Clipper City Heavy Seas The Great Pumpkin – I’ve been kind of hard on Clipper City.  I’ve tried some of their stuff and well I really couldn’t get into any of it.  But what do you know,  a Pumpkin Ale shows some hope!!  One of my favorite beers of all time happens to be from the same style, Southern Tier Pumking, but for reason this years version isn’t to good.  So it’s nice to find another good Pumpkin Ale to fall back on and this is right up my alley.

The Great Pumpkin pours a fiery orangish red color.  Small head and minimal lacing.  Right off the bat I know I’m going to love this beer.  The smell just reminds me of fall and a nice pumpkin pie.  What I liked about it is that yes there’s a good aroma of pumpkin in there but there’s also a great balance of spices to along with it.  Cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar come together to make a hell of a aroma.  The spices definitely take front stage on the taste but aren’t overpowering.  Just like in the smell it’s a great mixture.  It has a great rich, spicy, and sweet taste to it.  The 8.5% abv is masked really well.  I didn’t get any kind of alcohol taste.  The mouthfeel is thick, smooth, and creamy.  My favorite brew from these guys and I could easily see myself going back to this brew in the future.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 5 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.ccbeer.com/
What the company says: The Great Pumpkin is our best experiment ever. The secret is in the 3 ounces of spice per barrel for this fall brew. We add the pumpkin during the mash at precisely the right time to create just the perfect balance of malt, hops, pumpkin and spice.  The crew at the brewery voted on their favorite recipe to bring you the best & biggest pumpkin beer you’ll ever have!
ABV%: 8.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Heavy Seas Prosit!, Heavy Seas Yule Tide
Other beers to try within the same style: Dogfish Head Punkin Ale, Williamsburg Alewerks Pumpkin Ale
Rating: B+

Avery Mephistopheles Stout – This is a beer I’ve been holding on for a while.  It’s a doozy at 16% abv.  I’ve been holding on to it hoping the alcohol taste would die down a bit.  I’ve heard people say it was pretty damn strong.  Now I love and I mean love big beers.  Especially huge stouts but this beer was just a little bit to much.  Not because it knocked me on my ass but because all of the great ingredients are stuck behind the alcohol.  There’s some really good stuff hidden behind the alcohol but how many years would it take for the beer to mellow and show it’s good stuff.

Mephistopheles pours black.  Pitch black.  It’s thick.  Huge crater filled head.  Great retention and lacing.  As soon as you pour this baby your nose is blasted with alcohol.  It’s hot.  In the aroma you can still pick up some other stuff.  Like raisins, roasted malt, molasses, chocolate, and a shot of hops but it’s in the taste where everything for me just fell apart.  The alcohol was just to big.  It covered everything else.  Sometimes I would pick up the other ingredients.  Mainly the roasted malt and chocolate but then they would get covered up again by the alcohol.  This beer is the perfect beer to have if you are stuck outside in 10 below weather.  It’s sure to warm your body.  The mouthfeel is thick and creamy.

If you buy this beer, buy two.  Try one now.  Maybe you’ll like how it is but I’m also guaranteeing you’ll get blasted by the alcohol but also put the other one away for the next 50 years.  Maybe it will mellow out by then =)

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 8 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.averybrewing.com/
What the company says: Mephistopheles is the crafty shape shifter, the second fallen angel. Amazingly complex, coal black, velvety and liqueurish, this demon has a bouquet of vine-ripened grapes, anise and chocolate covered cherries with flavors of rum-soaked caramelized dark fruits and a double espresso finish. IBU’s 107.
Mephistopheles is the final installment of “The Demons of Ale” series.
ABV%: 16.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Avery DuganA IPA, Avery Ellie’s Brown Ale
Other beers to try within the same style: Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast, Southern Tier Mokah
Rating: B

Terrapin Maggie’s Farmhouse Ale – Here’s another one of Spike’s Side Projects.  Beers that are only supposed to see the light of day once and then quickly disappear forever.  That doesn’t always happen though as some of his one off beers come back and get into their regular line of beers.  Gamma Ray I’m looking at you.  This time around he chose a Saison/Farmhouse Ale.  Overall I liked this brew but it’s definitely not one of the better saisons I’ve had.

Maggie’s pours a clear bubble filled light amber color. Medium sized frothy head.  Ton of lacing.  The smell is yeasty and bready.  Spicy with a hint of grassy and herbal hops.  Finish that off with a nice sweet aroma of fruit.  I was really hoping for more of a funky smell but what I got was more of a fresh clean smell.  Not bad but just not what I was hoping for.  The taste is also very clean and crisp.  Light amount of fruit, especially orange. Small amount of tartness. A shot of yeast and wheat.  It ends with the grassy hop flavor.  The mouthfeel is medium bodied and crisp.  Goes down really easy.  Overall a decent saison like I said above but I’m glad they didn’t turn this into one of their regular lineup brews.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 8 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.terrapinbeer.com/
What the company says: Welcome to the next version of Terrapin’s Side Project series of beers. Volume #7 “Maggie’s Farmhouse Ale.” Brewing this style of beer was as exciting as it was challenging because of it’s high fermentation temp. (90 F) and its finicky yeast strain. You’ll get all the aroma and flavors you’d expect from a farmhouse ale out of Maggie’s. The nose is a combination of grassy and spicy yeasty notes with an underlying bready earthiness character. The flavor is slightly sweet up front with a tartness in the middle followed with a white pepper/tart finish. Maggie’s offers the beer lover an old world style that is very pleasing to drink by itself or paired with fine foods. Cheers! Spike
ABV%: 6.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Terrapin Gamma Ray, Terrapin Monk’s Revenge
Other beers to try within the same style: Goose Island Sofie, Ommegang Hennepin
Rating: B+