Like a fine wine

Heres a label that caught my attention. Goose Island Brewery of Chicago is known for making some great standard beer styles. Now they've started something special with a series of Belgian style ales.
This is Matilda. Not a typical name for a beer. Its a Belgian Style Ale, with an alcohol content of 7.5%. It pours with decent carbonation, light fruity aroma of malt and apples, and the cloudiness of live yeast. On the first taste, you definitely get the fruitiness you expect in a Belgian ale. No, theres no fruit in the beer, its just caused by the right malts and yeast. Great flavors of honey, sour apples, peaches, and cherries. A little hoppiness, but not much, and a light aftertaste of yeast. Overall, I was pretty impressed. Worth picking up a couple more bottles.

Thanksgiving

What goes better with fall than dark beers? In trying to find a beer that had at least some connection with the holiday, I came across New World Porter, by Avery Brewing Company of Colorado. (get it? new world? pilgrims arriving in their new colony? bah. never mind)
It starts how you would expect for a porter, deep dark aroma with lots of malt, and some sweet toasted notes. The taste is smooth and drinkable, with the malty sweetness of a dark beer, plus a good coffee bitterness, and flavors of maple syrup and dark chocolate sneaking in at the end. The hops are not over done, staying out of the way of the sweet flavors. This could be mistaken for a milk stout because of its residual sweetness, not that that is a bad thing.
Put it on my "will try again" list

Classic German

DAB, or Dortmunder Acten Brauerai, is a well known German brewery and the flagship of the Dortmund style of pilsener. If you havent tasted it, its well worth giving it a try.

It starts off with a spicy hop aroma, with some mild floral hints. The first taste is refreshing and almost watery, until the hops hit you. It has the nice earthy and spicy bitterness you expect in a German pils, bold but not overpowering. The aftertaste is a combination of malty sweetness, and hop spice. The only downside is the slight wateryness to it, but other than that a fine beer.

A Bit Nutty

Heres a nice one for Fall. The Abita Brewery in Louisiana is best known for unusual names and unusual beers, like Purple Haze and Turbo Dog. This year, they've come up with something special for fall, called Pecan Harvest. Yes, its a beer made with pecans.
It looks like a standard brown ale, and the aroma gives no clue that the beer was made with nuts. But the first taste is a surprize. Its fairly well carbonated, light malty ale flavor, kind of refreshing actuallly. Then the nuts hit you.... Not really a highly nutty flavor like some dark brown ales, but lots of the tanins and dry mouthfeel you get when eating fresh pecans. Its surprizingly good paired with the light ale flavors. The hops are light and crisp, mostly taking a back seat to the malt and nuts.
Definitely worth a try. I wonder what this might taste like when paired with pecan pie, or used in cooking.

Odd

Heres one I saw at the local beer store and just had to try. From the Magic Hat Brewery in Burlington, Vermont, comes Odd Notion "Fall 09".

It pours dark and thick, like coffee, with a light carbonation. The aroma is strong and heady, with notes of malt, molasses, and coffee. The taste isnt at all disappointing, just what you would expect from aroma. Good strong mouthfeel, like a porter, and a complex flavor with lots of malt, coffee, maple syrup, and just enough fuggle hop bitterness to round it out. As it warms up, it picks up a residual sourness in the aftertaste.

Altogether, worth a try.

Cranberry

Another from Sam Adams winter beers box set, this is the Cranberry Lambic. They've been making this beer for many years, and they alter the recipe every year. Some years are good, some bad. This year turned out to be one of the best.
Its not technically a Lambic, but a wheat ale with fruit added. I'm willing to forgive them on that. The aroma is very fruity, and a little sweet. Lots of berry flavors, and the carbonation his very high, almost to a champagne consistency. The body is light and refreshing, and the hops light and unobtrusive.
As the beer wams up, the tartness of the cranberries starts to come out, and a maple syrup undertone to the flavors. Very well done this year, well worth searching out a six pack.

Going Coastal

As you can probably tell, I got my hands on this years Sam Adams Winter Seasonals box. First up is a beer I havent seen from them before, the Coastal Wheat. The labal describes it as a stronger and heavier wheat ale, with lemon peel.
It certainly has the lemon peel aroma, and the coloris darker and cloudier than your typical wheat ale. The flavor certainly lives up to the description. It has plenty of body, the light slightly sweet flavor of a wheat beer, and plenty of lemon. Its also pretty well carbonated, which seems to work in this case, giving it a bubbly almost lemonade flavor. The hops are light and reserved, taking a back seat to the lemon and malt. My only complaint is that the aftertaste strays into the pithy lemon flavors you get from the white part of the peel.
Certainly worth your time to try this one.

Belgian Pils

Ah, those Belgians, they really know their beers. Today its Bavik Pilsener.
Unlike German Pilseners, the Belgians tend to make theirs a lot lighter in flavor. This one starts off with a light aroma, with hints of lemon. It has a clean flavor, with strong citrus notes, and lightly hopped. The slippery mouthfeel you expect of a lager is definitely there. The aftertaste moves from slight hop bitterness, to citrusy. My only complaint is that it gets a bit watery as it warms up.
Overall a very tasty beer.

Fall Ales

Today, Im drinking the Levity Amber Ale, from O'dell Brewing Company in Ft Collins, Colorado.
It starts off very nicely for an amber ale, with a malty sweet aroma and hints of peach and apple. Just what you like for a fall beer. But the flavor left me disappointed. The mouthfeel is lacking, on the watery side, and theres a sourness to the aftertaste that doesnt go well. The malt flavors are good, and the hops are nice and strong, but overall not one of my favorites.

Classic Czech

Czecholslovakia is known as the birthplace of Pilsener, and no country does the style as well. Today, Im trying one of the more well known "export" Czech Pilseners, the Czech Rebel beer.
And it is darn tasty. Its a bit darker than you might expect, but the aroma is all spicy pilsener hops. The taste is light, refreshing, everything you'd want in a pils. There is a sourness to the flavor that creeps in as the beer warms up, and on the aftertaste. Altogether a tasty beer, but not quite up to the level of Czechweis.

October Surprize

Continuing in the seasonal beer tradition, today's tasting is the new Hoptober beer from New Belgium Brewery in Colorado. You might know them as the producers of Fat Tire.

This beer starts off with a strong hoppy aroma, lots of spice and floral notes. The surprize, however, is the smooth flavor. For a beer that at first appears ready to knock you out with hops like an IPA, it has a lighter flavor with a bit of sweetness. The hops are there, definitely, and give you a great spicy aftertaste, but dont take over the beer. Very well balanced, and well worth opening a 6 pack for a football game.

Winter Beers

OK, so its not actually winter yet, but the winter beers are starting to hit the shelves. This is the Imperial IPA from Mendocino Brewery in upstate New York.
If you're not familiar with IPAs, it stands for India Pale Ale. Back in the 1800s, when India was a British colony, the colonists wanted to enjoy their beer. But regular beers could not survive the long trip by ship from England. IPAs were created as much more highly hopped beers, with the hops acting as a preservative.
The Mendocino version turns out to be a pretty good representation of the style. From the first sip, its pretty highly hopped, with lots of spice and bitterness. Its enough to actually make your tongue a bit numb. Good maltiness, and plenty of hoppy aftertaste. The alcohol content is nice and high, just what you'd expect in a winter beer.
Worth a try, if you can find it.