As promised, the sudsy adventures continue.  The nice part is that as the weeks go on, more and more seasonals are starting to appear on the shelves!  That also means that the summer ales are starting to go on clearance, so there are more temptations to distract me from my journey–but never fear, I will not be daunted!  Slightly detoured, perhaps, but not daunted.  In the meantime, here’s what made it into this weeks’ shopping cart:

Southern Tier Harvest Ale

I’ve been  trolling for Southern Tier’s Pumpking Ale, but so far haven’t found it at any of my local retailers.  This, however, popped up and looked like it might be a good way to tide myself over.  I’m happy to say it didn’t disappoint.  The Harvest Ale provides a nice balance between malt and hops–enough of the former to give it a slightly bigger taste, with enough of the latter for a smooth, clean finish.  You might call it a “bridge” beer between the lighter summer ales and the winter warmers.  Like a slightly off-color jest, it does its best not to offend while at the same time offering some worthwhile flavor.  It doesn’t boldly go where no beer has gone before, but it’s definitely worth a try!

Breckenridge Autumn Ale

This one caught my eye because I’ve a big fan of Breckenridge’s Vanilla Porter, and Colorado craft beers in general.  And like its marvelous vanilla cousin, the Autumn Ale reveals layers of complexity you might not expect.  It starts off on the mellow side, making you think that this might be a lightweight beer, until the malts kick in and finish off that first swallow like a gust of cool air from the first cold front of the season.  And trust me, if you haven’t lived in Florida you don’t know how welcome that gust can be.  Even so, I’d rate this as a highly sessionable beer–not too heavy on the ABV, but with bold enough flavors to keep things interesting.  I’d certainly buy this one again–and if you happen to find some in your neck of the woods, don’t hesitate to pick up a six pack.  As the label says, it goes pretty good after some rakin’!  Or bush trimmin’.  Or lawn mowin’.  Aw, shoot–maybe I should just get a yard service and watch while sippin’ on this.  Yeah, that sounds like just the ticket…