Final Pumpkin Podcast!

[link to podcast page]
WFMU's Beer Hear! with Bob W. and B.R. from 11/8/2012

Our third and final Pumpkin Podcast Panel was recorded in two parts. The first part was recorded on the evening of Oct. 29, shortly after we lost power and heat, thanks to Hurricane Sandy. With our battery powered recorder, an emergency LED light and some candles, we tried Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale and La Citrueille Céleste de Citracado (The Heavenly Pumpkin of Citricado), a "collabeeration" between Stone, The Bruery and Elysian.

 

Smuttynose was one of the most "beerlike" pumpkin beers out of all 11 pumpkin beers we tried, with discernible hop characteristics. Smutty's fell close in line to the standard pumpkin pie spice flavors that defined versions by Bluepoint, Post Road, Wolavers, and Captain Lawrence, though they all had their distinctions.
 
La Citrueille, a 5% abv ale, was one of the more non-standard pumpkin beers, with one of the more esoteric list of ingredients: yams, sugar pumpkins, fenugreek, lemon verbena, rye malt (both regular and dark), brown and honey malts, C-15 dextrine malt, birch bark in the whirlpool, New Zealand Motueka hops. It was earthy and a bit herbal, and intentionally far from the pumpkin pie spice characteristics of other pumpkin beers.

In the second part, long after both electricity and heat were restored to our home, we finished the panel with three outstanding beers. We started with the Midnight Sun T.R.E.A.T. (The Royal Eccentric Ale Treatment) which wasn't very big on the pumpkin pie flavors, but was rich, dark, heavy, complex and delicious. It's billed as a 7.8% Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter. This one's going to end up in the fridge again!

Then, a favorite of mine and a non-favorite of B.R.'s, the Southern Tier Pumpking! This 8.6% seasonal Imperial Pumpkin Ale is a sweet, almost buttery/creamy, gingerbready desert of a beer. It is the quintessential pumpkin pie beer. It's pretty much a love it or hate it kind of beer. And while it's not what I'd reach for on a hot summer afternoon, I'm happy to drink it from October through November!

We finished up with a beer from a brewery which you might assume makes nothing but pumpkin beer -- Jolly Pumpkin. Out of the 15 beers they list on their website, only one, La Parcela, is made with pumpkin. Jolly Pumpkin is known for their sour beers, using open fermentation, oak aging and bottle conditioning. La Parcela, which we had from a growler filled at Good Beer, definitely had sourness. But it was a mild sourness, mild spiciness, complimented by earthiness and bitterness -- delicate and complex. This was the lightest bodied beer in the entire panel, and probably the most refreshing.

Hey! An actual pumpkin beer from Jolly Pumpkin!

Out of the entire panel, the La Parcela, Carton, La Citrueille, Oak Jacked Imperial, and Treat were the most "un-pumpkin" pumpkin beers. Smuttynose edged away from the pack with it's unique hop bitterness. For the beers that aimed towards pumpkin pie, Pumpking was a stand out. It was interesting to see how some angled towards nutmeg flavors, others towards cinnamon, and yet others steered away from standard pie spice all together. The variety of the beers -- in color, from pale yellow to near opaque, in ABV, from 5% to 10.31% -- demonstrated that there's a wide range in everything when it comes to pumpkin beer!

Weathering the storm.

La Citrueille.

Mikkeller At The Gutter

WFMU's Beer Hear! with Bob W. and B.R. from 9/7/2011

The GUTTER, on the border of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, is a bowling alley. No -- it's a craft BEER BAR! Bowling Alley! Beer bar! Bowling! Beer! OK Jack -- it's both.

Beer. Cheers.

The Gutter could be considered a relative of BARCADE of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and their first ever beer event featured Danish brewing rockstar Mikkel of MIKKELLER BREWING.

We've never seen the Gutter so jam packed on a Thursday night. On tap: Beer Geek Breakfast, Drink'in the Sun and American Dream, as well as large bottles of Mikkeller Black Hole (coffee imperial stout aged in Cognac barrels) and Mikkeller Black Hole (aged in Tequila barrels), Mikkeller Black (17.5% imperial stout), and Mikkeller Draft Bear imperial pilsner. INsane. Just insane.

One of these people has jetlag... any guess which one?

Mikkel seemed a bit jet lagged and visibly fatigued from jumping in both feet first into a three-day visit to the USA to conduct some business, have some fun, and brew a batch of beer in Vermont at HILL FARMSTEAD BREWERY. Seriously? In three days?!? Great Dane, indeed.

And what do you think Mikkel sampled while rolling some strikes and spares? Hill Farmstead 
Simcoe, HF Double Galaxy, Green Flash West Coast IPA, and Cigar City Marshal Zhukov

Despite the fatigue of the breakneck speed of his trip, he was a generous, entertaining and informational interview subject, willing to share some great insight into a Danish gypsy brewery. To entice you to check it out, here are a few nuggets from the interview.

Beer Geek Breakfast and Drink'in the Sun - the sun and the dark side of the moon.

Mikkel: "In 1998 we had nine breweries in Denmark, and five years later we had 110."

Mikkel: "The Mikkeller brand is brewed in four different countries right now."

BH: "Do you think you'd ever want to have your own [physical] brewery?"

Mikkel: "No. Hell no... Never."

BH: "Why?"

Mikkel: "[because as a gypsy brewer] I don't have to do all the boring stuff...."

What's on tap at the bowling alley?

Mikkel: "Last year I think we released 76 new beers." [ !!! ]

Mikkel: "If I could, I would brew every beer once, and then do a new one."

Bob: "Am I famous in Denmark?"

Mikkel: "You're very famous, actually!"

Everyone: [incredulous laughter]

Mikkel: "I probably knew you many years before you knew me!"

[you think this is joke, but... well, more clues in the podcast.]

BH: "You actually have a twin brother who is also a brewer?" [with his own brewing company.]

Mikkel: "Yep. An identical twin brother."

Mikkel: "My recipes are mostly done in the shower, in the morning." [beer geek breakfast?]

Paul, beer bar baron, and Mikkel, bachelor brewer.

BH: "List your favorite three Mikkeller beers."

Mikkel: "We have one on tonight, the Drink'in The Sun. This year it's 2.4%. We make it less alcohol each year. I like it because it has a lot of flavor, but you can drink it like it's water."

BH: "How many breweries do you think you've brewed at in your career so far?"

Mikkel: "About 20."

[The man has brewed beer in 20 different breweries around the globe!!!]

BH: "Do you have a fantasy brew situation? Someplace where you'd love to brew that is unlikely, or a type of beer that you'd love to brew that wouldn't be easy to do?

Milkkel: [he does -- check the BONUS podcast to find out what it is!]

Thanks to Mikkel and to the Gutter for a wonderful experience!

Though Mikkel doesn't follow hockey, he knows who LARS ELLER is!!!