BEER: BEER (BEER)

Red & White - Dogfish Head (DE)
VERDICT: Recommended
Red and White is a witbier all Dogfish'd up, and while the wheat beer base is eventually noticeable after a few sips, the first taste still comes as a bit of a shock. Red and White is split into separate batches after the initial brewing, each aged with different additives before being recombined, and red wine somehow takes a role in the brewing process. Basically, Dogfish doing what Dogfish does. This is actually a pretty good beer for wine fans, as the "red" characteristics comes through clear while riding along on the crisper mouthfeel and easier drink-ability of beer. While not overbearing, there's "tangy" as well as "tart" happening all up in your mouth. But still wheaty. And good. This is a beer that becomes tastier the more of it you have — pretty impressive for 10% ABV.

Trader Joe's Vintage Ale 2009 - Trader Joe's / Unibroue (CAN)
VERDICT: Recommended
Trader Joe's works some magic, and I'm not sure exactly how — magnets, unicorn dust, a tampered-with deck of cards, but they consistently stock their shelves with Hopes and Dreams for quite a bit less than you're used to paying for either of those items. Their special vintage ale, brewed for them by Unibroue and released every late-fall, is only 5 dollars for a 22 ounce bottle, 9% ABV.  Most impressive.  Classy, well designed, cork and all. I want to stress: this is a beer made by a grocery store chain. And it's pretty tasty, too. A dark, rich Belgian dubbel style ale, I expected this to be a mere imitation of a generic style, but it holds up quite well to its European brethren. The taste is strong and smooth, and my initial reaction was a bit of a rootbeer flavor, but the taste continues to escalate as long as you hold it in your mouth, creating a very satisfying, pleasantly carbonated buzz of spices. This goes down easy, despite the high alcohol content, and the aftertaste fades very, very fast — which is good here. There's no unpleasantness at any point, even after killing a whole bottle. As this is a vintage ale brewed only once a year, get it while you can.

Heartland Brewery Smiling Pumpkin Ale - Heartland Brewery (NY)
VERDICT: Indifferent
One of the last pumpkins I've seen around this year, I figured I'd try this one while I had the chance. It's nothing to hold me over until next year, unfortunately. This is basically an unnecessarily stronger version of the blander varieties of pumpkin ale, hitting a lot of spicy, strong taste notes without really creating much of an interesting flavor. It's possible that Heartland makes a few varieties of pumpkin, and since I got this in a growler I'm not sure if it's some weird variation, but the sign said 8% ABV and you can definitely taste it. This is rich, almost on the syrupy side, and makes for a decent winter ale because of the burn, but it gets a little sickly about halfway down the glass. The alcohol and musky spice sensation is far too prominent, and after that sets in you can't really sense any other nuance the beer might have had. It's not the worst I've had, but finishing even a single glass requires some effort.

Jack D'or - Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project (MA)
VERDICT: Good
Saisons are traditionally Belgian ales brewed for summer on farms, but this is a pretty decent American recreation, though on the tame side.  Pretty Things is a new brewery on the scene, and impressed me from the get-go with their innovative bottling and label design — you gotta appreciate the little touches, they let you know these guys take things seriously. But back to the beer: it almost seems like an inverted pale ale, with a hoppy start and sweet finish — probably sweeter than is common for the style, but making for a very smooth, easy mouthfeel. It's crisp and actually seems to develop more texture as it goes on, blended nicely, though with a definite focus on hops above any other flavor. Despite the flowery sensations you get on top of the base of yeast and grains, it never seems overly rich — only earthy and straightforward.

Black Orchard - The Bruery (CA)
VERDICT: Passable
It looks like a stout, smells like a stout, talks shit like a stout, but it's not a stout. I can't really decide what to think about this interesting take on a Belgian dark ale, but it certainly wasn't what I expected, and unlike any of its kin. It pours pitch black with a brownish head, medium-bodied. It really does taste like a stout... a fruity, slightly funky stout with a witbier mouthfeel. Most of the taste comes through the heavy malts and the slight oatmeal stout thing going on, though there is some zing in the end. The stout taste fads early and gives way to other sensations, some of which work, some of which don't, at least until you've had enough for the flavors to normalize. It's not bad, considering the initial shock, but if I wanted a beer like this I'd probably just order something else instead next time.