MORE PUMPKINS, WINTER CIDER, VERTICAL EPIC

La Parcela - Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales (MI)
VERDICT: Surprising and unique (B+)
The running joke with Jolly Pumpkin was that, the first time anyone sees one of their beers, they assume it's a pumpkin ale — except Jolly Pumpkin is just the name of the brewery, and until very recently they didn't even make a pumpkin beer.  However, Jolly Pumpkin has quickly and deservedly earned a reputation as one of the most interesting micros out there, and when I saw that they finally made a pumpkin, I was all in a tizzy of excitement.  It's a pricey one, yet not as potent as I expected: the ABV comes in under 6%.  But with Jolly Pumpkin you can always expect something solid, and not only does this hold true here, but La Parcela is easily one of the most unique pumpkin beers I've had.  Though the pumpkin barely comes through, it's spicy and tasty in such a strange way that I'm willing to forgive it.  In fact, La Parcela is a shockingly wine-like beer in taste and mouthfeel, aided by a surprising, puckery sourness.  Once you get passed that, there's a whole bunch of other things going on — it's pleasantly carbonated and has a nice medium body, a solid, smooth mouthfeel, making it almost a cross between a sour ale and caramely Belgian double.  If anything, the pumpkin gives it a bit of a "funky" taste.  Overall, one of the most enjoyable beers that I've had this year, but it's also not taking the right steps to reach the upper-echelons of pumpkin beer champions.

Frog's Hollow Double Pumpkin - Hoppin' Frog (OH)
VERDICT: One of the better pumpkin ales (B+)
A tasty, lighter pumpkin, the secret to this one is probably right in the name.  The flavor and mouthfeel isn't much different from your standard pumpkin ale, just richer, sweeter and better — as if they took the recipe and doubled everything good about it.  This one is closer to Weyerbacher's Imperial Pumpkin than it is to Southern Tier Pumking, but the lightness also seems to allow for a bit more pumpkiny flavor than Weyerbacher's.  The trailing-off at the end is smooth, almost too smooth, but keeps Frog's Hollow quite drinkable despite the sweetness. I only found this one at the Whole Food's beer room on Houston late in the season, but it's worth keeping your eye out for.

Pumpkin Pie - Chelsea Brewery (NY)

VERDICT: Surprising but not satisfying (C+)

This is honestly one of the most unique beers I've ever had, yet I can't decide if I even like it. It's certainly a strange pumpkin beer, and I'm glad for all the new entries into the style that are making an effort to do things differently. None of them has entirely succeeded, in my opinion, but they're at least being creative. Chelsea's doesn't even look like a pumpkin beer – it pours a murky, opaque gold, like a hefeweizen. It basically tastes like all the spices of a pumpkin pie, minus the actual pumpkin. And true to its appearance, it's very light, despite its strong spicy taste. Though I heavily criticized Coney Island's Albino Python, I'd say Pumpkin Pie isn't far off from that – a spicy white lager of sorts, but here the taste is smoother and more palatable, with the spices coming in richer. It does become somewhat off-putting halfway down the glass, with a bit of a menthol aftertaste burying the more pleasant characteristics of the beer. Worth trying, though – the nice thing about the recent variety of pumpkin beers is that there's probably one out there to capture what you envision the style should be.

Winter Seasonal - Woodchuck Hard Cider (VT)
VERDICT: Unsurprising but still satisfying (B-)
I'm a pretty big fan of Woodchuck's cider.  I have to give them credit for the diversity of their main lineup, plus the creativity they show in coming out with a number of seasonal ciders, something that no other cider brand really attempts.  Woodchuck's Fall cider is one of my favorite beverages ever, and while their other seasonals are nowhere near as exciting, they're still solid.  Winter seems to be their attempt to make a somewhat more complex cider, and I suppose on those grounds, it's nothing astonishing.  If you don't drink a lot of cider you probably wouldn't even be able to tell the difference, but there are hints: aged in oak barrels with vanilla, these little touches do add some interesting aftertaste to the cider, though not enough to greatly shape its profile.  The vanilla is most noticeable in the body, making it just slightly smoother and tastier, while the oak-aged treatment seems to have added a bit of sharpness and bite to the initial taste.  These extra touches aren't terribly exciting, but they're worth savoring, and if you like cider anyway, the same holds true as always: it's a very drinkable, refreshing beverage.

10.10.10 Vertical Epic - Stone Brewing (CA)
VERDICT:  Solid, but not quite epic (B+)
10.10.10 is a one-off beer by Stone, and you can probably even guess when it was brewed. Stone being mostly known for badass-levels of hops in their beer, I was fairly surprised to see them making a Belgian, even if it is a Belgian Strong Pale Ale.  At 9.5% ABV, you can smell the alcohol faintly, but it's well hidden in the mouthfeel of the beer itself, which packs a nice, immediate flavor without being overpowering.  It's smooth yet complex — I would have expected more hoppiness, but Stone went toward the sweet end on this one, adding in some grape varieties that give it a lighter, wine-like presence.  Really, anyone trying this one should check out the brewing process Stone used, and all its crazy ingredients: things like a "legendary Ardennes strain of Belgian yeast," "triticale (a cross of wheat and rye), hopped with German Perle hops, and steeped with chamomile"... "Muscat, Gewurztraminer, and Sauvignon Blanc grape varieties."  Jesus Keg-Standing Christ.  While not the best example of the style that I've had, 10.10.10 is interesting enough to justify its experimental brewing status.