Beer of the Month - October

Choosing a beer for October was a tough decision. Oktoberfest is the name of the game this time of year and I tried several Seasonal and Oktoberfest tribute brews, many of which were solid in their own right. Without further adieu, however, the beer of the month for October is...American; to be more specific, Michelob Brewing Company's Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale {5.5% abv}. Michelob, which is mainly known for their self titled Lager (as well as light & ultra variants) and a single red ribbon, also have a full line up of beer varieties including seasonal microbrews, much like Sam Adams.

Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale is named as such, because it's brewed with actual pumpkins and spices typical of the Fall season; cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to name a few. The first sip is fragrant and actually drinks much like a regular Michelob; pretty smooth. While the aftertaste is pleasantly full spice and a hint of pumpkin, rest assured this is not a sweet flavored beer. I had one of these while eating Indian food recently and it was a surprisingly good pairing. This will be a good choice for the upcoming months, especially as the cold rolls in. Or if it's just cool outside and you're in my house where the heat doesn't get turned on until November (ahem). Try a six pack. 2 stars.

Beer of the Month - June

If you've visited my photobucket, you'll see I have a section in there just for 'beer ads'. I started shooting my own magazine insert styled shots just for fun, trying to get a cool shot worthy of desktop wallpaper...you know, beverages in their own natural habitat or something along those lines. When I try new beer while out, or in the store, I'll tell friends about the good ones I've had and pay the good experience forward; same goes for restaurants and hole in the wall take-out joints. Let me preface this particular series by saying please drink responsibly and more importantly don't drink and drive. Secondly, by no means am I an expert, rather experienced and in turn sharing my own experiences. That said, lets get this ship outta port.

The beer of the month for June is Warsteiner Pilsener. For the BMW enthusiasts out there this choice will be quite familiar as Warsteiner is a quite notable sponsor from German Touring Car (DTM) Racing Series in the 80's and 90's. This beer has the strong flavor and finish of a stout, but is light in color like a traditional lager. Traditional German beers are easy to recognize blindfolded due to the shared brewing methods and regional ingredients used. On my rating scale below, I give it 2 stars. You can sip this on a relaxed evening of conversation, TV or a poker game, but not in a higher paced social setting. Definitely a quality brew but for those without a refined palette, you should look elsewhere.

1 - Let a friend buy it.
2 - Solid choice.
3 - Enjoyable.
4 - Seek it out with great effort.

What keeps shooting interesting is creating excuses to capture new things. I'll try expanding themed posts to other items going forward, all while keeping the overall theme of this blog.