BridgePort Ebenezer Ale

I picked up a sixer of the BridgePort winter seasonal Ebenezer Ale at the local grocery store. This past year the BridgePort offerings in the valley of the sun have expanded to cover a deeper selection throughout the year. Poured it into my Full Sail shaker pint (as close as I could come to Portland) and found a deep amber, slightly hazy brew with a nice thick head to it. The aroma was spicy and warm with a slight alcohol to the nose. Taste was bursting with maltiness with just enough bitter and sweet to make this a perfect winter beer. If it wasn't 85 degrees outside I would have been in total bliss, but had to settle for beer enjoyment. This isn't as complex as other winter warmers, but it sure hit the spot and paired well with my dinner. This also increased its drinkability as I finished off 2 of them.

Four Peaks Pumpkin Porter

I had an opportunity to try the Four Peaks Pumpkin Porter this weekend. I stopped by Uncle Bear's Bar and Grill after getting some work done on Sunday to get some breakfast and finish up my work with their free WiFi. They normally have the Four Peaks Hefe on tap, but instead they had the Pumpkin Porter. After eating my breakfast and almost finishing my work, I ordered the beer. It came to me in a frozen glass, so it was way too cold to enjoy a porter. I used the warm up time to finish my work and once it was closer to room temp I gave it a try. The pumpkin flavor was much less pronounced than the pumpkin ales I have tried in the past. The roasted flavor of the porter pushed much of the pumpkin in to the background. Their oatmeal stout has a rather creamy feel to it, and the pumpkin seemed to go with it perfectly. It is not a session beer, as after the first I was satisfied and wanted something different, but it was still quite enjoyable. I have hear that Four Peaks tries to close out their supply the day before Thanksgiving by offering to fill growlers with the porter. Between traveling to my uncle's and the big ASU/U$C game on T-Day, I am thinking of popping on by.

Does a Beer by Any Other Name Still Suck?

Stella Artois is planning to change it name because it has picked up bad connotations overseas. Commonly known as "wife beater," it tends to be the beer of choice by hooligans. I remember the first time I try it. Matt and I were having a guys night on the town in a city we didn't live in. It has all the makings of a story that could end up with a visit to a court room and another reason to believe that Stella leads to aggressive behavior except for one thing...the beer isn't all that good. I can't imagine drinking enough to get drunk. On the night in question, Stella hadn't made its way across the country, so I was trying something I couldn't get in AZ that was suggested by the bartender. I have come to realize that you can't take a bartender's suggestion unless you are at a brew pub. So they will change the name of this beer but it will never make my top 10 Euro imported macro lagers.