Brewdog Hazy Jane New England Style IPA

For the second of twelve, I thought I go for the IPA without the added fruit flavoring. I probably should have started off with this one, before sampling the mango or peach, just to get a good baseline, but time travel just is too energy intensive. 

As advertised, Hazy Jane pours extremely...well...hazy. I dipped a toy hockey stick in it and could barely see it through all the cloudiness. It pours an apricot hue, with a fuzzy white three-finger head. Without the distraction of the added fruit flavor, the complexity comes through. Pineapple, apricot, citrus, tangerine. The hop character is piney, but not very bitter. It's also brewed with oats and wheat, although the ratio of those two grains to the total isn't specified, but oats tend to give a beer a creamier, heavier character. I wasn't overly impressed with the mango version, but my opinion of the underlying ale just went up after sampling this one. There's a Hazy Jane Peach to still try, but I'd gave the basic Hazy Jane an 8 on the IGB IPA scale. 
 

Brewdog Hazy Jane Mango New England Style IPA

Hazy Jane Mango IPA from Brewdog is the first from the holiday 12-pack. It's billed as a New England style India Pale Ale - I had to look up what that meant: in contrast to the West Coast IPA, which is dry, very hoppy/bitter, with dank piney notes, a New England IPA is purposely cloudy or hazy, has a creaminess not found in its West Coast cousin, and has a hop profile that is less bitter and leans more to a tropical profile, rather than citrus-y or piney. The base beer,

Hazy Jane IPA fits the bill, with little overt bitterness and hints of pineapple, mango, peach and lime. The mango version, naturally brings mango to the head of the line. When I first poured this ale, I immediately caught a whiff of the tropical fruit notes from the hops, as well as the mango itself. It's not a bolt from the blue, but this beer is a pretty solid IPA which should appeal, not only to the IPA novice, but to the pale ale veteran who doesn't see the point in a hop level that removes the enamel from your teeth and the paint from your car. 

 

Zipline Calavera Stout

There's not going to be a lot in this review; Calavera uses the previously reviewed The Stout as the base beer, but has added cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa and a reduction drawn from various Mexican chiles. I'm not detecting the cinnamon, but the vanilla & cocoa are definitely evident, but the chiles are coming on strong. Pretty unique brew. The 13.8% ABV makes it a slow sipper. 
 

Zipline Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout (THE Stout)

Russian Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels. What could be better? Nothing's better on a cold Nebraska evening than a Nebraska-brewed black beauty. THE Stout pours midnight black...I swear it looked like an oil well had snuck into the brewery. The head is negligible, hah! who needs it anyway? The ABV is a respectable 13.8%, which imparts a comfortable alcohol heat, releasing the bourbon flavor as well. It's smooth and creamy, and very complex. Chocolate, black cherry, figs, molasses, a teeny hint of oak, and vanilla all compete for attention...but they're gentlemen about it, not brawlers. 9.5/10 on the IGB stout scale. 
 

Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin Ale & Great Pumpkin Imperial Pumpkin Ale

Seldom do I combine multiple beers in one review, but there's a very good reason for this: other than both Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin Ale and Great Pumpkin Imperial Pumpkin Ale having slightly different ABVs, they are essentially the same beer. Night Owl's ABV is 6.7%, while Great Pumpkin's is a measly 8.4%. Each of these pumpkin ales is pretty good, even an excellent sample of the seasonal style, but I'd expect an imperial anything to have a higher alcohol and/or hop content. Now this is the odd thing: on Elysian's website the notes for Great Pumpkin indicate that it has 0 IBUs...no hops! I don't know if you can even call it beer if there aren't any hops. If this is true, there is no detectable difference between Night Owl, at 18 IBUs (very mild hop bitterness) and Great Pumpkin at an alleged no IBUs. 

These pumpkin ales pour a distinctive hue - just like a pumpkin pie, with a scanty tan head. The spices are a perfect blend of cinnamon (which holds a prominent place in the spice pantheon), allspice, nutmeg and ginger. Both versions have a smooth consistency, and even the lower ABV version has a whiskey-like quality to it. Very smooth. I'd recommend either of these beers for anyone's Autumn beer drinking!

 

Elysian Puncuccino Coffee Pumpkin Ale

The second of four, Puncuccino is a pumpkin ale with added coffee flavoring. I was a it suspicious of this one - I wasn't sure of the two favors would go together - I like some pumpkin creamer in my coffee, but I hadn't considered how they would complement the beer. I'm not sure what the base beer was, it poured a dark, almost black, brown, suggesting a stout or a porter, but the consistency wasn't as creamy as one would expect from a stout. Maybe the base is a dunkel. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised at how the coffee and the pumpkin pie spice complemented the taste of the beer. The spices (allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger) are all pretty strong, but the coffee notes are quite subdued, yet you know that they're there. Kind of a fun ale to kick off the Autumn beer season. 
 

Elysian Dark O' The Moon Pumpkin Stout

One of the things that I love about the autumn season is pumpkin spice flavored...everything. And of course, there's the stouts and porters that go down so well during the cooler evenings. Tonight I picked up a 12-pack of Elysian pumpkin beers and tried out two of them. The first is Dark O' The Moon, a pumpkin stout. 

Before I even start commenting on the pumpkin-ness, I have to say that the flavoring aside, this is a really good stout. Thick and creamy, with a smooth layer of chocolatey goodness. Not too hoppy. When it comes to the spices, they're all there: nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and maybe a hint of vanilla and caramel. The spice and the underlying stoutness balance perfectly; the strong stout base needed (and received) strong spices to make it all come together. 

Highly recommended for fans of pumpkin stouts or porters.