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I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

This fight is for everything.

So many bastards, so little time.

House Speaker candidate unfamiliar with how to win non-gerrymandered election.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

How are Republicans going to find someone with more charisma and personal charm than Jim Jordan?

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

People are complicated. Love is not.

We’re not going back!

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

“woke” is the new caravan.

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

Fani Willis claps back at Trump chihuahua, Jim Jordan.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Readership Capture / Drink of the week

Drink of the week

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I’m not a big beer-drinker in general, but this year I’ve gotten really into pumpkin beers. The style isn’t done that well in general — I find that most pumpkin beers are either too subtle on the pumpkin or are over-spiced and overly sweet — but I like trying them anyway. A few days ago, I had one that was by far the best I’ve ever had and quite possibly my favorite beer of any kind I have ever had, the Southern Tier Pumpking. I read it about at New York Cork report:

What makes it the King? Hefty alcohol and a serious hop wallop, along with real pureed pumpkin so rich each sip tastes like inhaling Grandma’s pumpkin pie, makes this brew succeed where so many others fail: on the mid-palate and finish.

Pumpkin pie spices smell good, so it’s easy to make a pumpkin ale with a good nose: throw in a little cinnamon, clove, allspice and nutmeg flavor, and you’ve got a nice fall beer aroma. The problem with so many is a thin or watery mid-palate that just doesn’t satisfy like a mouthful of chewy pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie or pumpkin cookie. PumKing, however, is the dessert of fall beers.

It’s hard to find and a little expensive — 6 bucks for a 22 oz bottle — but it’s really worth trying if you ever come across it.

So…I’ve been thinking of trying to add more non-political features to the blog, especially on the weekend. Song of the week is going great, and I’d like to add drink of the week and maybe movie of the week. I can’t write these things myself, I just don’t have that much jam, so do any of you keep blogs about wine/beer/cocktails or about movies?

Any other ideas for non-political weekend features?

Reader Interactions

59Comments

  5. 5.

    R-Jud

    Nnnnnegh. Pumpkin beer is as scary to me as chocolate stout. My idea of seasonality with beer is just to switch from Leffe Blonde to Leffe Brun and sit closer to the fireplace in the pub.

    Cider, however, is super. Specifically Aspall’s.

  9. 9.

    Three-nineteen

    You think six bucks for a 22oz bomber is expensive? You would have a heart attack if you knew the dollar value of the beer in my fridge.

  12. 12.

    Svensker

    At the pub last night some guys were giving out samples of their new hand made lager in the cask. It was just awful, like flat Coors. We felt so bad for them. But smiled enthusiastically and drank deep, then scuttled out the door… before comments could be elicited.

  13. 13.

    jeffreyw

    @BGinCHI: The telco that took over from Verizon says they are bringing me DSL Monday morning. They say 3Mb down, if it is half that it’s still 3x faster than those Hughes.net bastards. I may be able to stream Netflix, I dropped them during that last bit of fumbling they did.

  14. 14.

    Will

    A few days ago, I had one that was by far the best I’ve ever had and quite possibly my favorite beer of any kind I have ever had, the Southern Tier Pumpking.

    Funny, my buddy had this last night at Barcade in Jersey City. Said it was the best pumpkin beer he’d ever tried. I avoided it because…it’s a pumpkin beer, and like you said, I tend to not like them. I had the Terrapin Hopsecutioner IPA instead, which was awesome. Now I need to go back for the Pumpking…

  17. 17.

    Ronnie Pudding

    Pumpking is sold at Wegmans, it’s not hard to find. And it’s more than $6. And Leffe blond is hardly a fireplace beer.

    Horseheads makes a nice, rich pumpkin beer, for you Western New Yorkers.

  19. 19.

    BD of MN

    this year’s Pumking is pretty good, last year’s was a big boozy mess, but I have hope that a year of aging will help, I have one bottle left for a party on the 22nd where we’ll do a little side by side…

    I can’t wait until November and Southern Tier’s Choklat gets released, it’s an 11%abv Russian Imperial Stout with Belgian chocolate… sorry R-Jud, it’s worth buying…

  20. 20.

    Mayur

    I just don’t have that much jam, so do any of you keep blogs about wine/beer/cocktails or about movies?

    http://evoenyc.tumblr.com

    It’s a sort of cocktail blog.

    Agree regarding the Pumpking; we went through a bunch of it at my bar last year around this time (we do a rotating sixtels program with some pretty geeky beer) and it was a big hit.

    And yeah, I have to agree with Three-Nineteen: $6 for a 22oz is expensive? Do you drink any Belgian ales?

  21. 21.

    Mnemosyne

    @R-Jud:

    I can’t stand beer, but I do love cider. Magner’s is probably my favorite, but apparently cider purists hate it because it has a more fermented (aka dirty) taste. Crispin is also Teh Awesome, and has a more traditional cider taste without that overly-appley Martinelli’s taste a lot of them have.

  22. 22.

    Brian S

    I don’t blog about booze per se, but I do mention it from time to time on my Tumblr, mainly because I’m working in an upscale market in the wine and beer department.

    Speaking of which, I tasted two new ciders last night-one from Crispin which used sake yeast and rice syrup, and which had all the taste of, well, nothing. And a pear cider from Fox Barrel with black currant and ginger which was pretty good.

  23. 23.

    Corner Stone

    Best pumpkin beer comes out of Maine. Can’t remember the name ATM but the husband of my ex-wife’s cousin used to bring us some back every season.
    It’s like no pumpkin beer you’ll ever taste anywhere else. Smooth blend, not overspiced or oversweet. Hits the spot.

  24. 24.

    R-Jud

    @Mnemosyne: Crispin is very nice; I had it when visiting friends in Chicago last year. Magners’ is okay– I’ll have it if it’s a choice between that or Strongbow.

    If the choice is only Strongbow, I’ll have beer instead.

  25. 25.

    jeffreyw

    @wobblybits: She gets plenty of sugars. Homer is very jealous of her, acts out like a snotty tweener. She hisses and lays her ears back when he comes calling. She has a crush on Toby.

  26. 26.

    Dustin

    I don’t have a blog but I do brew beer professionally part time, enjoy craft beer, and just filled a mess of 22oz bombers with a light amber ale I made with cascade wet hops and force carbonated before reading this post, does that count? I’ve got a nice Belgian made from maris otter, victory, and honey malt with tett & EKG hops coming up next…

    Dammit, now I’m thirst.

  27. 27.

    suzanne

    @Three-nineteen:

    You think six bucks for a 22oz bomber is expensive?

    Yes.
    Holy shit.
    Of course, you’re talking to someone who buys alcohol at Costco and then makes the bottle last for five years.

  31. 31.

    Reformed Panty Sniffer

    Pumpkin Ale is a uniquely American style dating back to Colonial times and Thomas Jefferson brewed Pumpkin Ale, as did Washington.

    There are a number of good-to-great pumpkin ales worth looking for at your local beer cooler of choice. Look for ones made with real pumpkins. They have a better beer body. The spice-only ones taste more like an artificial pumpkin pie. I like —

    – Wolaver’s Pumpkin Ale (organic and tasty with a pleasant spice note)
    – Harpoon’s UFO Pumpkin: first year it’s out and it’s pretty good.
    – Weyerbacher from Easton Pa makes a good one as does Dogfish Head out of Delaware (Punkin Ale-4 pack)

    Saranac makes a decent introductory offering for craft beer novices. Shipyard from Maine Is OK: more spice oriented than pumpkin-in-body.

    I am in favor of a beer thread as a weekly if not monthly offering. Pumpkin Ales go well with Oktoberfest ales in a drinking session: alternate between the two styles. They go well with Fall activities: leaf raking and Bats simmered in apple cider before grilling.

    Cheers

  36. 36.

    goblue72

    Being in the Bay Area, early fall doesn’t quite bring with it the weather that makes me dream of pumpkin & spice and other Northeastern/Midwestern fall flavours – this time of year out here means pomegranates, persimmons, grapes and end of season tomatoes. But I’ve been seeing pumpkin beer articles popping up a lot lately – and now I’ve got to get my butt over to Beer Revolution and see if they have any on tap.

    I cocktail blog myself, but have been on a brief hiatus since mid-August – got a backlog of post I’ll be putting up next week: http://barmancometh.wordpress.com/

  38. 38.

    Stillwater

    Well, given the comments of the thread, you could opt for a ‘best value for 6 dollars’ thread.

    Or ‘cheapest thriftiest compromise of the week’ thread.

    Or ‘value isn’t reflected in price’ thread.

    Idunno. There’s got to be something to work with in there.

  39. 39.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    Best punkin’ ale is by O’Fallon brewery west of St Louis. Impossible to get outside the STL area excepting Franklin County and of all places, half of bumfuck Gasconade County.

  40. 40.

    suzanne

    @Corner Stone:

    Really? $6?

    For one damn beer? Like, not at a bar, but in a bottle at home?
    Yeah, I think that’s kind of ludicrous.
    But I’m one of those crippled-by-massive-student-debt people y’all talk so much about.
    I have a $10 martini about once a year.

  42. 42.

    Xenos

    Leffe? That is supermarket crap, the sort of thing people like me (clueless yanks) buy here in the Ardennes. 750 ml.s for 2,40 Euro, which used to worth about 5% more until last week.

    If one is willing to blow a good Euro 3.50 per 750 ml bottle one can get the good stuff.

    But I need to get a good limburger & onion sandwich going to really appreciate it.

  43. 43.

    Tom

    My favorite pumpkin beer — by far — is the Dogfishhead Punkin Ale. It’s awesome. I’ve had that Southern Tier, thought it was OK. A little to heavy and sweet for my taste.

  44. 44.

    Reformed Panty Sniffer

    @Reformed Panty Sniffer:

    Sorry, yes that would be “Brats” as in Bratwurst. I’ve yet to eat a small nocturnal creature. Brats also do well in pumpkin ale for the adventurous types.

    And, yes, I’ve had a few today (Spaten Oktoberfest was on sale). I will concentrate on drinking for the rest of the evening, not commenting or spell checking. Cheers

  48. 48.

    gelfling545

    Just returned from the family cooking competition where our ingredient was bacon. Bacon mac & cheese, bacon & potato chowder in individual marco polo bread bowls, bacon, spinach, mushrooms & gruyere baked in phyllo, apple crisp with bacon & cheddar and BLT bloody marys. The maker of the phyllo dish took possession of the bowling trophy & inflatable crown for this quarter and I feel like I swallowed a sofa cushion.

  49. 49.

    George Wallace's Goat

    Shipyard Brewing Co’s Pumpkinhead Ale is ubiquitous this time of year in Maine; it’s not bad, but it’s not very pumpkin-y. It’s more pumpkin pie spiced tasting. The idea of is better than the execution. Nifty labelling, though. Shipyard also makes a Smashed Pumpkin beer in 22 oz bottles, it comes in at a higher alcohol content and is a bit much for my taste, unless it’s part of a meal.

    I recently came across Pumple Drumkin ale from Nantucket and it’s more in line with what I think a pumpkin beer should taste like. More pumpkin taste, less spice.

  50. 50.

    Bruce S

    I’ve really gotten into brews heavy on the rye recently. My local pub – which is a little gem that shall remain nameless as a protective measure against growing crowds – has had three varieties on tap recently, including a cask ale (which is totally old-school “Brit” in style and presentation.) Very distinctive and delicious.

    Speaking of rye – the new Bulleit Rye (95% rye mash) is awesome whiskey. Seeing that green label on their “Deadwood” bottle behind a bar is my current test of whether it’s a place I’m interested in coming back to. Believe it or not, the stuff is made in Indiana.

  51. 51.

    Origuy

    I went to the Northern California Renaissance Faire today. The mead and cider were supplied by Rabbit’s Foot Meadery in Sunnyvale. They have a small bar at the meadery, and you can get their products a lot of places.

  52. 52.

    Petorado

    The neighborhood brewery, Upslope, just won the gold for best Pumpkin brew at the GABF in Denver last weekend. The brew was astounding in passing along its baked pumpkin flavor without tasting like a pie, yet never letting you forget that you were drinking a brew. Nice to be able to walk to a brewery that loves to experiment as much as they do — and succeed at these experiments as often as they do. Cask aging beers is the shizzle.

    Today’s American brewing revolution is what we are all taught that free enterprise is all about: invest your money, innovate, take risks. Succeed and the world will beat a path to your door. Fail and dust yourself off and try again. Here’s hoping that “pleasing the investor class as your biggest business priority” doesn’t screw this all up.

    If you can’t join an Occupy Wall Street, or similar demonstrations, occupying the local brewers/ vintners/ cidermakers/ bakers/ etc. is a great way to recognize the hardworking, non-corporate side of this nation that deserves the support of it’s neighbors to succeed.

  53. 53.

    CarolA

    I just got back from Vermont with a case of Heady-Topper IPA from the Alchemist Cannery in Waterbury and I must say if you have never had this brew you have never experienced how good a beer can be.

  54. 54.

    Egilsson

    @Corner Stone:

    That would be the Shipyard Pumpkinhead beer, which is exceptional. It’s my favorite beer. Contrary to what some might think, it’s not a sweet or weird tasting beer.

  55. 55.

    Paul in KY

    Funny story: Know this girl from Kenya, very nice person, about 45 years old. Has been in U.S. for 20 or more years. She gets a bottle of ‘pumpkin’ flavoured liquor (like Bailey’s Irish Cream). Loves the taste & asks me to try it. I do & it is gingerbread flavoured (IMO). Tell her that & she won’t believe it. Thinks that’s the way pumpkins really taste.

    I told her ‘if pumpkins tasted like that, they’d be a Hell of a lot more ate’. LOL!

  59. 59.

    MarkJ

    I’ve always liked Post Road Pumpkin Ale from Brooklyn Brewery. They get the balance just about right – a little spice, a little sweet, but pretty balanced overall.

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