Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin

Let's take a break from the world of stouts and try something very appropriate for the first day of Fall.  Pumpkin beers are about as Autumn as you can get.  Many people, as far as I can tell, look forward to the pumpkin beers as much as they do the colorful leaves and crisp, comfortable evenings.  The problem is, I've never really been one of those people.  While I'll have a pumpkin beer here or there, I've never been one to seek them out.  They've never particularly stuck with me.  I tend to partake of my pumpkins in pie form.  So, I'll say right now that I don't have too much of a frame of reference for this particular beer.

You'll remember the review I did of Shipyard's Smashed Blueberry awhile back.  Smashed Pumpkin is another in Shipyard Brewing's Pugsley's Signature Series, their line of big beers.  Did I like their take on pumpkins as much as I liked their take on blueberries?  Let's find out, shall we?

The beer pours a "light coppery orange" according to the bottle.  You know they wanted to say that it poured a light pumpkiny color.  A tall, pale orange-ish head sits atop the beer, just begging to be smelled.  To me, so much of this time of year is connected with smells.  Smashed Pumpkin is no exception.  Getting my nose right into the glass, while carefully avoiding actually inhaling foam, I immediately smell spices...nutmeg for sure and perhaps cinnamon?  The rest of the smell is, well, I don't know how to describe it, but all I can guess is that it is the pumpkin.  I think pumpkin is so intrinsically linked with nutmeg and cinnamon that I can't quite recall what it smells like on it's own.

The taste is where I start to be a little out of my element.  Don't get me wrong, the taste is great.  The pumpkin and nutmeg stand front and center.  A nice hoppy crispness is present, but graciously takes a secondary role.  The 9% alcohol doesn't hit you over the head.  This really is a very tasty beer.  Where I have a problem is...I don't know if this is better or worse than some of the other good pumpkin beers out there.  I have absolutely had worse.  There are beers out there that just taste like the spices or they're sickly sweet.  Smashed Pumpkin is quite nicely balanced.  Not too sweet, not too spicy, seemingly just right.  But, I just can't say it's the best out there.

Let's see if I can wrap this all up.  Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin really is a tasty pumpkin ale.  Is it the best out there?  I have no idea.  Is it the best I've had in my very limited pumpkin beer career?  I'd say it certainly is.  If you're a fan of this style of beer, I think it's certainly worth a try if you can find it.  If you're much more of a pumpkin beer connoisseur than I am, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.  How does it compare to others you've had?  Are there others I absolutely have to try?  I'm giving Smashed Pumpkin an A-.  While I'm not normally a pumpkin beer guy, I will certainly get this one again!

Founders Breakfast Stout

OK kids, have a seat and I'm going to tell you a story...

Once upon a time, there was a brewery by the name of Founders Brewing Company.  They created a magical elixir and dubbed it Breakfast Stout.  Many other breweries made beers that they thought were better.  They were wrong.  And beer lovers lived happily ever after.

Yeah, that was a crappy story.  I'm not much of the fairy tale type.  What I am, though, is a fan of big beers.  I've said it before.  I don't want to drink a 30-rack of swill and get drunk.  I want to sit around and enjoy a couple high quality brews.  I want something that makes my taste buds somehow grow vocal chords and say "wow".  Breakfast Stout is one of these beers.

My first experience with Breakfast Stout (and Founders themselves) was several years back at the Extreme Beer Fest in Boston.  While their other beers were all excellent, Breakfast Stout was in a league of its own.  It was something more than any stout I had ever tasted.  Everything about it was amped up.  How, you ask?  Well, let's dissect it.

First, the bottle.  How can you resist a bottle with a chubby kid eating breakfast from a Founders bowl?  Sure, this has nothing to do with the beer inside, but they really do have some amazing artwork on their labels.  The label itself does give you a hint as to what you're in for.  The description of the beer...DOUBLE CHOCOLATE COFFEE OATMEAL STOUT.  Did I need all caps?  Yes, I think I did.  Read it again.

I wish you could smell this beer through the internet.  It smells of smooth, rich coffee (they use Sumatra and Kona coffee...good stuff).  It smells of rich, dark chocolate.  It smells of roasted malts.  Hops?  Not a chance with those other smells.  As you can see, it also pours with a beautiful chocolatey head.

The taste?  Oh, the taste.  Wow.  In the words of Ferris Bueller, "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."  That coffee smell...it's front and center in the taste as well.  It's not bitter coffee, it's smooth, rich coffee.  The chocolate?  Yeah, it's here too...intense, semi-sweet chocolate.  It's no secret how well chocolate and coffee play together.  Here, that fact is taken to the extreme.  The label mentions 60 IBUs and 8.3% ABV.  The 60 IBUs is middle of the road in terms of hoppiness in a strong stout like this.  They don't have the oomph to overcome the other flavors (I can certainly taste them though), but I guarantee I would notice if they weren't there.  They balance out the richness of the beer.  As for the 8.3%, you don't taste the alcohol, and remember, this is something you just have one or two of in a night.

Wait, what about the oatmeal?!  OK, when I created this blog, I said I wasn't going to use snobby-sounding words like mouth-feel.   Welllll...it's time to mention mouth-feel.  Oats do amazing things to beer.  Due to their protein and lipid content (I actually had to look this up), they increase the viscosity and smoothness of the beer.  This leads to an enhanced mouth-feel (how the beer feels in your mouth).  Breakfast Stout feels like it coats your mouth.  It's a wonderful thing indeed.

So, do I really need to sum things up?  Founders Breakfast Stout really is the stout I judge all others by.  Are there better stouts out there?  I've had a couple I put evenly on par with this, but they are few and far between.  Oh, and did I mention that they also make a couple special versions of this?  Kentucky Breakfast Stout (aged for a year in bourbon barrels) and Canadian Breakfast Stout (aged in bourbon barrels that have been recently aging maple syrup).  If you find a bottle of Breakfast Stout, promise me you will buy it and give it a taste.  You shall not be disappointed!  This amazing beer gets a definite A+ in my book!  Cheers!!!