A spice-driven 8.0 percent ABV brew, Weyerbacher Brewing Company’s Imperial Pumpkin Ale seethes with caramel, clove and cinnamon, but only the occasional hint of pumpkin. This beer’s aroma pummels the senses with wave after wave of nutmeg,... Read More
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Latest Reviews
Explore The Beer Connoisseur® magazine's database of most recent beer and cider reviews as evaluated by our panel of judges in the Official Review.
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
18 / 24
Appearance:
6 / 6
Flavor:
29 / 40
Mouthfeel:
7 / 10
Overall Impression:
15 / 20
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
20 / 24
Appearance:
5 / 6
Flavor:
29 / 40
Mouthfeel:
7 / 10
Overall Impression:
14 / 20
Starting a second decade of brewing operations, Southern Tier Brewing Company enters the seasonal holiday beer fray with Pumking, its own unique take on imperial pumpkin ale.
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
18 / 24
Appearance:
5 / 6
Flavor:
30 / 40
Mouthfeel:
7 / 10
Overall Impression:
15 / 20
Another intriguing entry into the world of pumpkin beer, La Parcela, from Dexter, Michigan’s Jolly Pumpkin Artisanal Ales, deftly straddles the line between tradition and quirkiness. It blends pumpkin and spices with old school oak barrel aging... Read More
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
19 / 24
Appearance:
5 / 6
Flavor:
33 / 40
Mouthfeel:
7 / 10
Overall Impression:
16 / 20
Since launching in 2003, Thomas Hooker Brewing Company has pumped out a lineup of solid ales and lagers from the brewery in Bloomfield, Connecticut.
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
22 / 24
Appearance:
6 / 6
Flavor:
32 / 40
Mouthfeel:
9 / 10
Overall Impression:
16 / 20
Produced by what is ostensibly the oldest operating brewery in the world, Weihenstephan Vitus is a rich, tempting weizenbock, loaded with ripe, juicy notes of bubblegum, bananas, and plums, as well as subtly spicy clove and pepper.
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
20 / 24
Appearance:
6 / 6
Flavor:
35 / 40
Mouthfeel:
9 / 10
Overall Impression:
16 / 20
Situated in the land of mainstream lagers, Schlafly Beer takes a different path, producing a wide range of distinctive, characterful beers for a burgeoning army of devotees. Blasting out of the glass with mounds of bright, assertive spices,... Read More
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
24 / 24
Appearance:
6 / 6
Flavor:
32 / 40
Mouthfeel:
8 / 10
Overall Impression:
18 / 20
Still brewing with water from a well that was first sunk over 250 years ago, the venerable Samuel Smith’s Brewery, located in the picturesque Yorkshire countryside, remains true to tradition, fermenting most of its beers in open stone “squares.”... Read More
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
24 / 24
Appearance:
5 / 6
Flavor:
35 / 40
Mouthfeel:
9 / 10
Overall Impression:
16 / 20
Yet another intriguing beer from the folks at Tampa’s Cigar City Brewing, Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale is a seasonal special release – chock full of earthy pumpkin, enticing spices, and soothing alcohol warmth.
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
20 / 24
Appearance:
6 / 6
Flavor:
36 / 40
Mouthfeel:
9 / 10
Overall Impression:
18 / 20
Seattle’s Dick Cantwell has been a mainstay on the brewing scene for more than two decades and opened his own operation, Elysian Brewing, in 1996. Since then, Elysian has earned its avid following, producing wickedly good ales, and the occasional... Read More
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
23 / 24
Appearance:
5 / 6
Flavor:
36 / 40
Mouthfeel:
9 / 10
Overall Impression:
18 / 20
Touted as a “Double ESB Ale,” the XX Bitch Creek Grand Teton Brewing Company takes everything in the Bitch Creek ESB recipe and basically doubles it. A limited release, it makes for an imposing brew that throws around aromas and flavors with... Read More
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
22 / 24
Appearance:
5 / 6
Flavor:
35 / 40
Mouthfeel:
8 / 10
Overall Impression:
19 / 20
Home to some of the most idiosyncratic beers in the world, Franconia is rightfully known as the brewing world’s epicenter for rauchbiers, which are noted for the pungently smoky aromas and flavors.
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
23 / 24
Appearance:
6 / 6
Flavor:
36 / 40
Mouthfeel:
10 / 10
Overall Impression:
19 / 20
One of the world’s truly classic weizenbocks, in constant production since 1907, the Schneider Aventinus throws around gobs of prune, banana, and warm, exotic spices as the aroma billows from the glass.
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
22 / 24
Appearance:
6 / 6
Flavor:
37 / 40
Mouthfeel:
10 / 10
Overall Impression:
19 / 20
A Bavarian fixture for 150 years, Privatbrauerei Ayinger is one of the world’s classic breweries. The extensive lineup of traditional Old World beers includes the lightly chocolaty, faintly herbaceous Altbairisch Dunkel, a beer of exceptional... Read More
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
24 / 24
Appearance:
5 / 6
Flavor:
37 / 40
Mouthfeel:
9 / 10
Overall Impression:
19 / 20
For 25 years, Middleton, Wisconsin’s Capital Brewery has supplied an increasingly large following with a solid line up of fine ales and lagers.
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
20 / 24
Appearance:
5 / 6
Flavor:
33 / 40
Mouthfeel:
7 / 10
Overall Impression:
15 / 20
Made in a brewery launched by four Belgian schoolmates in 2000, Troubador Blond introduces itself with a complex nose. It teems with aromas of vanilla bean, clove, apricots, and cherries.
Reviewed by: BC Review
Aroma:
24 / 24
Appearance:
5 / 6
Flavor:
32 / 40
Mouthfeel:
6 / 10
Overall Impression:
15 / 20
An American take on the venerable Belgian Pale Ale, Ommegang BPA boasts big, citrusy hops over the more traditional spicy Belgian yeast notes, not unexpected from a brewery built on a former hop farm.