October 2022 – The Tap Takeover

Beer Review: The Drowned Lands’s Scythe

Name: Scythe
Brewing Company: The Drowned Lands
Location: Warwick, NY
Style: Pumpkin/Yam Beer | Foeder Fermented Pumpkin Ale
ABV: 5.7%

The young Hudson Valley Brewery has crafted one of the best Pumpkin Beers I’ve ever had.

From The Drowned Lands’s feature page for the beer:

Pouring a deep and vibrant orange color, and bursting with all the aromas you’d expect in a pumpkin ale. Brewed with a blend of Vienna and Munich malts as a base, and then layered in Biscuit, Red Wheat, and Spelt malts to give the beer a nice bready pie crust. We then added pumpkin to the whirlpool and fermented it with our house yeast. After fermentation, we conditioned this pumpkin filled pie crust with handfuls of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and clove.

Since I visited the Drowned Lands last summer (2021), I’ve been eager to try more of their beers and while their IPAs are very well-regarded, I wanted to try something outside of a hop-forward beer. When I saw that the newish liquor store down the road from me had this beer in stock, I knew one of my new Pumpkin beers for 2022 would be Scythe. It far exceeded my expectations.

Well, what is Scythe?

The beer pours a translucent orange yellow into my Pumpkinhead glass, fully looking the part of a pumpkin ale. There’s a thin head, maybe the width of a #2 pencil. I take a whiff and the spices come through quite nicely, cinnamon, a little bit of clove, maybe some ginger. So far, so good.

I notice some floaties in the beer, maybe from the pumpkin or the spices? Not a negative point, but something noticeable. That first sip… boy oh boy is that a smooth tasting beer. The silky smoothness I’d expect from a perfectly baked pumpkin pie my made. I’m very impressed with how balanced that first sip of Scythe travels across my palate.

There are prominent elements of cinnamon, clove, and of course pumpkin. Many beers categorized as “Pumpkin” beers simply have the spices associated with Pumpkin and Pumpkin Pie. Scythe is made with pumpkin and that shines through in the taste and flavor profile. Nutmeg is listed and often, Nutmeg can leave a fairly strong, lingering aftertaste for me. Thankfully, the fine and talented craftspeople at the Drowned Lands concocted a well-balanced mélange of spices, which prevents any one spice from overpowering the other spices.

Pumpkin beers dominate the shelves from August through October/November to a very overwhelming level. This has; unfortunately, set something of a mark against the style. Early in my Craft Beer Journey, I anticipated pumpkin beer season every year, but that aforementioned early onslaught cooled my eagerness for the style. That said, any style when done well, is worth seeking out. With Scythe, The Drowned Lands may have crafted an ideal Pumpkin Beer. It has near perfect balance of all the elements, lives up to the “pumpkin pie in a glass” moniker, but is still most certainly a beer. If I’m making a Mount Rushmore of Pumpkin Beers, Scythe would very likely find itself on that mount.

Recommended, link to 4.50 bottle cap untappd rating check in.

Untapped badges earned with this beer:

Pumpkin Beer Season (2022)

Pumpkin beers—trick or treat? Yes, this style is polarizing, but love ‘em or hate ‘em pumpkin beers are an iconic part of the fall season. Try giving the gourd some love this October!?

Beer Review: Schilling Beer Company’s Modernism

Beer Review

Name: Modernism
Brewing Company: Schilling Beer Company
Location: Littleton, NH
Style: Lager – Dark /Czech-Style Dark Lager
ABV: 4.8%

A delicious dark lager from the Granite State brewery that hits the style notes elegantly.

From Schilling Beer’s landing page for the beer:

Modernism is inspired by the Czech black lager tradition. It features a deep complexity from the decoction process and a hop schedule typical of Bohemian beers. Notes of dark malts, bittersweet chocolate and caramel dominate. The finish is dry.

Prior to this review, no beer from the Granite State (New Hampshire) has been reviewed here at The Tap Takeover. When Schilling Beer Company began distributing their Lagers and European-inspired ales to New Jersey, I had an inkling that would change. I knew of the brewery and their well-regarded lagers so I was eager to try one. I made an impulse decision to stop in a liquor store on my way home from work, that decision paid off when I saw a four pack of this Czech Dark Lager in the beer cooler, especially as the style (as pointed out when I reviewed the Icarus/Hackensack Brewing collaboration) has become a favorite lager.

Well after that, what do we have in Modernism?

From the can, the beer pours a deep brown, although the photo above the beer looks closer to black than brown. I suspect if the color were lighter, the beer would be translucent so there’s a nice clarity to the beer. The aroma gives off a little bit of breadiness and dark chocolate, maybe? But nothing out of the ordinary.

I like what I’m tasting in that first sip. The expected breadiness comes through thanks to the malt, but I’m also getting notes of bittersweet chocolate, very pleasant bittersweet chocolate at that which also gives a hint of caramel. A nice element that comes across from the malt is a toasted bread flavor, obviously I’m leaning towards pumpernickel, or maybe even rye-pumpernickel marble because of the color. In other words, lots of pleasant flavors coming together.

Other flavors come up in the profile as well. There’s a sharp taste that likely comes from the hops, which is a welcome element of the beer. That sharpness reminds me of coffee and maybe even menthol? Not that the beer has a menthol flavor, but it has the same feel, if only slightly. The body on this one is fairly light, which lends to my earlier statement that if this beer were lighter colored, It would likely be translucent.

The stamp on the bottom indicates the beer was canned 05/12/22, which lands this beer still in a fairly fresh status at five months old. That said, I’d love to give this beer a try from a batch and/or can closer to the canning date.

While Modernism is the first beer I’ve had from Schilling, I hope it won’t be the last beer I drink from the New Hampshire brewery and I hope to see more of their beers appearing on the shelves of liquor stores in my area. In the end, Modernism is a damned good example of the Czech-Style Dark Lager.

Recommended, link to 4.25 bottle cap untappd rating check in.

Beer Review: Bonesaw Brewing Company’s Crimson Skull

Beer Review

Name: Crimson Skull
Brewing Company: Bonesaw Brewing Company
Location: Glassboro, NJ
Style: Lager – Vienna
ABV: 5.8%

A well-crafted, clean, Lager that hits all the right notes.

From the untappd page for the beer:

Crimson Skull is a Vienna lager, a red-amber lager style focusing on toasty, biscuity malt notes without being sweet. Aromas of baking brown bread, toffee and barley fields.

Bonesaw opened up in 2018 with some sizeable fanfare, the brewery is very large and they managed to recruit a well-respected brewer to be their brewmaster. I’ve had a few beers from Bonesaw Brewing and I’ve enjoyed them to varying degrees and with their beer showing on shelves in my area with more frequency, I decided to finally give one of their beers a full review treatment here at the Triple T. Yeah, of course it is a Lager.

This is the second Vienna Lager I’ve reviewed and as I pointed out in that review, it is a misunderstood style, Sam Adams Boston Lager is a Vienna Lager so it is rather ubiquitous without many likely realizing that Boston Lager is a Vienna Lager. Maybe the closest better-known cousins to a Vienna Lager would either be an Amber Lager or a Märzen. The Vienna Lager is typically a bit lighter than a Märzen, but has a nice amount of bready malt to the beer.

Enough of the style primer, on to the beer under review. .

Pop of the can top, the beer pours into the glass a translucent amber with a nice thick head. Crimson Skull certainly looks the part. Nothing too distinct on the aroma, although I do get some of the breadiness. As I’ve come to say, it smells like beer.

First sip…is quite tasty! Big malt flavor, as I would expect. Despite the beer looking a little on the thin side, from a body perspective, it has a full flavor and feel to it. As I have more of the beer, I get some of the caramel essence, more than the toffee called out in the beer description. The two flavors are fairly similar, so maybe I’m just splitting hairs but that sweet element isn’t overpowering The hop presence is mild but noticeable, which is just how I’d want it to be in a lager such as this.

Bonesaw has crafted a very balanced, clean lager in Crimson Skull. It hits all the notes one would expect from the style, and it does so with a nice level of clarity. The beer went down very easily for me and was very enjoyable

Recommended, link to 4.25 bottle cap untappd rating check in.

Draught Diversions: September 2022 Six Pack

Draught Diversion, Monthly New Brews

Draught Diversions is the catchall label for mini-rants, think-pieces, and non-review posts here at The Tap Takeover. We hope you don’t grow too weary of the alcohol alliterative names we use…

SixPack_2022_Sep

Summer still tries to cling in September, but fall beers have been appearing on shelves for a couple of months. For me, September is when I start enjoying those amber, German-inspired lagers. I like to try a few new Oktoberfest-style beers every year, but will return to annual favorites. Dark beers are also on the horizon, too. Only two NJ beers this time around, three Märzens, two Barleywines and a Stout.

Let’s crack open the September 2022 Six Pack …

Oktoberfest (Conclave Brewing Company) | Märzen | 3.75 Bottle Caps on untappd

Conclave_Oktober

The few lagers Conclave has brewed have been very good, so I wanted to give their Märzen a try. I missed Conclave’s Oktoberfest-bier last year and I wasn’t going to let that happen again in 2022. I stopped in for a growler fill and was very pleased with the beer. A really spot on Märzen, there’s a very nice malty element to the beer with the related sweetness. The beer had an unfiltered look to it, which isn’t a problem.

DragonsMilk_Stroop

Dragon’s Milk Reserve: Stroopwafel (New Holland Brewing Company) | Stout – Imperial / Double | 4.25 Bottle Caps on untappd

Dragon’s Milk is one of the most popular, well-made, and recognizable bourbon barrel-aged stouts on the market. It has become a brand within New Holland Brewing and has produced several variants over the years, this one evokes the delicious caramel/waffle/cinnamon cookie. For some reason, those cookies are always offered on United Airlines, but they are very tasty nonetheless. This beer is delicious with the caramel and cinnamon flavors perfectly blended together.

Sibling Maker (Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers) | Barleywine – Other | 4.25 Bottle Caps on untappd

JacksAbby_Sibling

This is a “Lager wine” and not the first I’ve had from Jack’s Abby. Although made with Lager yeast unlike most barleywines which are made with Ale yeast, the flavor profile is relatively similar, and that’s a good thing. This one was aged in brandy and bourbon barrels and was probably bottled in early 2020. I get the date/fig flavors I enjoy from most barleywines, plus the hints of vanilla and oak from the barrels. As good as this beer was, I think it may have aged a little too long.

October with a K (Sunken Silo Brew Works) | Märzen | 3.75 Bottle Caps on untappd

SunkenSilo_OctK

When I saw Sunken Silo had their Märzen on draft, I figured I’d take a quick drive to the brewery and I’m glad I did. The atmosphere is pretty chill there and this was a very nice take on the Autumnal German-inspired lager. There was more of a crisp element to this than I’m accustomed to from most Märzens, but still good flavor profile nonentheless..

Creekfestbier Lager (Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company) | Märzen | 4 Bottle Caps on untappd

NCBC_Creekfest

I called out this Märzen as one to try back in my Oktoberfest 2020 Six Pack and I finally got around to trying the beer. Neshaminy Creek brews a nice lager and this is no exception. The first can I poured had some carbonation issues, which didn’t change the flavor, but something just felt off. The subsequent cans didn’t have the carbonation problems and was improved because of it. This is an Oktoberfest you can’t go wrong with as an option for your Fall Fridge.

Wooden Cleat (Kane Brewing Company) | Barleywine – Other | 4 Bottle Caps on untappd

Kane_BBAWoodenCleat

I’ve probably had more barleywines from Kane than any other brewery, they brew the style very well and almost always age the beer is some kind of barrel. In this case, the 2022 version of this beer was aged in Weller bourbon barrels. A “wooden cleat” is a piece of wood that strengthens the surface to which it attaches, which I suppose the barrel can be seen as the strengthening element of this barleywine. This is one of the boozier barleywines I’ve had from Kane, I’m surprised it is “only” 10.7% ABV. A very good barleywine, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve had some better from Kane

Another good month of beers in the book. I’ll also add that I had my first “Smoothie Sour Seltzer” and that combination of words is only slightly more off-putting than the beverage itself. I don’t particularly gravitate towards seltzer, especially seltzer with alcohol. This one had banana, marshmallow, and coconut and had pieces of those things floating in the liquid. People seem to like these things, I’m certainly not one of them.

SixPack_2022_Sep