Silver City Oktoberfest

Silver City Brewery

Style: Oktoberfest

Package: 22oz bottle, purchased at Pear Shoppe in Seattle

Sampled in a pint glass

Rating: Not so Hot

Silver City Oktoberfest pours a copper color with a 1-finger head that dies in about three minutes.

The smell is of sweet malt and honey, nothing fancy.

This oktoberfest tastes sweet up front, followed by a short-lived nutty flavor. In the middle, it becomes sweet once again, and a little earthy, giving way to a finish of lightly toasted malts and a yeast flavor that is not overpowering, but unpleasant nonetheless.

The body is medium-light, with notable carbonation. It doesn't have the creamy character that I usually look for in an oktoberfest, but it's not bad.

Overall, Silver City Oktoberfest falls a little short. It's a bit too sweet to be truly drinkable.

From the Silver City Web Site:

Silver City Oktoberfest is an authentic interpretation of this classic amber lager. Just a few sips of this luscious brew and you are transported to the great beer halls of Bavaria. You will enjoy the rich malty sweetness, and spicy hop character of this popular Silver City seasonal brew.
Original Gravity: 1.058
Terminal Gravity: 1.016
Alcohol By Volume: 5.6%
IBU: 21

Read Beeradvocate reviews of this beer

Read Ratebeer reviews of this beer.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

Dogfish Head

Style: Pumpkin Beer

Package: 6oz bottle from a 4-pack, purchased at Bottleworks in Seattle

Sampled from a pint glass

Rating: Solid

Pours a beautiful dark gold color, with a 2-finger off-white head.

Smells pumpkin-y, bready, and earthy, There are spices and yeast here, and also a little grass in the background.

Taste is pumpkin against a lightly sweet, malt backbone. Spices are definitely present – nutmeg... and a perfect balancing bitterness, with a touch of alcohol in the finish.

Medium body, moderate carbonation. Not bad, but I wish it were a little more creamy than it is.

Some pumpkin beers are so heavily spiced and so poorly attenuated that they should really be marketed as pumpkin pie beers. Thankfully, Punkin isn't one of them. Instead, you could almost think of it as more of a pumpkin bread beer – sure, it's got spices, and some sweetness, but they are somehow balanced by the yeast and bread character, and when you toss in a healthy dose of pumpkin and the near-perfect bitterness, you've got what is a winner. But perhaps my favorite thing about Punkin is that, when I serve it to a friend who isn't acquainted with the style, they're likely to think it tastes like beer.

From the Dogfish Head Web Site:

A full-bodied brown ale with smooth hints of pumpkin and brown sugar. We brew our Punkin Ale with pumpkin meat, organic brown sugar and spices. This is the perfect beer to warm-up with, as the season cools.

Read Beeradvocate reviews of Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

Read Ratebeer reviews of Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

Harmon Brewing Puget Sound Porter

Harmon Brewing Company

Style: Brown Porter

Package: 22oz bottle, purchased at Bottleworks in Seattle

Sampled from a pint glass

Rating: Okay

I picked this beer up at my first Bottleworks stop back in Seattle.


My pour produced a 1-finger tan-colored head, fizzy like soda. Dissipates quickly. Beer is dark brown, small amounts of light turn the edges a light brown. It looks and behaves like root beer, except for the color of the head.

The smell is straight-forward: cocoa, caramel, some coffee. No hops presence.

The flavor is initially a blend of toasty biscuit and cocoa. Next up is coffee partnered with cereal grain flavors, rounded out by some caramel. No bitterness to speak of.

While most reviewers report the mothfeel as smooth, and medium-bodied, I would describe it as thin, especially for a porter. Once again, it's reminiscent of root beer.

Overall, this is a drinkable beer – maybe a little too drinkable. If I hadn't been drinking slowly with the intention of writing a decent review, I probably could have finished the 22oz bottle in a half hour. To me, that's not “sessionable,” it's a quick quaff.

From the Harmon Brewing web site:

This is yet another original flagship brew and of the English persuasion. Our brewer does love his dark beers and decided to brew this slightly unheralded style. Porters, related to stouts, come in two basic styles: Brown and Robust. Robust styles tend to be heavier, stronger and even slightly darker. Brown Porters tend to be more drinkable as a session brew. Our Puget Sound Porter is a lovely dark Brown with strong hints of ruby. A wonderful coffee roasted and chocolate nose makes this Porter unique and enhances the medium bodied brew. The flavors of coffee and chocolate follow through each sip of this porter. 8 different malted barley's, including Pale Chocolate and dark German barley make up the grist. Two hop additions balance the beer's flavor. Our brewers 2nd favorite child! GABF Gold in 1999 5.4% ABV and 40 IBUs.

Read Beeradvocate Reviews of Puget Sound Porter

Read Ratebeer Reviews of Puget Sound Porter

American Brewing Breakaway IPA

American Brewing Company

Edmonds, WA

Style: American IPA

Package: 22oz bottle, purchased at Bottleworks in Seattle 

Sampled from a pint glass.
Rating: Solid

This beer came highly-recommended by both Bottleworks staff and one of my good friends.

The pour shows off an attractive copper-orange hue, just barely see-through when I hold it up to the light. The cream-colored frothy head lasts several minutes before collapsing into a thick cap of foam. All-around pretty.

Smells like pine, lemon, dried apricot, and a touch of juicy pineapple. Sugar, malt and a touch of honey here, too.

Imagine the smells mentioned above are all friends who you are expecting to see at a party. Now, imagine you arrive at the party to find it's being dominated by big, booming bass. Your friends are all there, but you can't hear them above the bass. That's how it is with this beer -- except, instead of bass, it has bitterness. Delicious, dominant, bitterness. The grapefruit is loud enough to punch through, followed by light lemon zest and then some sweetness. Some alcohol flavor develops later on. Eventually, though, the bitterness chases all the other flavors from the party and sticks around for the long haul.

The medium body results in a mouthfeel that complements the bitterness almost perfectly. The carbonation may be a bit too restrained, though, as there's a bothersome stickiness that coats your mouth and overstays its welcome.

Reading the BearAdvocate reviews, I'm a little surprised by how much I liked it. First, it looks like there may have been some quality issues a couple months ago, with complaints of oxidation and (somewhat puzzlingly), lack of bitterness.

This is a good IPA, but not necessarily great. There's no question it has the bitterness I look for in an IPA, and at 7.2% ABV, it's definitely strong enough. But there are barely enough malt-derived flavors to back up that bitterness, and instead it's supported by the wonderful mouthfeel. If you like bitterness in beer over other taste considerations, you will probably love this -- I know I'll be drinking it again.

From the American Brewing Web site:

This American Style India pale Ale is a true Northwest IPA, a bold hop aroma with a floral and citrus note. Its color is a dark honey or amber tone. The flavors are characterized by a medium intense hop bitterness that is well balanced with a citrus (grapefruit) flavor and aroma along with a mild malty sweetness. Your senses score big time with this ale!

ABV: 7.2% IBU: 90 Color: 20SRM

Breakaway IPA is available on tap in Seattle, Tacoma, Edmonds, and Bellingham, and in bottles in the Seattle Metro area.
Read Beeradvocate Reviews of Breakaway IPA
Read Ratebeer Reviews of Breakaway IPA