What We're Drinking

Rogue Brewery's Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout

There is nothing better than a pint of stout to help ease you into the week. Enjoying a bottle of Rogue's Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout last night was the perfect answer to a long day.

This stout pours a dark brown color with a frothy tan head. Its rich, creamy taste balances flavors of roasted malt, oats, coffee and a hint of dark chocolate, and the hops bring a slightly citrusy taste at the end. This is a solid, complex stout that sports a variety of flavors that blend together quite harmoniously - no individual taste is ever overpowering and it goes down crazy-smooth.

This beer recently won Bronze in the American-Style Stout category at the Great American Beer Festival, and it's not hard to see why.

Northwest Winners in the Great American Beer Festival

The Great American Beer Festival came to a close over the weekend, with several Northwest faves taking home medals:

• Widmer Brothers Brewing's Hefeweizen won Bronze in American-style Wheat Beer with Yeast.
• Pyramid's Apricot Ale won Silver in Fruit Beer
• Elysian Brewing Company's Dark O' the Moon won Silver in Field Beer
• Rogue Brewery's Hazelnut Brown Nectar won Bronze in Specialty Beer
• Boundary Bay Brewery's Imperial Oatmeal Stout won Bronze in Other Strong Beer
• Deschutes Brewery's Gluten Free won Silver in Gluten Free Beer
• Bend Brewing Company's Cherry Baltic won Silver in Aged Beer
• Hale's Kolsch won Gold in Kellerbier/Zwickelbier
• Alaskan Brewing Company's Smoked Porter won Gold in Smoked Beer
• Chuckanut Brewery's Chuckanut Pilsner won Bronze in German-Style Pilsner
• Silver Moon Brewing's Bridge Creek Pilsner won Bronze in Bohemian-Style Pilsner
• Chuckanut Brewery's Chuckanut Vienna Lager won Gold in Vienna-Style Lager
• Ram Brewery's Maibock won Bronze in Bock
• Deschutes Brewery's Mirror Pond Pale Ale won Gold in Classic English-Style Pale Ale
• Laurelwood Brewing Company's Deranger won Bronze in Imperial Red Ale
• Widmer Brothers Brewing's Drop Top won Bronze in Ordinary or Special Bitter
• Deschutes Brewery's Bachelor ESB won Bronze in Extra Special Bitter or Strong Bitter
• Barley Brown's Turmoil won Gold in American-Style India Black Ale
• Deschutes Brewery's Wowzenbock won Silver in German-Style Wheat Ale
• Pelican Brewery's Tsunami Stout won Bronze in Foreign-Style Stout
• Rogue Brewery's Shakepeare Oatmeal Stout won Bronze in American-Style Stout
• Pelican Brewery's MacPelican's Wee Heavy Ale won Bronze in Scotch Ale
• Bend Brewing Company's Outback X won Bronze in Old Ale or Strong Ale

You can find a complete list of placements and categories here. Congratulations to all!

What We're Drinking

Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin Ale

I love fall, and I am sucker for all things pumpkin. Breads, cakes, ice cream, pasta, and most importantly - beer. The arrival of pumpkin ales on the shelves and on the taps is the first sign of autumn for me, and I was psyched to sample my first pumpkin ale of the season earlier this week - The Elysian Brewing Company's Night Owl Pumpkin Ale.

Night Owl was the brew that got me hooked on pumpkin beers a few years ago. The pumpkin is very present in both the aroma and the taste (each batch of the ale is brewed with pumpkin, as well as with pumpkin seeds). It is also flavored with nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and ginger. The nutmeg and the cloves are the most prominent of these flavors, and are present throughout, giving the beer a spicy kick and butching up the flavor (like if your mom's Thanksgiving pumpkin pie got all hopped up on steroids before being served). Then it wraps it all up with a warm, slightly hoppy finish. Yum.

Great start to pumpkin beer season, and I am looking forward to many more over the coming weeks. Happy Fall!