Pikermi, Halloween Costume and Post Road Pumpkin Ale

This weekend, Margaret and I went to New Orleans to run in the Jazz Half Marathon. For the non-runners out there, as it's name would imply, the race is half the distance of a marathon, or 13.1 miles. As an aside, there is a movement to change the name of half marathons to a Pikermi. This comes from the half way point on the map for the historic run that the Greek soldier Phidippides made from the town of Marathon to Athens. To date, I have yet to hear anyone call this race a Pikermi. 

Since I no longer have any plans to run a full marathon, and am concentrating on half ones, I see how people may feel like calling the race a half may be downplaying the accomplishment. This was my 7th race of said distance and Margaret's 6th. The idea of doing another 13.1 miles at the end was again not appealing. Both of us were pleased with our performances, but more looking forward to the evening's festivities. For her, it meant braving the Halloween crowds in the French Quarter with her other swim team mom friends (the STM's) and for me, a costume party with Maggie's cousin Philip. Since I am a dad of girls on the swim team, what does that make me? I will let you do the math on that one. 

For those who don't know me personally, I am not a fan of dressing up in a costume. I am not even creative enough to think of a good one. Being that I had just run a race in the morning, I figured that I could go as a runner, complete with my race bib and medal. I know, I am Mr. Originality. Even better, it was minimal investment. If there is one thing I dislike more than dressing up in a costume, it is having to spend lots of money to do it. 

Although my costume was not going to win any awards, I did do something that I had never done before last night, try a Pumpkin Ale. The specific beer is the Post Road Pumpkin Ale from the Brooklyn Brewery. 

The style is described by Beer Advocate as follows:

Often released as a fall seasonal, Pumpkin Ales are quite varied. Some brewers opt to add hand-cut pumpkins and drop them in the mash, while others use puree or pumpkin flavoring. These beers also tend to be spiced with pumpkin pie spices, like: ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and allspice. Pumpkin Ales are typically mild, with little to no bitterness, a malty backbone, with some spice often taking the lead. Many will contain a starchy, slightly thick-ish, mouthfeel too. In our opinion, best versions use real pumpkin, while roasting the pumpkin can also add tremendous depth of character for even better results, though both methods are time-consuming and tend to drive brewmasters insane.

Due to tasting a pair of these at a party, I was not able to pour them into a glass to get the full visual, therefore I can only rely on taste and smell. The sweetness was unlike I had tasted before in a beer. As you would expect, lots of pumpkin spices were noted. I usually am not a big fan of fruit infused beers and this is not an exception. To their credit, the Brooklyn Brewery does put actual pumpkins into their mash and not a puree or flavoring. Unfortunately it is still not enough for me to enjoy the flavor. For more info on this beer, please see Post Road Pumpkin Ale

Even though I did not get a picture of the beer or even the bottle, I do have a picture of my awesome costume, or at least part of it. Not seen in this picture are my compression socks and cool wristbands. Philip is Santa Claus and his friend Casey is a British Soldier from the War of 1812. 

Cheers!

Got milk? - Left Hand Brewing Milk Stout

As I mentioned last week, while in Houston, I picked up several new beers from some regional breweries. In addition to ones in Texas such as St. Arnold from Houston, and Rahr & Sons from Fort Worth, I also got some from Colorado and Oregon. Both of these states are hotbeds for craft brewing.

The first of the loot from my trip to be profiled is the Milk Stout from the Left Hand Brewing Company of Longmont, Colorado. I can only recall having one other milk stout previously in a beer of the month package. Beeradvocate describes the style as: stouts that have a larger amount of residual dextrine and unfermented sugars that give the brew more body and a sweetness that counters the roasted character. This is usually accomplished by adding lactose to the brew kettle.

Appearance: This beer poured a pitch black color. As evidenced by the picture, no head was present and this lead to very little lacing as well. Minimal carbonation was present as well. Not knocking it out of the park appearance wise.

Smell: Like typical stouts this one has a roasted malt character to the aroma. I also noted some chocolate  aromas as well. Getting better.

Taste/Mouthfeel: The first few sips tasted very similar to regular stouts. Similar to the smell, malty and toffee flavors were present. The differences between this one and regular stouts appeared as it warmed. The usual bitterness with a regular stout was muted by a mild smoothness. The sweetness of the style was eventually more present when I got near the end of the pint. The mouthfeel was not heavy like a typical stout and it was silky.

Overall: This is a solid effort and a nice change from a more bitter stout. I was not too stoked about the appearance, but the flavor made up for it. This is a style that I will look to explore more in the future. For more on this beer, please see Left Hand Milk Stout

Cheers!

Great American Beer Festival

Every year for the past 31, the craft breweries of America have come together for the aptly named, Great American Beer Festival. Think ComiCon for beer geeks. Having only attained the level of beer dork, I have not been, but certainly will put this on my bucket list. I recently came across this article on CNN that described this year's festival.

Enjoy. Great American Beer Festival


Cheers!

Last Oktoberfest and St. Arnold, I promise

I spent the early part of this week in Houston and was fortunate to pick up some good beers. Oh the joys of big city living. I merely had to go to the local HEB supermarket to put together 2 create your own 6 packs and found 12 beers that I have not tried before, even ones from breweries that I have never seen sold in Louisiana. Lots of good material to profile.

So I have been beating the same Oktoberfest drum lately with the last few entries, but can you blame me with all the great Oktoberfest beers out there? The last one of the Oktoberfest genre that I will profile is the St. Arnold Oktoberfest, from the brewery located in Houston, TX.

Appearance: Beer poured a clear copper color. Carbonation was very much present as well as one finger of slightly off white head. Lacing was decent, but not great.

Smell: Beer had a yeasty and floral aroma. Some sweet fruit smells were noted also.

Taste/Mouthfeel: This beer had a fruity sweetness that I found hard to pinpoint. Upon further review of other reviews, several people noted an apricot flavor and this sounds accurate. A medium mouthfeel with a syrup like finish that left a coating on the tongue was present.

Overall: This beer was very smooth and drinkable. I could easily make a session of these. I still prefer the Sam Adams version of the Oktoberfest, but a solid effort from St. Arnold. For more info, please see St. Arnold Oktoberfest.

After a few days away, even my pal Stanley enjoys a good beer.

Cheers!

More Oktoberfest and another list

As I have mentioned before, October is likely the month where beer is on the brain more than any other. You also know that I am fond of lists. Therefore I thought why not combine those two things into one. Like peanut butter and chocolate, two great tastes that taste great together, below is a link to a list of the top 10 Oktoberfest beers.

Top 10 Oktoberfest beers

Not many American versions on the list, however I can and do recommend the Sam Adams Oktoberfest profiled previously Sam Adams Oktoberfest and the St. Arnold Oktoberfest that I will profile this week St. Arnold Oktoberfest.  Starting to think this is just a St. Arnold blog. These guys just put out good beer.


Enjoy the cooler weather, football and beers.


Cheers!

Why didn't I think of that? - Beer finder app.

I came across this article today for the Taplister site and the Beer Finder app. It is so simple it is genius.

Check it out.

Beer Finder App



Cheers!

Oktoberfest - Spaten Oktoberfest

Since the calendar has now turned to October, it is time for the biggest beer festival in the world, Oktoberfest in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The 16-day festival lasts from late September to the first weekend in October. Since I am not able to attend, I figured the next best thing would be to profile one of the beers featured there. I am wearing the traditional Bavarian lederhosen as I type. If you believe that, I have a bridge I would like to sell you.

The beer in question is named, appropriately enough, Spaten Oktoberfest.

Appearance: Beer poured a clear copper color with a finger of fluffy white head. The head left dissipated to a nice foamy ring on the top of the glass (I used this mug, which is the closest thing I had to a traditional stein). Good carbonation present and nice lacing.

Smell: I mainly noticed a musty aroma. Take away the darker color and I would have confused this one for a Heineken based on the smell.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Like the smell, the beer has a musty flavor to start with a lingering earthy funk like a Heineken, but with a drier finish. The beer does mellow as it warms to a more sweet flavor and less funk.

Overall: This one was a good but not great beer. It is authentic, but not exactly hitting my sweet spot as it was a little too earthy for my taste. I will apologize for being so ethnocentric, but I liked the Sam Adams Oktoberfest seasonal beer better.

Even though I can't be there, I still enjoyed seeing the sights from Oktoberfest. For some shots from the festival, see Oktoberfest.

Cheers!