Almond 22 Pink IPA & New Holland Charkoota Rye

1. Almond 22 Pink IPA

Ok, so first off, what's with the name of the brewery? Well, apparently, the building that the Italian Almond '22 brewery uses is from the late 19th century, a building in which old women used to peel almonds in 1922. I suppose it's a good thing that the building wasn't used for (noun) in the year (number). [Mad Libs...classic] Anyway, the Italian craft beer scene has definitely been growing lately and that's evident through this beer, an IPA that uses pink pepper. I'm definitely not a master of pepper, but from what I understand, pink pepper is distinct from a different type of pepper tree. How it's different from black pepper? The color (I have no idea...someone please enlighten me). Anyway, since this is an IPA, I'm more interested in the hops that are used in the beer, which are Simcoe, Nelson Sauvin and Hallertau. The result is mild in comparison to American IPAs. Mostly grapefruit and a slight hint of spiciness from the pepper. It could be that US breweries have slammed flavor down my throat so I come to expect more, but either way, I could use some bolder flavor from this beer. That said, I'm definitely curious to see any other beer styles coming from this brewery.

Overall Rating: B-

2. New Holland Charkoota Smoked Doppelbock

Flying pig on the label? Yea, I'll be a sucker for it. Honestly though, I'm more of a sucker for a beer that has "smoked" in the description. I love smoky-style beer. This one from New Holland definitely fits the bill. The malt is a blend that includes rye, a malt that a lot of brewers avoid due to its ability to harden up like a rock. Some of the malted barley is smoked over cherry wood, which as you can guess is the ultimate contributor to the smoky taste. Smoky beers originate from Germany (surprise) and the rauchbier style. The first time I tried one of these styles was amazing. It was like someone combined two of my favorite things in the world: beer and bacon. This beer wasn't the best example of the style that I've tried, but it was definitely tasty. These beers are great for pairing with food. I drank this while munching on some cheese and I definitely wasn't hatin' it.

Overall Rating: B

Moylan's Hopsickle & Stillwater/Mikkeller Our Side

1. Moylan's Hopsickle Imperial IPA

Moylan's is an Irish-themed brewpub out of California with award-winning brews, a lot of which I've yet to try. One of their highly-rated beers is Hopsickle, a tribute to hops. I figured trying a hop-forward beer from a California brewery is a good way to assess their talent. Being somewhat of a grammar nazi, I tried to look past the spelling errors on the label because when it comes down to it, I'll drink a great beer from an illiterate person over a subpar beer from a Spelling Bee champ any day. Not that I'm saying the brewers at Moylan's are illiterate. But I suppose they could be, how would I know? Not that there's anything wrong with that. Anyway, I digress. The chinook hops are the most noticeable because the flavor is very piney. Bit of grapefruit comes through with the Ahtanum hops too. The amount of hop flavor and the combination is great, backed by some solid malts. In a world full of hop-forward IPAs (is that redundant?), this beer stacks up pretty well.

Overall Rating: A-

2. Stillwater Artisanal Ales/Mikkeller Two Gypsies - Our Side

Some people are able to live somewhat nomadically, Kerouac style, bouncing around here and there. Stillwater and Mikkeller are kind of like that. Billed as gypsy brewers, they use facilities from different breweries to make their beer, Mikkeller from across the pond and Stillwater stateside. And wouldn't you believe it, both of their first beers were called "Stateside." Crazy. Naturally, with this coincidence, their similar brewing processes and the increasingly common instances of collaborations between breweries, they joined forces for a beer. They combined their recipes for the beer and the result is a saison/farmhouse ale. Very spicy and peppery as you would expect from the style. Fruity and earthy. Well balanced. As you can see, a lot of carbonation. Could have done with some warm weather while drinking this beer but I'll take what I can get I suppose.

Overall Rating: B+

Frog's Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale & Old Rasputin XII

1. Frog's Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale

Drinking a pumpkin ale the day after Halloween kind of feels like listening to Christmas music the day after Christmas to me. I guess I associate pumpkins more with Halloween than with fall, but maybe it's the fact that it freakin' snowed 8 inches this past weekend. Anyhow, I found this beer from Hoppin' Frog this past week and have read that it's a highly rated pumpkin beer with a gold medal from GABF to prove it. As I've mentioned before, my personal favorite is Southern Tier's Pumking, and it still is after drinking this one, but it's hard to compare the two because they take on different angles. Southern Tier takes on more of a sweet pumpkin pie taste, whereas this one sticks to pure pumpkin with spices. Based on that, this beer is very good. I have to give Weyerbacher's pumpkin the edge for my second favorite, but I would definitely consider this one for a bronze medal (along with Schlafly and Uinta).

Overall Rating: B+

2. North Coast Old Rasputin XII

I've hinted before at how I'll try imperial/extreme beers and that I would like to dissect the process to try the base beer before trying an extreme version of it, whether it be oak-aging, blending or any other similar process. Trying this beer fulfills that preference. North Coast's Old Rasputin is, and always will be, one of the best stouts out there, and I'm not alone in thinking that. They started with an 11th anniversary version, which was only available at their brewery. I think it turned some heads because they decided to extend the distribution of the 12th anniversary, albeit limited. The beer is aged in bourbon barrels and I'll say it again - beer and bourbon are an awesome combination. It's necessary to let this beer warm up to room temp because it has a lot of deep flavor from the bourbon aging. So, so smooth at 11.2% ABV. Amazing beer.

Overall Rating: A+