Brooding over some beautiful brew

     Let’s face it, there’s beer for every single season, month and festive occasion imaginable. Ultimately, they comprise a reason to drink and feel good.  I think it shouldn’t always be about quantity, but rather it should also be about quality.

    So, what better way than to sit down and drink the big three fall microbrews, served on tap in Keene? Some were good, some bad and many downright mediocre.

    I knocked back Shipyard Pumpkinhead, Sam Adams Octoberfest and Long Trail Harvest, the journey of which, led me to the following conclusions.

    First, the Shipyard Pumpkinhead.  There are mixed feelings about this beer.  It’s a wheat ale.  And a wheat ale is generally lighter than something like a pale ale, tending to be more bitter and full of hops. 

    The Pumpkinhead has a very strong cinnamon and nutmeg taste which is very overpowering and doesn’t give it any chance to prove itself as a standalone beer against other pumpkin ales.  It has decent color, but nothing too impressive; saying it’s hazy is almost too generous. 

    The only thing I can say is that it’s impressive in the finish, mainly because it lasts for a decent amount of time. But then again it isn’t so much the beer that the palette tastes, but the flavors that were added to it.  Shipyard really disappoints with this beer.

    Next, let’s examine the Sam Adams Octoberfest.  Sam Adams makes quality beers all around.  This is no exception and is a fall classic.  There is rarely a beer fanatic with a gripe with Octoberfest. 

    The aroma is spot on; just enough hops to make anyone want to go back for another glass or bottle, but not so overpowering like some Indian Pale Ales.

    Octoberfest is nice because there’s a great combination in both the bitterness of the hops and the mildness of malts and caramel used, giving it a nice flavor and color. 
The type of beer this is, a Marzen, German for March beer, is a special type of lager, brewed in a similar fashion of those at the Bavarian Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany.  A beer like this, brewed to symbolize a great tradition, makes Sam Adams a stand out in the fall beer category.

    As an ender, I drank some Long Trail Harvest.  This was by far the best of the fall beers. Harvest has everything that someone would want in a great quality beer and the best part is that it isn’t overly “hoppy.”  In fact, there are less hops when drinking.

Ryan McKernan may be contacted at rmckernan@keeneequinox.com