Anthony1138's White IPA

Anthony1138's White IPA (2012)

Homebrew.

12 fl. oz. / $N/A (Gift) / 4.7% ABV

About: Late last year Anthony1138 sent me two more bottles of his awesome home-brews, another Pumpkin brew of course and this time a White IPA (I did a follow up review on his Pumpkin Brown Ale which can be found under the Double Vision section of my blog - which is a tag for when I revisit a beer and decide to blab some more). I'd like to take this time to thank Anthony once more for being such a great pal through these years. Dude, wherever you are and whatever crazy shit is going on, I hope you're drinking some kickass beers, watching some demented Italian films and feelin' good, man.

Thoughts: When I got the bottle of this in the mail it looked insane. There were funky clouds swirling throughout the whole bottle. I let it rest a few days so some of that yeast could settle, but that only made it angry! When I opened it the cap almost exploded into the stratosphere.

WIPA poured out an uber cloudy light yellow with a huge fluffy white head, and it immediately fogged up my pint glass. I had to wait a while to pour the rest from the bottle before taking the pics, as the head filled up about a third of the glass at first. Carbonation is a heavy medium, and there seem to be a few black peppery flakes in here. Not many, but they're clinging to the side of the glass.

This beer has lemon zest all over it and it smells really really good. There's a light spiciness to it, and it's got a nice aromatic quality as well. 

The orange peel really comes blasting out in the first sip. Wow. I love orange peel too. I always eat about a third of the peel when I eat an orange. There's a ton of wheat in this, and while the Belgian Pils malt seems a bit overpowered by it, it's still there just enough to influence the flavor of this thing. Nice balance. It doesn't really go off in any one singular direction, but rather maintains a tasty fusion of all the ingredients that mingle together harmoniously.

Mouth feel is really slick. It leaves a slight film on the teeth, but it's really smooth and just a little bit dry. Nice work on making yourself a sessionable, interesting and great tasting brew. Keep it up. If I ever move out of my crawlspace the first thing I'm going to do is go get the tools to make myself some crazy concoctions. When that day comes you can expect a black licorice maple syrup harvest pumpkin cinnamon baked french toast oatmeal stout in the mail.

Anthony1138's Pumpkin Brown Ale

Anthony1138's Pumpkin Brown Ale (2011)
Homebrewed and Bottled by Anthony1138 over at Eat the deaD!
Home Brewed.
12 fl. oz. / $N/A USD / 4.9% ABV

About: Movie fiend. Beer fiend. Fiend in general? General Fiend... All salute! Generally Fiendish in nature... but all around a cool 80's kid who knows what's worthwhile in life. What can I say about a guy as laid-back cool as Anthony, from the blog Eat-the-deaD? I can say that we've got a lot in common. We were both born in the same era. We both love pumpkin beer and Italian horror films (particularly the one's of Fulci and Argento, and of course Burial Ground[who doesn't love that flick?]... oh, and Jean Rollin too!). We're both necrophiliacs who love jello shots out of the ombligos of sticky stiff girls. And we're both completely in of our fuckin' minds!

Thoughts: Poured a dark, dark brown with a small fizzy off-white head that dissipated quickly.

Smells really good. Very natural and nothing off about it. It also seems pretty mellow. Cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon are all in harmony here. Nothing overpowering the other in terms of scent. Smells a little malty as well. Getting some allspice once it warms up, little bit of a Chinese five spices thing going on.

Well the taste is certainly more powerful than the smell. It seems to change flavors as you drink it. Along with the heavy clove and nutmeg, I'm getting a little black licorice and a faint taste of coffee. There's a slight smokey flavor and just a drop of sour mash in there. Cinnamon takes a back seat to the malt and very light hops.

Mouth feel is about a full medium with very minimal carbonation. It's a little filmy, like silk, and not as grainy as I usually like. It's a little watery, but it doesn't feel like water. I can't recall the carbonation, and that's the hardest thing I've had to think about with this one.

This is a brew along the lines of Post Road's Pumpkin, or a lighter version of Dogfish Head's Punkin. It's not a sweet brew at all, but it is spicy. Bitterness is pretty light and well evened out. It's a very good spiced beer, that isn't subtle at all. For me, it could use another pound of earthy pumpkin... and I wonder what it would have tasted like if Belgian Candi Sugar was incorporated. I say go all out next time and go Pumpkin Pie flavor all the way.

I'm not really good with Brown Ales. Don't know why, but out of the few that I've been trying lately, I've not had the best of experiences. For this one though, I'd like to thank Eat-the-deaD for giving me my very first taste of a home brewed beer. Hop-fully, someday, I'll be at your level!

Anthony1138's Pumpkin Nut Brown Ale 2 (2012)
Home Brewed.
12 fl. oz. / $N/A (Gift) / 4.9% ABV

About: "The pumpkin is the same basic recipe as last year, but it's all grain this time. I cut down the chocolate malt and used more pumpkin. Also, I used a different yeast that's better suited for nut browns. It's from Yorkshire, some say it's Sam Smith's strain or close to it. I personally like this year's better, but would like to try dialing in the spices better next time around."

Second Thoughts: Poured a dense, foggy dark brown with a one finger bubbly light-tan head that popped away after about a minute. Looking at the top of the beer I notice a lot of small bubbles popping once they reach the surface.

The scent is definitely amped up from the last time. Tons of allspice in the initial smell when that cap popped off. Massive amounts. Chinese five spice blend comes through in a flood, nutmeg and cloves, a lot of licorice on the back of it. It starts to smell like a mischievous root beer after a few minutes of leaning in and out.

The frosty dark malt base slowly floods in and it's pretty heavy. Way in the background there's a prickly fruity note and something like a creamy sugar. A lot of tickling hazy spices roam around the tongue before slowly fading away and leaving a blast of black licorice, allspice and nutmeg. Ginger is hiding out in the background, as is the attributes from those hops that hit just right at the last second. This isn't a sweet beer at all, but there's a hint of it here. Not sour at all, but fairly bitter all around. It's very earthy, raw, a little grassy, with a heavy touch of smoke and what seems as if there would be a dry haze but it's not drying at all. A little bit of roastyness in the aftertaste.

Mouth feel is carbonated and puffy at first, and then afterwards leaves a silky like film all over the inside of your mouth and teeth.

A real big shoutout to Anthony, wherever he is. The dude is amazing and truthfully nobody has ever done something this cool, sending me beers these two times like this. I appreciate your work my fiend. Thank you.