Fat Jack

When it comes to beer, my favorite time of year is fall.  As the nights turn cool and daylight starts to dwindle, nothing gets me more excited than watching my local fill their shelves with style after style of rich malty fall beers.  Drinking IPAs all year round (not there's anything worth with that…) is kind of like living year round in the Caribbean.  It's always the same thing: hot.  

In Ohio, we are lucky enough to have drastic changes in seasons.  Summer is hot, fall is cool, winter is unbelievable cold, and spring is nonexistent because it's so damn hot again.  Beer is the same way.  The seasonal brewing rhythm makes old beers new again.  I love it.

Just like this year's summer, this year's fall beers have arrived early.  Unlike the summer heat we've endured, I'm not complaining.  Along with my usual favorites, like the absolutely fabulous Octoberfest from Samuel Adams, my favorite Boston brewery has launched something new from their Small Batch Series, and it's right up my ally, a double pumpkin ale aptly named, Fat Jack.

Each barrel of Fat Jack is brewed with 28 pounds of pumpkins.  Yeah, 28 pounds.  

Pumpkin beers have a special place in my heart.  Whenever I see one sitting on a shelf, I snatch it up.  Some are great, some are not.  Fat Jack fits its bulbous personality squarely in the former category.  It's probably my new favorite.

My tasting notes started and ended with one word: stellar.  There was pumpkin all over the place and once the initial wave of pumpkin died down, it was quickly followed by tastes of cinnamon, all spice, and maple syrup.  Next, another small wave of hops, and then more spice.  I'm not kidding, this is really great stuff.

If you love pumpkin beers, I urge you to seek Fat Jack out.  I stumbled on Tasman Red, another Small Batch release, on draft earlier this year.  I will seek out Fat Jack.

Note: Samuel Adams provided me with this bottle of Fat Jack.  I hate them for this.  I now want to buy a case.