Peak Organic Brewing Co - Fall Summit Ale

The brew is a dark copper-brown.  Silky lacing and a slim, but constant, head.  Moderate carbonation level.

Smells of tropical jelly bean hops.  Very sweet and attractive.  Butterscotch and faint maple in the tail end.

Tastes close to how it smells.  Hop bitterness, hop flavor, and malt sweetness form an excellent balance.  Warming.  Finishes without a lingering aftertaste.  Oriented toward the hops, but not overbearing.  On the thinner side, but the hop content extends the body in a misleading, yet agreeable, way.  Sort of stretches it like a silky syrup.

Very hoppy, but brown enough to balance out the overreaching nature of hop oriented brews.  Notably drinkable, not to mention, organic!

Penn Brewery Oktoberfest

Before I get into this beer, I need to get something off my chest: Christmas beers show up in stores far too early.

The beer store I work for got several cases of Samuel Adams Winter Lager 2-3 weeks ago and people are still coming in looking for Sam Adams Octoberfest.  From what I can tell, a lot of people are still thirsty for Octoberfest, but Winter Warmers and the like are already in.

I even feel that the autumn brews didn't have enough time to shine.  The bottle shop I buy from only had Sierra Nevada's Tumber (Brown Ale) for a week or two and I never saw it again, except for a few cases in the store I work weekends at, but I only wanted to try a few bottles.  I guess I'll buy it the first time I see it when next year's batch rolls through.

Enough ranting...on to the brew!

Penn Brewery Oktoberfest, as part of the brewery's Gourmet Selection (variety-pack).  Slightly hazy appearance marked by an amber-copper brown color.  Head slims to a nice rim with leftovers on top.

Grassy hops in the nose up front, with a sweet honey and malt backbone.  Candy caramel w/ sweet brown bread.

First sip--since I took the bottle out of the fridge twenty minutes ago--is marked by a hoppy-graininess that is hard to describe.  Alcohol in the taste.  Toasted barley?  Toasted brown bread?  Definitely some caramel.  Hoppy up front with a medium body.  Sweeter in the finish with a bit of a syrupy feel on the tongue.

I like it, although I'm having trouble describing its characteristics.  A good Oktoberfest that doesn't ask you to think about it too much, while remaining interesting enough to imbibe.  I can see myself drinking this in the cold.

As for the other beers that one is encouraged to drink in the cold (read: Winter Warmers), give me a few weeks.  I'm not ready yet.