Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale: It's Pretty Delicious

It occurred to me while in the grocery store recently, that while my efforts to be cost-conscious and buy my beloved Cheap Beer are good for my budget, they weren't helping promote my efforts to write a beer blog. I mean, I love me some Miller Lite, but even I wouldn't read a Miller Lite Blog.
 
This epiphany came at just the right moment, too, because what should appear on the beer cooler's shelves but the autumn seasonal from Sierra Nevada--a brown ale called Tumbler. I didn't even pause to read the description - brown ale? Hell yeah!
 
I'm a sucker for labels. I keep my favorites (that St. Somewhere Saison bottle is still on the kitchen windowsill). While Tumbler doesn't live up to sill-worthiness, it is a very pretty label. Lovely fall colors, a scene right out of New England--or some other fairytale place where the leaves actually change color and the air turns cool and crisp.
 
It poured with a lot of decent head; I tended to dinner (lasagna) while I waited to finish pouring the bottle. And it's the prettiest color: deep brown, but not completely opaque. After the head settled, it actually looked like a slightly flat Coke.
 
I was pleased with how malty it was. Of course it was still a bit hoppy--it is Sierra Nevada, after all; hops are their crack, I think--but not nearly as herbal-perfumey as their pale ale. Very smooth, pretty damn delicious! Out of all the Sierra Nevadas I've tried, this Tumbler is my favorite by far.
 
I first thought to write, "What a shame that it's a seasonal!" But as with the seasons, and more so the holidays, the anticipation and waiting for something truly heightens my pleasure of finally experiencing it. Christmas all year long would be a drag; but I look forward to the holiday season (that I officially put at Halloween, screw the marketers and their September pumpkins/costumes/candy). That could be part of the reason Sam Adams' Octoberfest didn't quite feel right in AUGUST, even as I drank it in my local watering hole anyway. So while I'll be sad when the winter Celebration beer takes Tumbler's place on the shelves in a few months, it will give me something to look forward to in next year's dog days of summer.
 
(Which, this being Florida, are actually still upon us. It's been in the low 90s during the day here. Although it seems to be warm Up North as well. Heck, it was warm enough in Philadelphia last night to make the players of the Atlanta-Philly game sweat their asses off. Damn Phillies.)
 
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P.S. I hear (via the Brookston Beer Bulletin) that Guiness Foreign Extra Stout is finally returning to the U.S. - I will very interested in trying it, although with a description like "GUINNESS Foreign Extra Stout (FES) is brewed with the highest hop rate of all the GUINNESS variants," I'm a little wary.

Posted via email from Scurrilous Tosh