Boulevard "Funky Pumpkin" Spiced Sour Ale

I'm a big fan of sour ales and I'm a big fan of sour ales, but I believe that this is the first combination that I have sampled. The color isn't much different than your standard amber, perhaps with a tad more orange than usual. The pumpkin pie spice comes through in the aroma right off, and is nicely balanced by the tartness of the ale itself. Cinnamon and nutmeg predominate in the spice mix, with a little ginger as well. There's apple and pear as it warms up, adding a nice crisp touch. IGB recommends for the Autumn Beer Season.

Kona Brewing Company Big Wave Golden Ale

I tried some Kona Brewing beers a few years back when I was visiting Thomas & Shana in Hawaii, I believe that I had Big Wave wehnwe went out to eat, but did not do a review. Big Wave is classified as an American Blonde ale, pouring a golden hue with a medium white head. Lots of lemon  and other citrus; fairly hoppy with both pine and grapefruit, but mostly pine. Decent summer ale, but nothing to get excited about.

Weyerbacher 20th Anniversary

This is the seventh Weyerbacher anniversary ale that I have reviewed, there have definitely been some fine beers in the collection. (Use the search function and type in 'Weyerbacher') and XX is no exception. as usual, the ABV is pretty high at 11%, which imparts some whiskey-like heat to the brew. It poured a maple-ey brown, topped by a thin tan head with an aroma of dark fruit as soon as the bottle was opened. The flavor of figs, raisins and especially figs dominates, with some brown sugar and maple sneaking up on you. Plums are standing up in the back waving for attention, elbowing aside the black cherries. The promised coriander is there, but shy and retiring. It could easily be classified as a Belgian Quadruppel, but maybe they wanted to retain the uniquness of their year-round Quad. Not a beer for quaffing...sip away my people, sip away.

Brickway Brewery's Hef

Nebraska beer! Nebraska beer! Nebraska beer! Hef is part of Brickway's 'Session Series', beers that won't knock you out with excessive ABV. This is a good example of the hefeweizen style, beer that is made with at least 50% wheat malt. It pours an apricot yellow with a two-finger white head. There's the characteristic bubble-gummy/banana/clove flavor, with a little bit of lemon peel on the back end. I've long been a fan of hefeweizens in general and this one gets my vote.