MacTarnahan Brewing Co.'s Noble Scot Scottish Ale

    
     Looks like we've got a new seasonal from MacTarnahan's between the Grifter IPA and the Humbug'r Porter.  The Noble Scot pours a hazy blood orange color.  Strong carbonation produced about a finger worth of slightly-tan head; drained quickly. Aroma is dominated by huge amounts of caramel, biscuit, toast, and other rich malts.  Tons of esters coming through; maybe some strawberry and dark berry.  Earthy, herbal noble hop character.
     First impression upon taste is that it is incredibly earthy.  Ripe berry surrounds a toasty malt flavor.  Ends a little bitter with maybe just a little hop spice.  A phenolic smokey sweetness lingers in the mouth.  Medium body . Medium-strong carbonation.
     Not bad and pretty solid for the style.  A nice deal for the price. 

Pyramid Brewing Co.'s Oktoberfest Autumn Lager

  
     What's with all the pumpkin beers hitting the shelves so early this year?  It's nice to see the fall seasonals, but August is way too soon for pumpkin-flavored anything.  Anyway, definitely not going to complain about the Oktoberfest beers at any time of the year.  I've always been a bit disappointed in the lack of breweries in America that don't take a shot at a good Marzen. Pyramid's take comes in at a monster 6.7% ABV. It pours a very dark orange color; almost like a reddish-orange.  Just a tad hazy. Strongly carbonated, big finger of fizzy head when poured.  Retention seems strong. Nice lacing.  Aroma is very toasty.  Getting a bit of dark fruit character from the crystal malt.  Very clean and crisp on the rose.  Some hop spiciness and herb. 
     Hits the tongue pretty sweet and evolves into a very rich malt character.  Crystal malt is almost candy-like.  Something really standing out for me is that it is extremely well-carbonated.  Seems a tad too bitter, but it's mostly accentuated through carbonation.  Some earth notes.  Candy sweetness and herbal hops linger.
     There's really nothing too special about this one, but what really kills it for me is the carbonation.  It's certainly not helping in any way.  It's cheap, as Pyramid always is, and it seems you're getting what you paid for on this one. 

Oakshire Brewing's Watershed IPA

   
    Pours a hazy, almost-solid orange color.  Some lighter shades of orange shining through the edges.  Little head and not much sticking around.  Some huge grapefruit and orange notes in the aroma.  Has a minty pine character that is reminding me a lot of Simcoe.  Great Northwest hop character.  Some tart esters. Definitely a strong malt backbone, too.  Very bready and maybe just a little toasty.  Very cool and pleasant on the nose.
     Very rich caramel malt; almost has a bit of that raisiny flavor you get with highly carmelized malts.   Hop flavor isn't too overwhelming.  Getting some spice notes.  Little resiny. A sharp bitterness tends to dominate the hop character.  Some orange.  Little oily.  Finish rather dry with a lemon flavor lingering in the mouth.  Medium body. Decent carbonation.
     Aroma definitely wins on this one.  Great brew, but I think it could benefit from some more of that Northwest character in the flavor. 
    

Lagunitas Brewing Company's Censored Rich Copper Ale

    
     Pours a very dark gold-orange color.  Maybe even teetering on some shade or red.  Little hazy. Good finger worth of fizzy head when poured, half of which seems to be sticking around and looks very compact and uniform.  Aroma definitely not exploding out of this one.  Getting some very sharp caramel malt and a splash of sweetness. Some herbal hops.
     This certainly lives up to the "rich" in its name.  A huge explosion of caramel malt and toast.  A strong ester presence; somewhat appley.  Not too bitter in the finish.  Some earthy hop character but definitely nothing overwhelming.  Leaves a subtle biscuit flavor in the mouth.  Decent carbonation. Body on the lighter side.  Good stuff.

Cascade Lakes Brewing Co.'s India Red Ale

     The Cascade Lakes IRA pours a slightly-hazy blood orange color.   Very solid, uniform color; nice looking beer.  Little head on this one.  Not a ton of hops in the aroma like you might expect.  Getting some very strong esters; banana and tart cherry.  Intense malt sweetness.  The hops the do shine through are woody and spicy.  

     Hits the tongue just a little sweet and quickly evolves into a very tart bitterness.  I'd say the most defining characteristic of this beer would be the esters, which is definitely not what you might expect from an India-style ale.   Finishes with some herbal hop notes and an intense cherry flavor similar to some cough syrups.  Some pleasant caramel flavors linger.  Decent carbonation; thick body.

     Can't say I'm too crazy about this one.  It's not a bad beer by any means, but I can't see myself picking it up again.

8-Bit Brewing's Cascadian Dark Ale

    
     Thought I'd go with something a little different this time around and review one of my own creations.  This has always been one of my favorite styles and one of my favorite recipes.  It's one I'm always trying to improve.  Coming in at 7.4% ABV, the CDA is a very dark black with little if any light shining through.  About a finger of creamy brown head that sticks around for the most part.  Nice lacing.  Aroma is mostly characterized by a strong woodsy character. Not a lot of pine that I like in this style.  Some herbal and mint notes shine through.  Little caramel malt, but almost none of the roast/charcoal/toast I was hoping for.  This is the first time I didn't dry hop this recipe, and though I really do like the aroma, I think I might go back to just a small addition.
     Starts out with a very dry, burnt, and roasty character.  I used quite a bit of black barley in this.  This moves into some smooth caramel before becoming dominated by hop character.  A lot of my IPA-style brews have never been quite as bitter as I would have hoped for.  I did some tweaking with the water chemistry and finally got some really sharp, noticeable bitterness out of this one.  Hops have a very strong wood character to them.  The Simcoe really shine through, but I'm not getting enough of the citrus/floral hops that I was hoping for.  Leaves a decent pine taste lingering in the mouth.  Medium body and carbonation.
       I think this is one of the best I've brewed, but as usual, there is always room for improvement.  I want more pine/roast in the aroma and definitely in the flavor.  Needs some tweaks to the grain bill and perhaps just some dry hopping. 
      

Millstream Brewing Co.'s Schild Brau Amber (Vienna)

    
     Another one of the Midwest beers my friend picked up for me; this one comes out of Amana, Iowa.  The Schild Brau is a slightly-hazy orange color; almost a dark gold.  Pretty.  About half a finger of slightly off-white head that drained quickly.  Some nice lacing.  Aroma is just dominated by rich caramel malt.  Quite sweet.  Just some great toasty, bready malt coming through.  Some herbal and noble hop character linger in the background.  Really liking the aroma on this; just a wonderful expression of malt.
     Hits you with a pretty sharp crystal malt; has a little bit that "raisiny" character you get form some heavily caramelized malt.  Quickly smooths out to some very pleasant, toasty notes.  Nothing too overwhelming in the malt department, but it's very good.  Ends with a bit more hop character than you might expect from a Vienna; mostly herbal flavor that lingers for a bit.  Body a bit on the lighter side.  Decent carbonation.
    I'm loving this.  I'd really like to see more breweries in the US take a shot at some Marzen, Vienna, and Oktoberfest-style beers.  Some of my absolute favorites when done well.