Slightly disappointing Pumpkin Ale

It's fall, harvest time, Thanksgiving and all so I thought I'd give Pumpkin Ale another try. I've tried pumpkin ales in the past with mixed results but hope springs eternal, at least when it comes to beer, and the Mothership had a decent selection of Pumpkin Ales on hand when I visited on Saturday so I thought "Why not ?" and dove back into the Pumpkin Ale pool.

My selection appeared solid, Jumping Jack Pumpkin Ale from Tree Brewing in Kelowna. I firmly believe that Tree's Cutthroat Pale Ale is the finest example of Pale Ale brewed in British Columbia so I had full confidence in the brewery to come through and give me a Thanksgiving gift of seasonal fruit beer goodness.

Alas, it was not to be. Don't get me wrong the Jumping Jack isn't bad, it's just not very pumpkinny. It's a full bodied dark ale, very dry with a strong emphasis on malt over hops that just doesn't deliver the spiciness I was hoping for from a Pumpkin Ale. At $5.05 for a 650ml bottle I just don't think this beer represents good value and so I can't recommend it, but I'm not through with pumpkins just yet as I have it on good authority that the boys from Mcauslan in Montreal make a good pumpkin ale and it's available in Vancouver currently so I may give it a try before the season is out.

Iced Tea and Beer, is this really Necessary ?

A couple of weeks ago I was driving along Broadway and noticed a huge billboard advertising Coors Light Iced T and initially thought it was a prank. But no, it appears that Molson-Coors are, in fact, spending a great deal of money and time launching their new Summer Beverage Concept mixing together two summertime faves, Iced Tea and Beer.

Really ? Really ?? Have we gone so far that we need Iced Tea and Beer mixed together ?

I mean I understand the effort to create a new market segment and try and attract some non beer drinkers into the breweries cash flow. Beer sales overall in North America have declined each of the past three years, and the market has also segmented as people move away from the big breweries and embrace craft brewers .  Sales of Craft Brewing beers are almost 17% of the US market, I couldn't find exact numbers on the Canadian market but in British Columbia the craft brew market share is around 13%, so the combination of less beer being sold and more of that beer coming from smaller breweries means trouble for the big Industrial Breweries.

Here's an idea, rather than mix beer with Iced Tea, or Lime and mint, why not just make better beer ? The main reason why the big breweries are losing market share is that their products just aren't very good and people would rather pay more for real beer, as evidenced by the shift to craft breweries and their products that focus on quality and taste rather than lifestyle. Molson has acknowledged this in the past by purchasing Creemore Springs Brewing and Granville Island Brewery in the past decade but the Coors Light Iced T seems to be a step in the other direction.

I haven't tasted the Coors Light Iced T, and am unlikely to, but I can say for certain that in all my years of drinking I have never once heard anyone say: "Hey, I really wish I could get a low calorie Iced Tea flavoured beer right now". As for the potential success of the brand, maybe it works but does anyone remember Zima ?

As an interesting side note, while doing some research for this post, that's right smarty I did some actual work, I discovered that Smirnoff make a vodka that is flavoured with Fluffed Marshmallow, apparently it goes great with their Whipped Cream flavoured vodka.

Armageddon my friends, Armageddon. The four horsemen are coming, and they're drinking Whipped Cream Fluffed Marshmallow Martinis washed down with Coors Light Iced T.

A Small Sampling of Irish Beer

St. Patrick's day came and went while I was in Mexico, but be not concerned there is a prominent Irish Pub on the Malecon in Puerto Vallarta so the event was likely celebrated there as it is in most non Irish regions, with drunkenness. St. Patrick's day always brings to mind the saying that "God invented alcohol so the Irish couldn't conquer the World" or some such twaddle . Personally I don't believe the Irish have any greater predisposition to alcohol than anyone else, but like most things Irish they do make a big deal about it, there's another old saying that goes "You can always tell an Irishman, you just can't tell him very much" which I think has more accuracy.

Back home I was presented with some St. Patrick's Day largesse by the BCLDB in the recent listing of two Irish beer brands in convenient 500ml cans, Smithwicks Pale Ale and Harp Lager.

Smithwick's is a red ale which is the Irish brewing terminology for Pale Ale and was brewed in Kilkenny from the 1700s, or 1400s or since the earth was formed depending on who you read. In 1965 Guinness purchased the Smithwick's brand and brewery and the beer is now brewed in Dundalk and shipped to Dublin to be bottled there. Smithwick's, along with Harp and Guinness form the Holy Trinity of Irish beer, offering a light lager (Harp), a pale Ale (Smithwick's) and a stout (Guinness) and since all three are brewed and distributed by the giant Diageo company are usually easy to find.

I won't go into great detail about Guinness because I shouldn't have to, if you're over the age of 21 and are not familiar with, and fond of the pork chop in a glass, then just stop reading now. Guinness is one of the ten best beer brewed in the world and as such needs no further kudos, but what of it's poorer cousins?

Smithwick's Superior Irish Ale

Smithwick's is described as a clear beer with rich ruby colour and a creamy head and the 500ml sample I tried was both those things, the problem with Smithwick's is that it's light on hops, essential in Pale Ale for me, and flavour. Smithwick's isn't bad, it's just not as good as it should be, I mean if you've been brewing something for 300+ years I think it should be a better example of its' style than this beer is. Currently widely available in BCLDB stores for $2.25 it's priced alright but is nowhere near as good a Pale Ale as others on the market, Cutthroat Pale Ale for example, so I can't recommend this for anything other than an Irish Theme party .

Harp Lager

Harp Lager was created by Guinness in the 1960s as a chance to capture some of the burgeoning market in Ireland for lighter style beers that had begun in the late 1950s. Harp was originally created in the Guinness brewery in Dundalk and then a consortium of English brewers joined in with Guinness to market the brand in Great Britain, see if there's profit and alcohol involved the English and Irish can get along just fine. Harp is generally viewed as Guinness's Lager and as such has a reasonable product profile.  A "brewed in Canada" variety of Harp has been available off and on over the years but really......why bother ? 

The recent listing of 500ml can of Harp at a reasonable price of $2.25 is a nice bonus for lager drinkers, this beer is better than anything domestic in the lager category I've tasted. The beer is pale gold in colour with nice carbonation, there's a nice grainy malt character to the nose and the flavours are sweet citrus with an edge of the malt. The beer has a surprisingly long finish and is very enjoyable, it reminds me a bit of real Lowenbrau, which is a good thing. I prefer my "light beer" in the pilsner vein, with more hops and less sweetness but the Harp is a nice alternative that I can recommend.

It's nice to see the BCLDB expand their Irish packaged beer listings, now if we could get Murphy's or Beamish in a can I'd be happier but that's not likely to happen anytime soon as Heineken apparently are only interested in marketing the green bottled lager Internationally, which is truly a shame.