J. Wakefield Brewing: Sleepy Hollow

The seasonal offerings of autumnal beer are always tricky.  I've mentioned in the past that my hopes are always high at the start of each Autumn...  high hopes that there will be a pumpkin ale that soars above the rest.  Something that isn't too sweet but has a distinct pumpkin flavor.  A beer that feels like pumpkin season.  I feel like I'm still on that quest - everything is just too sweet for me.  Thankfully there are folks like Pumpkin Ale Reviews' Sam Heimer and Fatherkrespi documenting this stuff each season.  

We stopped into a beer distributer over the weekend and got some nice stuff for Memorial Day.  While we were looking around, we saw something called Sleepy Hollow from the J. Wakefield Brewing Company.  The design was fun and the description was intriguing:  sour ale with blueberry, lemon, orange, lactose, and vanilla.  The color of the ale was berry-like.  The taste was a little shocking.  I love sour ales, and this dark drink was extremely sour.  Full of sweet and tart notes.  Felt very Halloween-night-ish (if that can be a descriptor).  Definitely something you share with someone, as it can be like eating too many Smarties (I mean that in a good way).

I think I dug the uniqueness of this one.  It's not pumpkin ale.  It's not the usual flavors of Autumn.  It's sour and sweet and strange.  So much so that I think I would call this one Witch's Brew and not Sleepy Hollow.