pick yer brain

I went looking for Halloween themed beers, or at least pumpkin ales, and would you believe that they hadn't arrived yet?  A week before the big day!  Well, pumpkin ales work for Thanksgiving too.  At least there was a creepy can on the shelves, even if it isn't a nice stout: Laugar Hopzale, a douple IPA.

Beer for your braaaaaaaaain...

It has quite a strong hoppy-citrus aroma, perfuming the air as soon as the tab opens.  Not cloudy, but a rather dark shade of gold.  Clean, white head, although it does dissolve pretty quickly.  The flavor is heavy on the tropical fruit, very tangy, more mandarin than orange.  There is a nice base of bitterness, but it isn't greatly noticeable.  It's a little sticky, thicker than many IPAs, but it's not unheard of with those fruitier ones.  It's nice for sipping, taking it down too quickly does cause a little bitter to build up at the back of the tongue.  Not quite a Halloween treat but tasty enough!

Supplier: La Buena Cerveza
Price: €6.78

the gloaming?

Something creepy?  Something dark?  Something tasty?  A porter from La Pirata could hit all three of those!  The label for Deep Inside porter has a pretty stern looking wolf in a dusky looking woods, so certainly appropriate for the season.  Actually, now that I look at it, the pink sky is a little more sunrise-y than sunset-y, but maybe there was a volcanic eruption somewhere that affected the colors.

Can't get much head out of it, but it has a nice color.  The nutty, smoky aroma is also just what I'm looking for.  The flavor bounces back and forth between bitter and nutty, finally leaving a hint of licorice.  The beer itself isn't very heavy, but the wealth of flavors make it seem thicker than it is.  I get a little bit building up and hanging around on the back of the tongue.  It's not too distracting, although it develops an odd sourness.  In the end it calms down to a mild bitter, still easy to suck down, not sticky even with that little aftertaste.  It's better than a lot of Halloween candy, I'll say that much.

Supplier: Labirratorium
Price: €3.50

cloaked in darkness

It's a dark, dark month and I will have my dark dark beers, dammit!  Well, maybe something with a scary label would be acceptable.  And some people might be scared off by Moor Beer Company's Batallas Double Stout.  It is barrel-aged and almost 10%, after all.  There was a whiskey version and a rum one, and I went with the rum since it's been a while for that.  La Quince has a pretty noticeable image on the side of the can, but they're not mentioned in the information.

Oh, hello there

More beer you say?  Ah, no, I get it

Heavy honeyed scent right away, not dissimilar to other barrel-aged beers.  I think it's a little sweeter than whiskey aged ones.  Close to bourbon, though.  Thick-looking and well-headed, although just barely allows a little light through.  It's one of the dark, dark browns rather than real black.  The first flavor to register is somewhat bitter, a real show of stoutiness, but the sugary rum comes in right behind.  The sweetness holds sway while the beer is in the mouth, but the aftertaste comes up on the sour side.  There's something about it that gives you the sense that it is, indeed, a strong beer; it's not an alcohol burn or excessive stickiness, however.  It has a solid body, but also an admirable smoothness, going down very easily.  While it stays sweet for the most part, I think I'm getting a little more bitter mixed in after a while.  Not sure if it's the beer warming up a little or just tastebuds adjusting.

Supplier: Labirratorium
Price: €7.45

darkness to come

It's the month of chocolate and let's start out strong!  An English chocolate stout seems to be the thing to open with, Young's (award winning) Double Chocolate Stout.  It promises rich chocolate flavor, as the original dark beer brewed with real chocolate.  A nice dark beer for a nice barely getting dark evening.

Not especially strong in aroma, but nice and smooth looking, fills the glass nicely and maintains a thin but bubbly head.  Quite identifiable chocolate, but surprisingly light in the mouth.  There is also a touch of bitter trying to balance out the sweet, but it doesn't quite do its job.  I get more of a milk chocolate sensation than dark chocolate, or stout for that matter.  It starts to build up a bitter taste at the back of the tongue, with a kind of stickiness that isn't exactly welcome.  The flavor is fairly clean, though, needing about half the bottle to go down before it starts to hang around with noticeable aftertaste.  It gives the beer a tad more weight and pumps it up from the milk chocolate lightness at the beginning.  Still, I have to say I expected more.  I guess I'll have to do some hunting around for a chocolatier option.

Supplier: La Cervecista
Price: €3.20