramelly with low additions of hops to let the pumpkin flavor shine through.  The pumpkin is pretty subtle, and gives the resulting brew a nice twist. Peter found the pumpkin to get the brew a little vegetable like finish, which I also noticed.  At 9% abv, it's works really well as an fall afternoon or evening sipping beer.

Organic Heirloom Pumpkins for the Fruit Crate
Pumpkin Ale Roasting Away (Photo from Hermitage Brewing)