Weyerbacher Brewing -

by snebbu

Endless Beer: Fall Beer Roundup

It’s October. Now there is no excuse to not be indulging in some kind of fall flavored food or drink. Yes, I said fall flavored. Fall has many flavors, you know. If you are not enjoying the fall flavors, well there is some sort of evil hiding in the depths of your soul. For the rest of you, we bring you the 2014 roundup of fall brews. There are so many to choose from that it is hard to narrow it down to a list. But, with the help of several trusty breweries, we were able to provide you this handy list. Note that these aren’t just your typical pumpkin beers or Oktoberfests. These are in your face flavors or different twists on the typical fall beers. In order to categorize this list in the most helpful way, we’re trying something new: word association. After tasting each of these offerings, we thought of the first word or phrase that comes to mind. Reviews of each brew to come.

21st Amendment/Elysian Collaboration: He Said He Said

Refreshing and Sweet. The collaboration of 21st Amendment and Elysian is one of the most unique I’ve found for the fall. The trappist version of the He Said He Said is the refreshing part of this four pack. While the pumpkin flavor is at the forefront, the characteristics of a Sour Belgian Trappist come through with a crisp finish. Meanwhile, the pumpkin porter provides a sweet and nearly creamy rendition of a porter with extra pumpkin to boot.

Abita Oktoberfest

Toasty. The Abita Octoberfest is a classic lager with a sweet and toasty taste. The lager is a sweet classic Octoberfest with a pleasant roasted flavor and a hint of hops. The hops tone down the sweetness, making it a nice fall brew.

From Grains, to Beer, to…Sausage?

25 year-old Nolan Thevenet (yes—younger than most of us bums) decided that his time at Drexel University was done after drawing up so many plans for a farm that his sketchbooks were costing as much as his tuition (no exaggeration). Nolan called up his mom and told her that he was starting a farm on their 40+ acre property. IN THE WOODS. Nolan’s lineage is not one of farmers or shepherds, but he determined that he could learn the farming way through books, visits with other farmers, and, of course, Google. The result? A three-year-old livestock farm with over 60 goats, over 50 pigs, and over 50 chickens. Oh, and AWESOME beer brats. What makes them so awesome is not just the fact that they are free range pigs (in the forest) but also that they are fed spent grains from Weyerbacher brewery. (Spent grains = leftover grains after the boil to make beer)

Pumpkin Beer? In July?

That’s right. I’ve noticed some complaints about seeing pumpkin beer out so early. As your consumer reporter (and fellow beer lover) I decided to go to the source: Weyerbacher Brewing.

Weyerbacher is known for their Imperial Pumpkin Ale, so why not just go to the brewery and investigate? I wanted to see (a) how they brew the stuff and (b) why they release it so early. I found the answers to those questions and oh so much more. Let’s go.