21st Amendment Fireside Chat Winter Spiced Ale

Last week, I reviewed a mediocre barrel aged stout from the normally reliable Founders Brewing Company. That stout set me back about 17 dollars. It was proof that spending more on beer does not guarantee you will get your money's worth. Since it is the holiday season, I for one need to spend a little more money on Christmas presents than I do on beer. Of course I tell myself that now but I most likely will find myself chasing down the next exciting limited release heading this way. For now though, I am here to review something less expensive and easy to find. I mentioned earlier that it is the Christmas season and I realize I have barely touched upon the holiday themed beers out right now. So that is all going to change this week when I take a look at 21st Amendment Brewery's Fireside Chat Winter Spiced Ale.

Sadly, 21St Amendment's Fireside Chat is not a good beer. I really did not want to give away my overall assessment right away but in this case it felt right. Once in awhile I come across a beer where the first sip seems pretty good but by the time the last sip comes around, I find it completely unbearable. Every time I took a sip of Fireside Chat, I liked it less and less. I thought giving it time to warm would open it up, but that just made it worse. No matter what temperature the beer was, the finish of Fireside Chat completely ruined the beer. I found the finish bitter, boozy and astringent. It felt completely out of place with the rest of the beer. That was disappointing because not everything here is terrible. The aroma was pleasant and delivered mostly what you would expect from the style. Toasted caramel, toasted nuts, molasses, dark fruits and a hint of spices. These notes all come through nicely initially in the flavor. There's also a candied sugar note that is nicely complemented by cinnamon and nutmeg. What's even better is the cinnamon and nutmeg are nicely subdued here. Some holiday themed beers are drowned with spices. There is just enough of those spices here to make their presence known but not so much as to detract from anything else going on here. There is also a nice cherry note to the beer which makes it seem even more festive. Then the finish hits and ruins any potential this beer had. In the case of Fireside Chat, a little bitterness to the finish could have been a nice compliment to the malt sweetness. Instead this beer goes overboard on the bitterness, which seems even more intense because of heat from the booze. At 7.9%, the alcohol should have been hidden better. Instead the alcohol is there front and center delivering a final blow to any potential this beer had.

Fireside Chat is a disappointing beer and definitely not the best representation of winter beer on the shelves right now. Due to the fact that I am just now touching upon the winter and holiday styles of beer this late into the season I feel like I can't just leave you with my usual “this beer particular beer is terrible, try something else.” So, I will leave you with two really nice recommendations. Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale and Genesee's Winter Warmer Ale are two wonderful Winter beers on shelves right now. I highly recommend them both for your holiday festivities.

Overall I would rate Fireside Chat a 1.5/5. This is bad beer, plain and simple. However, if you are looking for a nice beer from 21st Amendment to compliment this time of year, try Monk's Blood.

Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

He Said Belgian Tripel & He Said Baltic Porter

Pumpkin beer seems to be everywhere and with the season fading fast, I wanted to review at least one before they left stores and made way for the beers of winter. As luck would have it the 21^st Amendment Brewery and Elysian Brewing collaborated on brewing 2 different styles of pumpkin beer and packaged them together(talk about a 2 for 1). He Said Belgian Tripel and He Said Baltic Porter offer 2 unique takes on the pumpkin beer. As excited as I am to try these beers, my expectations are tempered because I find that pumpkin beer is commonly hit or miss. Some of the time you will find a beer that captures the unique flavor of pumpkin and complements to the fall season wonderfully. Other times you will find a mediocre beer that is heavily spiced to a point you can taste little else. Needless to say I was curious to see which side of the coin the He Said Porter and He Said Tripel would land on.

He Said Tripel pours a clear golden yellow with a white head. The aroma is filled with clove, coriander, pepper and pumpkin. The flavor however does not seem as complex. The initial flavor is pumpkin but it is very light and it is followed by a strong candy sweetness, then a spicy finish from the yeast. The is a slight burn from the alcohol(8.2% ABV)hat grew the further I got into the glass. While that did not bother me, the growing flavor of the Belgian spice did. It got to a point where I could no longer taste the pumpkin and felt like I was drinking nothing more then an average tripel ale. By the time the glass was empty I felt it was more of a below-average tripel and I was happy this beer drinking experience was over. I then hoped I would have more luck with the He Said Baltic Porter.

He Said Baltic Porter pours a rich black with red highlights and a khaki colored head. In the aroma I detected roasted malt, chocolate, pumpkin and nutmeg. The flavor was fairly on point with the aroma. The initial flavor is roasted malt, pumpkin, with light chocolate sweetness that finishes dry with nutmeg and ginger. And while that might sound fairly interesting, it seemed more middle of the road to me. There is really little here that you can't find in other beers. With that being said if you ordered this beer hoping try something new that fits the season then you wouldn't be disappointed.

As a whole I felt underwhelmed by the He Said 2-pack. To me, neither beer stood out and I feel like I can safely say I won't be purchasing either one again. In my opinion there are a lot better-tasting and more economical pumpkin beers on the market. But if you insist on finding a pumpkin beer with a higher ABV and more flavor I'd recommend Southern Tier Warlock.

Overall I'd rate He Said Tripel a 1.5/5 and He Said Baltic Porter a 2.5/5. I honestly can't see why either brewery would be proud of these beers. I'd expect something this boring to come from one of the mass produced American beer giants then two reliable microbreweries.



Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://acraftylook.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!