224. Moylan's White Christmas Spiced Winter Lager

"It's the most wonderful time of the year, with the kids jingle-belling and everyone yelling "brew us new beers!".  And so we did.  In celebration of the season, Moylan's presents our White Christmas Spiced Winter Lager.  Malty and smooth with a light tart and zesty finish, this year's Lager contains holiday spices, Curacao, Mace, Cinnamon, Coriander and White Pepper.  This Holiday Lager will warm you and your sweetie inside and out.  Share the love and make it a White Christmas.  You'll get a kick out of it.  Happy Holidays, and Slainte'!"

I'm not sure if I explained how I got my hands on this one.  Went into Total Wine, found it steeply discounted, decided to pick it up.  Since it was steeply discounted, I figured it had to do with the fact that this had Christmas on the label and we were in February.  I cracked it open a couple of days later.  The beer was poured into a pilsner glass.  It had a pale yellow color (not like the picture I used).  I got about three fingers of white head that had medium retention and little lacing on the sides of the glass.  I get aromas of baked bread, orange peel, peppercorn, clove, cinnamon.  

The combination of aromas do not play well in the taste.  The base seems rather uninspiring, but likely consistent with what I'd expect from a lager.  There's a light hop presence that goes with the orange, pepper, and Christmas spices.  I'm finding the flavors to clash instead of harmonize.  It's light bodied, a little watery, with moderate carbonation.  At 6.0% ABV, it's not difficult to hide the alcohol.

Overall, the beer lacks balance and something else to tie all the flavors together.  I'm not sure if the beer gets worse as it ages and needs to be consumed fresh.  Even at a steep discounted price, I think I'd pass on trying this one again.  I barely finished drinking the entire bottle.

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $2.99 (22 oz bomber)

223. Doc's Draft Pumpkin Hard Apple Cider

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion." Henry David Thoreau

A unique, hand-crafted pumpkin hard cider.

Made from pressed NY state apples and fresh pumpkins, fermented with champagne yeast and alic acid to excite the action.

I'm catching up on some older entries and decided to go with a cider as my next entry.  I've had some Doc's ciders before and wasn't terribly fond for it, but I've warmed up a bit to them since then.  I love Ace's pumpkin cider, so I was hopeful that this would be more of the same goodness, just in a bigger bottle.  The contents were poured into a pilsner glass.  It has a clear, yellow color to it with a quick dissipating head.  I picked up aromas of pumpkin, apple, ginger, cinnamon.  Doesn't smell too sweet.

This beer has some tart and tang to it.  Not too sweet.  The spices are most prominent with the ginger and cinnamon.  Pumpkin comes next, although the apple comes through towards the end.  As the base, it's masked pretty well by the other flavors.  Light bodied, a little slick.  Moderate carbonation.  

If I compared this to Ace, this doesn't match up.  It's a little more lacking in flavor, a little more watery.  Still, a solid effort from Doc's and depending on the price point, I'd pick it up again.

Grade: C+

Price Paid: $2.00 (22 oz bomber)