This month, we got beer from Saranac and Atlanta Brewing Company. Saranac was represented by their Pumpkin Ale and their Oktoberfest, while we drank the Atlanta Brewing Company Brown Ale and Pale Ale.

If you want to get the same club as us go here: Click to Join

Atlanta Brewing Company Red Brick Brown Ale

Appearance: Tan stable head, about an inch and a half. Appropriately, the beer is brown.

Smell: A little bit of roastiness and some molasses sweetness. But fairly mild.

Taste: Smooth, slightly sweet. Almost creamy. A hint of hazelnut. Delicious! We would definitely drink a bunch of this. This has a great complex malt taste, quite nutty at the end. Still exceedingly drinkable!

Saranac Oktoberfest

Appearance: Bone white to tan head. Fluffy and sticks around. Looks much lighter than most oktoberfests... Copper.

Smell: Light, a little bit of malt. Not much smell to it.

Taste: Drinkable! Very smooth. Crisp even. Very light on the palate. Lacking the malt body normally expected from an Oktoberfest, but we like it. This would have been a great beer for our Oktoberfest party. Reminds us of Weihenstephaner Festbier. This gets better as you drink it. A bit bitter, but not hoppy. We approve!

Saranac Pumpkin Ale

Appearance: Off white head. Coppery orange color.

Smell: Spicy. It smells like pumpkin pie.

Taste: Quite spiced with pumpkin pie spices. Not very pumpkiny, really. A bit thinner than normal pumpkin beer. We may have been a little harsh earlier in our Pumpkin Beer Tasteoff. We still think it lacks a little of what we look for in a pumpkin beer, but it's quite a good fall spiced beer. This could go well with pumpkin pie or Thanksgiving dinner. In the context of a Pumpkin Beer Tasteoff, this is a little lacking when compared to others. But as a spiced beer, it's pretty good.

Atlanta Brewing Company Pale Ale

Appearance: White head. Not to fluffy, but it sticks around. Light orangey coppery amber.

Smell: Crisp hop goodness! Mmmmm... We could smell it just pouring it into a glass. The hops are almost orangey, like orange zest.

Taste: Dry and crisp with a great hop bite. Nice bitterness for a pale ale, a lot of smooth bitterness, they were not shy on this front! The hops taste great, too... still some of that orange zest. And, to round it all out, the malt backbone of this beer really complements the hops. This is a very well put together pale ale. This is probably one of the best beers we've received from Gourmet Monthly Clubs. We were told the hop shortage is making it harder to acquire hoppy beers for the club, so we're extra glad they were able to send this one out!

One of the best (and worst) things about craft beer is that there are so many different breweries throughout the country, many of which you can't sample unless you live close by. So how do you get a chance to sample some brews not available in your area? Well, you could do like Devon and I did in Devon and Jeff Drink the East Coast and drive a few thousand miles... But a better, and much easier, alternative may just be to join a beer of the month club!

There's quite a few out there to choose from, which is why we've put together Beer of the Month Club Comparison, Which Should You Join? Check it out and determine which is right for you!

I received my first Beer of the Month Club membership from my then roommate as a birthday present. It was Clubs of America's Beer of the Month Club. I got quite a few delicious brews which I had never tried before... one was even Sweetwater Brewing's 420 IPA, which I didn't get to try again until Devon and I drove down to Atlanta. It was a little easier to have it shipped to me. I would definitely recommend a beer of the month club, such as this one, so check it out! Go to our Beer of the Month Club Comparison, figure out which is right for you and then wait for the craft beer to come to you!

This is a great article from the New York Times about craft beer being brewed in Brooklyn. They focus a lot on Shane Welch (left side of the picture) and Sixpoint Craft Ales, but also mention Brooklyn Brewing Co. and Greenpoint Beer Works a little bit.

Some of the highlights include:

 - Sixpoint bought a bottling line
 - Sixpoint bought a new brewing system
 - This should allow Sixpoint to increase production to 60,000 barrels per year
 - They're looking to close soon on a building in Williamsburg to house this new equipment

The article also talks about Sixpoint's beers, how they like to experiment with new brews a lot, Brooklyn Brewing Co.'s desire to expand and more. Check it out here!

It's always an exciting day when our beer of the month club comes in. It's sort of like a mini christmas each time, you don't know what you're going to get as you open the box only to discover exciting and interesting new beers. Once again we got a shipment of beers we'd never tried before and given we've tried a lot of beer and we mean A LOT that's saying something.

If you want to get the same club as us go here: Click to Join

Woodstock Inn Pig's Ear Brown Ale

Appearance: Brown, light tan head... decent size head.

Smell: Mild, slightly sweet. Smooth

Taste: Very smooth and easy to drink. Good malt flavor, light hop bitterness, but enough to keep the beer very well balanced, if not on the maltier side. A very drinkable session brown ale. Got enough flavor to make it tasty, with a god bit of roast to it. Not too flavorful to make it tough to drink a lot of it.

Woodstock Inn Red Rack Ale

Appearance: Well, surprise surprise, it' red-ish. White head that dissipates real fast.

Smell: Earthy hops... light smell to it, nothing overwhelming. Almost a little smoke in there.

Taste: Light tasting, with a nice hop bitterness to it. Balanced just like the Pig's Ear, but on the hoppy side rather than the malty side. Very drinkable, another very good session ale!

Tommyknocker Butthead Bock

Appearance: Deep brown with some amber hues and a rich but light brown head.

Smell: Malty. Brown sugar and mollases. Smells sweet.

Taste: Sweet. It tastes like a sweet Oktoberfest. Maltiness coats your mouth, it's a pretty thick beer. Definitely a tasty one to enjoy on a cold night!

Jeff Says: It's good for what it is. A bock. I just don't love sweet beers that much. But it is a good example of the style. I like it, but wouldn't seek it out.

Devon Says: I like it. It tastes like a sweet marzen, which for me worked well. Bock's are actually normally a style that I don't care for but I'd definitely drink this again.

Tommyknocker Pick Axe Pale Ale

Appearance: Dark golden with a white head

Smell: Smells good even just pouring it into the glass! Piny hops. Ryan says it smells like Christmas.

Taste: Dry, hoppy, piny and very tasty! Not overly bitter, but great hop flavor with just enough bitterness to make it crisp. This is definitely the winner of the bunch. A great session ale that we could drink all night long. This one is definitely recommended.

CNN had a cool article in their Living section about beer and how many breweries have used religious angles in naming their beer, breweries, equipment and more. Lost Abbey, Russian River, He'Brew, St. Arnold are all featured, as well as several beer appreciation groups and more.

The article definitely gives a pretty good look at why some people decided to use God and religious symbolism in naming their beers or breweries.

Check out the article here!

We generally don't love fruit beers here at DCB, but there's one notable exception...pumpkin beer. Rich, earthy and spicy, these beers offer something very unique that you just don't get from other types of beer. For 2008 we wanted to do something big. We gathered all the pumpkin beers in our area that we could get our hand on, invited 11 of our friends for what was to be the great pumpkin beer tasteoff! What we ended up with was 13 people tasting 9 different pumpkin beers. Pumpkin beers are also great with food so see the bottom of the article for an awesome pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe.

One thing we learned early on in this taste test is that there isn't a clear winner here. There are certainly some favorites but the flavor profiles of pumpkin beer lends itself to personal preference more than your typical beer does. We had a blast tasting all of these beers and encourage you to gather up your friends to do the same. Special thanks to John, Earl, Kate, Brian, Amie, Ryan, Jess, Sarah, Andrew, Janice and Kevin for helping us taste all these, we know it was a really tough job, and by tough we mean delicious.

Rather than try to rate these we're just going to give you our impressions in the order we tried them.

Saranac Pumpkin Ale
Appearance: Murky brown. Tan head... taupe...looks dirty.

Smell: Smells like pumpkin spice, sweet pumpkin pie and a little earthy.

Taste: Crisp but not much flavor to it; not much pumpkin and just a little bit of spice. The beer finishes with little aftertaste, just a little spice and tartness. People didn't love this one, it was ok at the beginning, but nobody wanted to finish it. It feels like it leaves a film on your tongue. It's drinkable, but not our top recommendation.

Shipyard Pumpkinhead

Appearance: Quite light almost like a pale ale.

Smell: The aroma is filled with spices but not much hops, malt or pumpkin. There's a strong note of cinnamon.

Taste: This beer has a distinct and pleasant pumpkin flavor up front. Crisp at first, but a little thicker on the finish. Finishes clean, with decent pumpkin flavor, but not overwhelming. Pretty light for a pumpkin beer and quite drinkable. People liked this one. Tastes nutmeggy and spicy.

Brooklyn Brewing Post Road Pumpkin Ale

Appearance: Clear copper with an off-white head.

Smell: Nutmeggy hops. Spice.

Taste: Hoppy and spicy with a very strong aftertaste of spice. While this may be a bit hard to explain without trying it the beer seems to foam up as you drink it.  Tastes fresh, but maybe a little overdone with spices. As you drink it, the spices mellow and it gets more drinkable. Body is light. You can smell spicy hops after drinking it.

Southampton Pumpkin Ale

Appearace: Red amber-ish with brown/tan head. A little hazy.

Smell: Pumpkin...yeah, lots of pumpkin.

Taste: Indian summer beer, sorry, indigenous native American summer beer. Tastes like eating pumpkin but in a really good way.  Our test panel was torn on this beer, though, people seemed to love it or hate it. Kevin says "chalky pumpkin." People are split, half like it, half don't.  Ryan thinks it's "a little sour..." Earl and Kevin agree. Devon drank it the quickest of all so far... and not because we had the least volume. As it went on, though, a lot of people liked it less. The sourness got more and more evident as it went on. Good carbonation. People are definitely split. Some think it's very drinkable, others didn't like it as much. We say this beer is worth a try though. Devon loved it.

Cambridge Brewing Company Great Pumpkin Ale

Appearance: Light golden with a white head.

Smell: Pretty light smell, a little malt, but not much. Can't really smell the pumpkin or anything.

Taste: Light... pumpkiny...Kevin and Ryan say that it tastes a little like a wheat beer with pumpkin. Very smooth. In the growler it tastes different. Make sure you taste it around your whole mouth to taste the beer completely, that definitely helps. It's better on tap at CBC than in the growler, though part of that is making sure you let the beer breathe. We found after swirling it around in our glasses it really opened up the flavors. We also got one of the first growlers of this beer so the beer is very young. Definitely real pumpkin taste in here... you can taste that! After taste is really mild... Smooth beer, very much tastes like pumpkin. If you live near Boston, definitely check out Cambridge Brewing Company for this beer, it's on tap now... Growlers on sale October 1st we're told. This beer is best a little warmer than most people would serve beer at. Take it out of the refridgerator and let it warm up for about 10 minutes if you have a growler. At the brewpub, they'll serve it at the correct temperature.

Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale

Appearance: Hazy golden, white head.

Smell: Pumpkin and a little spice. Gentle spice.

Taste: Wow, hoppy for a pumpkin beer! Definitely some pumpkin in here too... but the hoppiest so far, by a bit. People like it. Complex. Nice carbonation... Brian's favorite after CBC. Super easy to drink compared to the others, smooth and crisp, despite the aggressive hops. But, like most pumpkin beer, nobody thinks you could drink too many (please ignore the fact the the 13 of us are drinking 9 different pumpkin ales today...we're just getting through it to tell you all what we recommend). This beer goes very well with the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies that Amie made. Devon is the only one who says too hoppy... but only slightly. Jeff likes it, partially because of the hops. He likes hops a lot.

Dogfish Head Punkin' Ale
Appearance: Dark orange with a white head.

Smell: Warming spice, a little alcohol.

Taste: Full bodied brown ale. Amie says it tastes soapy and it does a little bit, we think but it's a product of the hops. Kate says it tastes like Cambridge Brewing Company Amber and this goes well with the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies as well. Definitely the most full bodied so far. A little mollases. Really a distinct taste... pumpkin up front but an aftertaste takes over. Excellent for after dinner. Some people like the hops, some don't. But it's not always the normal people who like hoppy beer.

Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale

App: Deep amber to red. Off white head.

Smell: Cinnamon, pumpkin and alcohol. It's 8% abv, the alcohol comes through a little. Great for after dinner. Some brown sugar.

Taste: Smooth. The group's favorite so far. Cinnamon. Really smooth. Thick. Nutmeg. Definitely a serious beer! Kevin notes that, "As it warms the alcohol comes through a lot more. Makes it much less pleasant." This beer when cold is very impressive. Imperial pumpkin can easily turn into something way overdone, but this beer uses restraint and the result is quite amazing. This is a must try for any fan of pumpkin beer.

Southern Tier Pumking

Appearance: Clear, bold gold...white head.

Smell: Soooooooooooo much pumpkin! Gingerbread... also just bread. Hazelnut... nutty.

Taste: "Tastes a little sour," Jan says. Thick and intense! Hazelnut. Pumpkin spice earthiness. This is a big beer! We wouldn't recommend you have more than just a little. There's a lot of alcohol and a lot of flavor. Great to split a bomber with... oh about 6 friends. We split 2 bombers among 13 people. Many thought the beer was dominated by hazelnut flavors. We don't think there's actually any hazelnut in here, that flavor just comes through.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies: Click for Recipe

After 5 months of legal wrangling, Publick House Provisions, the food/beer store that is an offshoot of The Publick House (both in Brookline, MA), received it's license to sell beer on Thursday, September 11 2008. The store had been open, but with reduced hours and coolers empty, since spring of 2008. But now, with their ability to finally execute their goal of selling all the bottled beer that Publick House carries, they've expanded to full hours:

Monday-Sat Noon-10:45PM
Sun Noon-6PM

They are taking delivery of the first beer this morning at 8am (Friday, September 12, 2008). On top of that, they have a great selection of cheeses, chocolate and other high-end food. It's definitely worth checking out... especially since it's directly next to the newest venture from the founders of The Publick House... Roadhouse Craft Beer & Barbecue! So amble your way over, get some delicious smoked meat and American Craft Beer, then check out Publick House Provisions right next door and pick up some delicious Belgian beer, the glass it goes in and some cheese or chocolate to accompany your libation.

We have some great news for anyone within driving distance of Boston... Cambridge Brewing Company is having their first annual Great Pumpkin Festival on Halloween this year! For those not within driving distance, we caution you against reading further as it will most likely just make you very very jealous of those who are.

Will Myers, brewer for CBC sent us over this info yesterday and we had to share it.

The Great Pumpkin Festival! or "How we learned to stop worrying & love the pumpkin"