Ichabod Ale 2008
Alpine Beer Company

This one came in from Snojerk. Pour is pretty dark brown with a small but present tan head. This is one of those spiced pumpkin kinda of beers instead of the pumpkin pumpkin kind. A little on the cinnamon and clove side of things. Aroma was slightly nutty and everything was backed up with a bit of a caramel sweetness. Not incredibly memorable for any one particular thing but a drinkable spiced beer if that’s your thing. Right now this one is not really mine.

 

 

 

 

 

2008 Ichabod. Bought at Alpine Beer Company during 2011 SDBW. Tulip glass.

A: Pours essentially black with a bit of light sand colored ring of head. No lacing.

S: Pumpkin and nutmeg, and faint roasted/chocolate malt in the secondary.

T: Light and mouthwatering pumpkin, a hint of nutmeg underneath, and some cinnamon on the finish. Extremely dry and a little watery with some acidity.

M: Medium body and very light carbonation, a tad too light.

O: Easy drinking, I guess, but so-so flavors. I occasionally detect a fleeting ash note in the smell and taste which is less than pleasant.

 

 

Review dated 12/19/2008. Bomber from City Beer.

An interesting and complex beer, the first I have tried from Alpine. I want to dock them some points for calling a lager an ale, but I will let em off easy. Flavor is dominated by roasted malt with strong pumpkin and spices and some acidity. It is a little more watery on the mouthfeel than you would expect, but then again, as much as they try to deny it, it is a lager so you cannot fault it there.

A: poured a dark brown in color with brown highlights and had a very thin bubbly head leaving a little lacing sticking to the glass.

S: all spice, cinnamon, and nutmef were pretty faint on the aroma with slight vinger tart notes and mild vinous notes.

T: the all spice, cinnamon, and nutmeg were more apparent on the palate with some tart qualities mild vinegar but a touch fo chocolate and brown sugar.

M: the brew was medium in body with a good amount of carbonation which had a sweet, spice, mild vinous, and tart finish.

D: drank real good and was definitely a cool take on a pumpkin style dunkelweizen.

Chilled bottle into a glass. Shared by Nanoslug as part of a pumpkin beer tasting. Thanks guys! From notes.

A: Pours a translucent black body. Massive head. Hmm.

S: Pumpkin spice (nutmeg, cinnamon) with elements of roast, a slightly lactic character, cherries, and tamarind. Not awful, but against other beers on the table, decidedly subpar and unappealing.

T: Tastes like a slightly soured milk stout (i.e. beyond the lactic twang you'd expect from that style). A touch of cherry and tamarind. Chocolate, roast.

M: Light-medium body with a dry-ish finish. It has a slick cherry aftertaste.

D: It was likely infected, but not totally irredeemable. The problem was that at a tasting next to a bunch of other perfectly fine or even great beers, this was a large waste of time. Alpine seems to have a hilarious dichotomy between infected / undrinkable and amazing. Is there a middle ground?

Appearance: More stout-like than anything else, with a mignight brown color (ruby highlights) and a massive head that leaves a reasonable amount of stranding behind

Smell: Smells like an old pumpkin spice cabinet, with black bread, nutmeg and cinnamon elements

Taste: Tamarind, with a developing sour fruity character; the subtle black bread, nutmeg and cinnamon character stand out by mid-palate and after the swallow

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate carbonation

Drinkability: I don't think Alpine should have ever used the word "Dunkelweizen" in describing this beer as that has thrown off countless reviewers as this does not now nor apparently never has tasted much like a Dunkelweizen; I think it is uniquely interesting and if it had more Dunkleweizen character to it would be a much better beer; as it stands it is just OK; Alpine might be on to something and I hope they figure it out with a future edition of this brew

Thanks to mikesgroove for the bottle. This was a strange beer, I expected a dunkelweizen with pumpkin pie spices (from the label description), and although some change in character should be expected after 1 year of age this beer is missing all of those characteristics.

The beer is dark brown, opaque, with a think mocah colored foam. The smell is lacking any weizen aromas, mostly malty-bitter with a chocolate edge and a disturbing sour note in the background. I get no pumpkin whatever, but in its place a hint of cough syrup (maybe due to age). The taste is pretty much the same as the smell, sour notes take the lead with some bitterness and a little cocoa in the aftertaste. The body is OK but who cares, the flavors are too odd. This is one beer I won't try again, even as they change the base...

This one came from Joey at Southbay. Been keeping it around for a bit.

A: Pours a flat dark blackish brown hue. Small fizzy head with no retention or lace.

S: Lots of real pumpkin meat, raw cacao nibs, and a blend of pie spice.

T: Rather sharp. Like taking a spoonful of real cocoa and nutmeg and putting it in your mouth. Hints of chocolate, ash, and earth as well. Pumpkin straight from the can is there but somewhat hidden beneath the sharp flavors. The more I drink the sharpness almost gets tin like.

M: Medium in body, light carbonation.

D: Okay, I put the whole bottle away. I know it was a totally different style, but I liked the first version better.

Well, I bought this one thinking it was the Wild Ale. Oh well, it'll have to do...

A: Pours just about black with a small mocha colored foam.

S: There is only a slight pumpkin aroma, but lots of coffee and a mild spice character.

T: The pumpkin taste is a bit more pronounced than the aroma. A malty, wheat bready quality and sweetness. There is a subtle spiciness and a hint of vanilla.

M: There is moderate carbonation and a medium body.

D: I was pretty disappointed at my mistake, especially because Dunkels are not really my thing. The pumpkin flavor was mild, and I would have liked more, but still a decent beer.

22 oz bottle into a couple of pint glasses. Thanks go to HopDerek for splitting this one.

Pours black with a finger of reddish and burnt tan colored head. Retains mostly with a thinnish ring around the edges and is absolutely dead in the middle. Swirling yields a cascade of moderately spotty lace and brown oils up on the sides of the glass. I can actually pick up some light notes of roasted pumpkin seeds in the aroma, along with some cinnamon and nutmeg spicing, which give the nose just the tiniest bit of zip. Heavy wheat and chocolate sweetness stands out to me as well, as does some green floral character in the back. Light warmth stealthily glides just under the other flavors.

The taste starts out with greenish pumpkin meat and toasted seeds, along with some sharp spicing that gives this a springy feel in the mouth. Bready wheat, cocoa powder, and maybe even some vanilla in there add some malty sweetness to the profile. There's some hop character that floats along the back of the taste but most of the green flavors that I'm getting seem to be coming from the pumpkin. The mouthfeel is fuller bodied with a lower feeling carbonation that gives this a more slick and viscous feel in the mouth. Considering the amount of maltiness in the taste, this works surprisingly decently.

A Pumpkin Dunkelweizen is an interesting brewing choice, and while even though the whole thing kind of seemed a bit muddled at first, this somehow worked for me. The combination of the toasted pumpkin, spices, and thicker malts gave this a pleasant harvest-time imbibing feel. I would have definitely have drank a few bombers of this last fall if it had been local to me.

A - Pours a dark brown and lets very little light through on the edges. The tan head rises to about an inch and disappears pretty quick. Lacing is minimal. Appearance is pretty average for this beer.

S - Aroma is very light. Deep Dark malt aromas hit the nose first. Picking up toasted wheat and a touch of chocolate. Slightly dry grainy aroma pops up in the middle. There might be a hint of pumpkin in the distant, distant, distant, background.

T - Flavor is on the light side but still pleasant. Caramel and cocoa start it all off. Some bread flavors quickly follow - kind of like a toasted crust. Pumpkin has a stronger presence in the flavor but it is still pretty light and restrained. The pumpkin spices are also in the flavor and stay out of the way for the most part. Nutmeg is there but not much cinnamon.

M - Lighter bodied with a light carbonation. Starts out a little creamy and finishes with a dark grain dryness. Smooth overall.

D - Drinkability is good. The beer overall is a little disappointing. Everything works together in this brew to make up a slightly above average beverage. Flavor and aroma seem to be muted in a way that is hard to describe. I guess I was just expecting more. The lighter alcohol level makes this one pretty easy to put away but it's gets tough to keep coming back for more of this one. Glad I got to try it but will not seek it out again.

Huge thanks to csmiley for splitting the bomber.

Ichabod's an interesting beer. I originally thought this was a pumpkin ale. A dunkelweizen, eh? Alright. Pours a dark mahogany brown color. It's very close to opaque. A hint of light cuts through giving it a slight garnet hue. It's topped off with a vanilla colored head that's about a finger or so deep. It was quick to recede and left light strands of lace lining the glass.

The nose continues its interesting trek. It starts out a little malty. There's a cocoa-ish aroma from chocolate malts. It doesn't exactly smell sweet. It comes across as slightly sour smelling. It's a little musky and a bit funky smelling. There's some light pumpkin. It's not very pronounced, but is noted. Pumpkin spices? I'm not getting that. Hops are noted and give it an earthy scent. Grains are noted throughout each whiff. Ichabod's not a bad smelling beer, but it's far from artful. The components don't seem to mesh well and are perceived as individual parts rather than a well orchestrated symphony.

The flavor profile is consistent with the nose. It kicks off with a little cocoa. There's some perceived chocolate, but no real sweetness. Ichabod is grainy and earthy throughout. It features an interesting musky flavor that's not altogether good. In terms of pumpkin, there's not a great deal. Perhaps a slight pumpkin flavor, rather than pumpkin spice. I'm not picking up any nutmeg or cinnamon. Interesting. There are some hops that give it a bit of a buzzy bite. They're very welcome here and definitely help. It finishes dry and a little bitter. Overall, the flavor's a bit disappointing. The bland pumpkin flavor...well....strike that. None of the flavors work very well together. It's honestly very jumbled and merely okay.

The body is medium and is smooth. Carbonation is dialed down pretty low. This is probably Ichabod's greatest asset. It does have a nice feel. Drinkability is average. The flavor's not working well for me. I'm glad I don't have the whole bomber to myself. It'd be a struggle.

Ichabod's disappointing. At least this 2008 release is disappointing. I had high hopes for this one and had looked forward to it for a long time. Unfortunately, the various scents and flavors do not work well together at all. It needs a good bit of work all around to improve. I'm guessing Alpine releases a different beer for this each year. That'd be a good thing in my book. If so, I'd be more than happy to give this one a go next year. As for this one, it's pretty forgettable.

A- Pours dark opaque brown with a small fizzy head which dissipates quickly. No lacing.

S- Malt, nutmeg and other spices. Light pumpkin spice aromas.

T- The flavors that come through when you smell it are the same ones there when you taste it. Has a bit of smokiness to it.

M- Feels a bit fizzy, but smooth in the mouth.

D- Easily drinkable. I could probably easily go through a couple of bombers in a night.