Kotas Reviews Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale

Welcome to Day 5, the final day of Okotastoberfest! Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and thus we wind down the week with our final entry: Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale. The Blue Moon Brewing Company is based out of Colorado, and is part of the craft and import division of MillerCoors. Can a huge American domestic brewery put out a beer that competes in the craft beer market? I would think it can, given it's signature Blue Moon Belgian-style White is very popular. Let's see what we can determine about its seasonal offering.

Delicious beer or corporate swill? YOU MAKE THE CALL!

The label is another example of how to take your standard logo and branding and jazz it up for the holidays. I'm actually not a huge fan of Blue Moon. It is not an awful beer, but it is vastly improved with the addition of a slice of orange...and I am of the opinion that any beer that is only good when stuff is added to it is not really a good beer. Still, I won't turn my nose up at it if you hand it to me...and it really is pretty darn good with a slice of orange. Let's see how this "Harvest" ale compares.

The orangiest of the five reviewed this week!

Another beer that has a pretty faint scent. I'm beginning to think it might be the glass I'm using, but hey, what do I know. The scent carries a hint of pumpkin, which really shouldn't surprise me. It has a nice orange color and just a touch of head on the pour. The flavor is actually a nice pumpkin-malt combination that is refreshing on the tongue. The aftertaste is clean, but it lingers more than, say, the Sam Adams offering. It is a bit drying on the tongue, and the fading bitterness is pleasant. 

It is not a heavy beer, but it's also not a particularly light beer. Solid flavor with just enough pumpkin to let you know you are drinking a pumpkin beer. I think this would pair well with a lot of different foods, except the most delicate ones. It is surprisingly drinkable! This could easily be a nice session beer, though I wouldn't want to drink it all day. Color me surprised, this is pretty good.
On the FACE Rating System, I'd give this 2 smileys. I am actually pretty impressed that it is as good as it is, and I think I will add it to my yearly rotation. Of the five beers I've had, I think the Sam Adams Octoberfest is still my favorite, but this is pretty darn close. If you like pumpkin beers, I definitely recommend giving this a place in your glass. 

Well, that concludes Okotastoberfest for this year. I had a great time reviewing these beers. Maybe I'll do it again next year! 

Kotas Reviews Newcastle Werewolf

Hello my loyal readers! Welcome to Day 4 of Okotastoberfest! It's Halloween everybody, and that means we have a special treat for you today...a little something from the United Kingdom has escaped the confines of London (well, Tadcaster North Yorkshire...close enough for us ignorant Yanks), and now prowls your local grocery's beer aisle looking for new prey. It is Newcastle Werewolf, and we're here to find out if it is a howling good brew, or if it should be shot with silver bullets.

Spoooooooooky!

I really like the label on this one. It's clearly a Newcastle beer, but the blue star is nowhere to be seen, a werewolf is front and center, and it really plays up the theme. All in all, a perfect example of how to spookify (shut up, it's a word) your standard offering. I've always enjoyed their standard Newcastle Brown Ale, which is the favorite beer of some of my poker buddies and one of those nice session imports perfect for a fall evening. How will this interloper stand up? 

Rawwwwr? RAWR!

Billed as a "blood red ale", I would just like to say that this is "sort of blood red...if the blood were drying after being exposed to air for a while". As with all the beers I've tried this week, it doesn't have much of a scent, but it does look pretty good in the glass. This beer is another "quick hit" sort of taste, with a coffee tang to compliment the maltiness, but there's no clean aftertaste here. The not unpleasant sourness lingers a bit, like the pain from a scratch fading shortly after it was inflicted. The flavor also smooths out as you drink. My first taste was not my favorite, but after a few more sips, it grew on me and became a very drinkable beer. 

This would probably go well with any sort of pub food, along with red meats, which is very fitting given the name. I am pleased to note that the hops are back in their rightful place after yesterday's surprise visit, though I do wish the bitterness was a bit...mellower maybe? This is a beer that leaps into your throat and growls at you that it is definitely a beer, and not some sort of drink masquerading as a beer or beer like substance. 

On the FACE Rating System, this gets one howling smiley face. As a seasonal change up, I like it very well, but I certainly wouldn't seek it out as a regular drink, even during its season. A session or two in the appropriate yearly cycle is more than enough. If you like fall beers, or if you are a Newcastle fan, I highly recommend giving it a whirl. It won't bite your head off.

Kotas Reviews Shiner Oktoberfest

It's Day 3 of Okotastoberfest! Today we head for Texas and the Spoetzl Brewery for our specimen: Shiner Oktoberfest. The Spoetzl Brewery bills itself as the oldest independent brewery in Texas, and was founded in 1909. The Oktoberfest brew began life as Shiner 96, one of the beers created to celebrate the (at the time) impending centennial of the brewery's life. It entered seasonal rotation shortly after. Their most well known beer is of course the tasty Shiner Bock, favorite of country music stars and Hank from Breaking Bad. Let's see how their brew stacks up!

Oppa Marzen Style!

 I've always liked the designs for the various Shiner beer labels. Distinctive, yet always easy to recognize. This is no exception really, and hey, they spelled Oktoberfest with the proper German spelling, so you know, thumbs up. Shiner Bock is a pretty good beer, the kind you'd get when you want to stay domestic, but want a fancy domestic that looks like an import...at least on the East Coast. 

Fancy and Dancy!

The scent on this one is a lot like all the other ones we've looked at: faint. The color is a bit brighter than either Yuengling or Sam Adams' offerings, and it generated a bit more head when poured, but not a ridiculous amount. The flavor is very consistent throughout the quaffing process: what you taste on the first sip is the same taste that lingers in your mouth. The finish is also clean and crisp, but the aftertaste is very bitter...mainly because the main flavor is a lot more bitter. In fact, it tastes a lot like someone drank a Sam Adams Octoberfest and said to themselves "Man, this is good, but it needs a LOT more hops to really make it shine". 

I am not a huge fan of the current trend in "extra hoppy" beers. I actively avoid IPAs of any strength and something like Milwaukee Brewing's "Hoptoberfest" is RIGHT OUT. This is not a huge offender but it is certainly a lot hoppier than I would like. If you like this kind of thing, you'd probably like this beer fairly well. It won't provide that hop shock and awe that seems to be the current trendy thing, but it is a lot more than most Oktoberfest brews I've had. 

On the FACE Rating System, this gets 0 faces. It's well done in presentation, looks good, and drinks well. I could drink a few of these in a long session...if it was a flavor I actually enjoyed. It's not bad, but it isn't anything close to my cup of tea. Tune in tomorrow for a special edition of Okotastoberfest, in honor of the holiday. Muhahahaha!

Kotas Reviews Samuel Adams Octoberfest

It's Day 2 of Okotastoberfest! Today's offering comes to us from the first of the national "craft brewer" brands to hit the mainstream: Samuel Adams. Sammy A here, true to his Southie nature, put out their groundbreaking Boston Lager, and suddenly everyone and their brewmeister mother was attempting to cash in the wild popularity of beer that actually tastes good. They started putting out an Oktoberfest brew in 1989, but it has been a staple of my Fall Beer Selection for many years. Let's take a look!

Note that they spelled Oktoberfest in the inferior American way

The bottle is bright, distinctive yet still very much a Sam Adams bottle. I like this color scheme as it pretty much matches the color of the leaves that fall from my oak trees. Well, most of them. I like Samuel Adams, but it is kind of the dark mirror of Yuengling for me. I strongly dislike their standard Boston Lager, but almost all of their seasonal, special, or otherwise offbeat beers I enjoy quite a bit. In fact, their Black Lager was my go to beer for a while. How will this one stack up? Unlike yesterday, this one's a pop off, so I had to resort to my trusty bottle opener to reveal the secrets within.

The secret is apparently a brownish orange

The color of this beer is pleasing to the eye and nice fall-oriented dark orange and brown concoction. I tend to pour my beers using the "side of the glass" method, so there isn't any head to speak of. The scent is pretty weak actually, with only a hit at the malt goodness. The flavor is very...bursty. You take a sip, but the full thing doesn't hit you until you actually swallow it and then you get an explosion of malt, caramel, and a hint of pumpkin. As quickly as it arrives, it fades leaving a clean finish and a ghost-like aftertaste that is a pleasant reminder of beers past. 

It's not as bitter as the Yuengling brew and certainly isn't as strong a flavor, though it is strong. Good with a burger, bad with fois gras, if you catch my drift. Not completely overwhelming like the Yuengling, but distinctive. It is certainly more drinkable, but it is more filling than a pilsner or a lager. Comfortable is the word I would use to describe it. I could drink this fairly steadily at a party and be pretty happy. 

On the FACE Rating System, Sam Adams Octoberfest gets a solid 2 smiley faces. If you like beer and haven't tried it, I recommend picking up a 6 pack. If you are throwing a party or bringing beer TO a party, a 12 pack would certainly be welcome at anything I was hosting. What will tomorrow hold? Tune in and find out!

Kotas Reviews Yuengling Oktoberfest

Greetings my loyal readers! The time has come for another October Theme Week! Now, what could be more October-y than Oktoberfest? Well, just about everything, given that it usually takes place in September, but that's not the important thing! What IS more important is the wide variety of seasonal beers that become available around this time! I enjoyed Cereal Monsters Week so much, I decided to do it again, only this time with something that gets me drunk. Welcome, to Okotastoberfest! 

For today's entry, we hearken back to an old standby, Yuengling. Billing itself as America's Oldest Brewery, Yuengling burst onto the, uh, regional scene from its local brew roots in Pennsylvania a few years back. Of all the domestic beers, this one is probably my favorite, and is my go to beer for everyday drinking. This year, for whatever reason, they seem to have released an Oktoberfest version. How does it hold up? 

At least it is in a brown bottle. Green bottles suck!

I've found that Yuengling beers outside their staples of Lager and Black & Tan to be very hit or miss with me. I think their Porter is okay, but that "Lord Chesterton Ale" is very, very meh. They also price their non-staple beers more like the mass market craft beers, which is to say "$3 more than the usual price". I wasn't super thrilled with that, but hey, Science or something. Let's pop (well, unscrew, since it's a screw top) this bad boy open!

This is my non-schamcy glass

The scent is essentially that of standard Yuengling products, which is to say, not very strong. It's got a nice basic malt odor with overtones of hops and a hint of something...maybe pumpkin, maybe just extra malt. The scent would probably be heavier if I used an actual beer glass, but eh, roll with what you know. Not much head on the beer, but I'm gonna call that a good thing. 

The taste is pretty good, with a nice shock of malt and a bit of hoppy aftertaste. It bubbles on the tongue a bit in a fairly pleasant sort of way. It is rather more on the bitter side of beer than some, but it doesn't have a heavy sourness to make it taste bad like some really bitter beers can do, and the finish is pretty clean. It tastes a lot like a bit more bitter version of their standard Lager.

All that said, it's pretty heavy on the mouth feel. This is a beer that takes all other flavors around it and says "Nein! Ve shall haf none of zat now!" so it wouldn't go good with any food that has any flavor south of "Bold". It sits in the stomach, and is not something I could quaff with any sort of regularity. One or two of these, and I'm full. It's also not particularly distinct from their standard Lager, though you can tell it is different. I just don't know if it's different enough to justify the price difference. 

On the FACE Rating System, I give this beer 0 faces. It's not a bad beer by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not a particularly great beer either. If you get a chance to try it, say at a party or as part of a variety pack I'd give it a whirl, but I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to acquire it.