Fresh Hop Ales — Left Hand vs. Deschutes

Left Hand Brewing Co.
Warrior IPA
(With Colorado Fresh Hops)
ABV 7.6%

Color: Clear dark orange.
Aroma: Malty sweet with floral and spicy grass notes.
Flavor: Nice medium body with sharp grassiness and good sweet malt backbone.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Moderate burnt tasting hop bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good +

Deschutes
Fresh Hop Pale Ale
ABV 5.5%

Color: Hazy dark orange.
Aroma: Intensely sweet mango and pineapple.
Flavor: Creamy body, sweet with more of those tropical fruit flavors.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Mild bitterness with lingering tropical fruit.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good +

Blow by Blow
We've had two fresh hop tap tussles (1,2) and a fresh hop growler grudge match, but even those could not quench our thirst for the lupulin. Fortunately we had two bottles of fresh hop beer in our fridge that were taunting each other, so we let them have at it for our first official fresh hop bottle battle!

Both the Left Hand and the Deschutes are excellent fresh hop beers, but they don't taste or smell anything alike. The Left Hand is more traditional with spicy, grassy notes to go along with a solid malt backbone. The Deschutes, however, is totally unconventional. It's a tropical fruit freak with intense tropical fruit aromas that continue through the flavor all the way to the finish. At first, the Hop Trip had the Warrior reeling and confused, but eventually the Warrior settled down and overcame the novelty of its opponent. We really enjoyed both, but after waffling a bit we both agreed that the Warrior was more what we expect from a fresh hop beer. It also went a bit better with our food (kale pesto pasta with chicken) which may have helped sway our final decision. However the Deschutes beer was no slouch, so if you're looking for something fun and different, definitely give the Hop Trip a try.

Winner by unanimous decision: Left Hand (two in a row!).

In the interest of full disclosure to satisfy the FTC’s law, this battle features a sample bottle received from the Deschutes Brewery.

Oktoberfest Beers — Left Hand vs. Ayinger

Left Hand Brewing Co.
Oktoberfest Marzen Lager
ABV 6.6%

Color: Pumpkin orange.
Aroma: Malts, prunes, spice, and a touch of pine & perfume.
Flavor: Sweet malt, toffee, floral with some artificial notes.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Clean and soapy.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

Ayinger
Oktober Fest-Marzen
ABV 5.8%

Color: Pale golden orange.
Aroma: Grains, yeast and honey.
Flavor: Simple, sweet malts with a slight pumpkin-vegetal quality.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Grains.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

Blow by Blow
Fire up the Hopping Lederhosen, it's time for a Bavarian-style Bottle Battle! Since we couldn't make it to the real Oktoberfest in Munich, we staged a mini Oktoberfest in our kitchen featuring two Marzen lagers, the traditional style of beer that is most associated with the massive German celebration.

In one corner we had Ayinger, an authentic German brewery that has been brewing for over a hundred years, in the other corner we had Left Hand a brewery from Colorado that has been open for over fifteen years. But age and tradition mean nothing in a bottle battle. They are both equals until one hits the canvas.

The Ayinger was a solid and straightforward beer with simple grain and malt flavors. The Left Hand, on the other hand (sorry), had a whole bunch going on, especially in the aroma — very sweet smelling and almost perfumey. The flavors were more complex as well and complemented the sweet maltiness. So despite a decent performance by the ancient German he ended up getting floored by a clean Left Hand and it was lights out. Prost!

Winner by unanimous decision: Left Hand.

Winter Beers — Ninkasi vs. Deschutes

Ninkasi Brewing Co.
Sleigh'r
(Dark Doüble Alt)
ABV 7.2%

Color: Clear dark brown.
Aroma: Smoke, chocolate and some dank funk.
Flavor: Medium body, sweet and slightly smoky and meaty.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Burnt hop bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

Deschutes
Jubelale
ABV 6.7%

Color: Clear reddish brown.
Aroma: Brown sugar, molasses and piney hops.
Flavor: Just like the aroma, rich and sweet.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Sweet malts slowly give way to mild citrus hop bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good +

Blow by Blow
Winter beers in fall? What the hell? Just as we were enjoying the fine array of fall seasonals we started to notice some winter beers forcing their way onto the scene. It's a disturbing trend that reminds us of how the holidays are starting to blend together with stores flooding their shelves with Valentine's crap on the day after New Year's. If breweries aren't careful this could escalate into some sort of crazy turf war between gangs of fall and winter beers (possibly a future Bottle Battle?). Despite our concern over this seasonal encroachment we are big fans of winter beers, so we waited as long as we could before giving in to the overwhelming urge to see what this year's crop of winter beers has to offer.

It was a well fought battle, with both beers displaying the big malty base and hearty alcohol content that you'd expect from beers that are supposed to help take the chill off of a cold winter's night. Both beers also offer up a nice hoppy bitterness to help offset the sweet, but the Jubelale's bitterness was mild and pleasant in the finish, while the Sleigh'r left us with a bit too much burnt hop flavors after each sip. The other difference was in the mouthfeel — the Jubelale was very rich and full-bodied and the Sleigh'r just didn't have the body to match up with it. So the Jubelale wins in a close one, but both beers will certainly serve you right on a nippy night.

Winner by unanimous decision: Deschutes.

In the interest of full disclosure to satisfy the FTC’s law, this battle features a sample bottle received from the Deschutes Brewery.

Urban Beer Hike Triple Header

It was an epic night of battles as we teamed up with Urban Beer Hikes for a three location triple header. Our first stop was at Beer Authority for a Sierra Nevada Fresh Hop tap tussle.



Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere
Harvest Wet Hop Ale
ABV 6.7%

Color: Clear orange.
Aroma: Sweet malt and lemon rind.
Flavor: Toasted malt and intense piney bitterness.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Intense, long-lasting burnt toast and lemon rind bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good -

Sierra Nevada Estate
Homegrown Ale
ABV 6.7%

Color: Clear orange with slight red tint.
Aroma: Grassy with some nice citrus.
Flavor: Fresh, grassy hops with good malty sweetness as well.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Pleasant mellow bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good +

Blow by Blow
We were pleased to find two fresh hop beers from Sierra Nevada on tap so we promptly threw them into the ring together to see who would reign supreme.

Both were served really cold, so it was kind of difficult to decipher the aromas but the Estate clearly had the upper hand. It offered the classic fresh, grassy hops with a nice citrus element as well. The Harvest struggled with its aroma and ended up being mostly sweet toasted malts with some piney hops in the background.

The Estate continued to dominate in the flavor and finish while the Harvest was exposed as a one dimensional bitter bomb without any of the typical fresh hop flavors. We all agreed that if we had tasted the Harvest blind, we probably wouldn't have guessed it was a fresh hop.

Winner by unanimous decision: Estate Homegrown.

The second fight on the card featured two bottles purchased at Big Star Beer Market. The theme: Beers named after tasty marine animals.



Porterhouse Brewing
Oyster Stout
ABV 4.8%

Color: ? (We drank from the bottle. Probably dark.)
Aroma: ? (Hard to smell anything through the neck of a bottle.)
Flavor: Cola, chocolate, coffee, earth.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Balanced
Finish: Bitter lemon and coffee.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre +

Rinkuskiu Alaus Darykla
Lobster Lovers Beer
ABV 9.5%

Color: ? (We drank from the bottle. Probably amber.)
Aroma: Sweet (We could even smell it through the neck of the bottle.)
Flavor: Sweet cough syrup with some Belgian yeast characteristics.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Sweet and medicinal.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Bad

Blow by Blow
It was an international duel with Lobster Lovers hailing from Lithuania and Oyster Stout coming from Ireland. They both were feisty even before the fight as the Lobster offered an enticing naked lady/lobster label and the Oyster countered with the novelty of a pull off cap.

In the ring things got ugly quick. The big Lithuanian was sweet and medicinal, just a mess of a beer. We couldn't even finish it. The Oyster Stout won by virtue of being not quite as bad. It had some weird sweet cola flavor that took away from the chocolate and coffee stout flavors.

Winner by unanimous decision: Oyster Stout.

The final battle turned out to be a can clash featuring beers that we purchased at the 85th St. Market, a place with a surprisingly good beer selection and an extremely nice owner named Chuck.



Maui Brewing Co.
Bikini Blonde Lager
ABV 4.5%

Color: ? (We drank from the can. Probably light yellow.)
Aroma: ? (Hard to smell anything through the mouth of the can.)
Flavor: Sweet, smooth, creamy and easy drinking. Dave noted that it had tiny bubbles (very Don Ho of it.)
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Sweet and malty.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good -

Oskar Blues
Mama's Little Yella Pils
ABV 5.3%

Color: ? (We drank from the can. Probably light yellow.)
Aroma: ? (Hard to smell anything through the mouth of the can.)
Flavor: Crisp, with light citrus hops and some graininess.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Balanced
Finish: Grain and teeny, tiny bit of citrus hop bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good -

Blow by Blow
These beers are meant for hot weather, but we decided to see what they were made of on a mild October night in Seattle.

It kind of turned into a slap fight with a lot of flailing of the arms without much contact. Both beers were predictably simple and didn't offer much more than something to wash down whatever you're eating.

Turns out, Dave and I have different preferences when it comes to simple, session beers. He prefers something a bit sweeter and thus chose the Bikini Blonde, I prefer something with some kind of hop presence so I went with Mama's.

Final note: We rated them both "Good -", but they would probably be rated higher if we tried them on a hot day. They both would definitely be acceptable for a beach or a bbq.

Split decision: I chose the Pils, Dave chose the Lager. (Ellen sat this one out.)

Pumpkin Beers — Uinta Brewing Co. vs. Dogfish Head

Uinta Brewing Co.
Punk'n
ABV 4%

Color: Clear pumpkin orange (slightly darker than the Dogfish Head).
Aroma: Barnyard funk, cinnamon, nutmeg and malt.
Flavor: Not much. Thin and a bit watery. Acidic with some grain flavor.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Balanced
Finish: Macrolager grainy flavor and a hint of pumpkin pie spices.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre

Dogfish Head Punkin
ABV 7%

Color: Clear pumpkin orange.
Aroma: Malty and sour(!).
Flavor: Rich texture. Starts with a bit of raw pumpkin followed by hoppy bitterness.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Balanced
Finish: Subdued pumpkin pie spices and mild lingering bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

Blow by Blow
October is a good month for beer. You've got fresh hop beers, Octoberfest beers and pumpkin beers all fighting for your attention. We're big fans of pumpkin beer, so we chose to kick off October with some old-fashioned pumpkin beer pugilism.

The Uinta is a new kid on the block in the Seattle market. Dogfish Head is an established veteran with a solid record. Both are "punks." Let's get it on!

The battle turned out to be closer than we expected. The Uinta had a nice aroma, but went downhill from there. However, at 4% alcohol it would be a nice beer to take tailgating or to quench your thirst after raking leaves. The Dogfish Head should have crushed the young upstart, but instead it did just enough to win the fight. The texture and mouthfeel was fantastic, but in our opinion it had a bit too much of the raw pumpkin/squash flavor and not enough of the pumpkin pie spices. Mind you, we've tried beers that taste like pureed pumpkin pie and those can be a bit overwhelming so we weren't looking for that. But a bit more of that cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg would really have made us like the Punkin even more.

Winner by unanimous decision: Dogfish Head.