First Posted: 9/2/2013
Beer: Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale
Brewer: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: American Brown Ale
ABV: 5.50%
Description: Sierra Nevada’s Tumbler pours a clear dark brown with a creamy and frothy off-white head that lingers long, with huge lacing on the glass. The aroma alone is perfect for a lovely autumn evening, with notes of brown sugar, molasses, biscuit, slight nuttiness, and toasted malt. Thankfully, the taste matches the nose and even brings more to the party. The sweetness of the brown sugar hits the palate first, but is quickly washed over with notes of chocolate and toasted malt with subtle hints of molasses and earthy hops, making an appearance before the brown sugar cuts through again, leaving a lingering sweetness on the palate. The body of this beer is soft and creamy with a very light amount of carbonation; just the kind of beer you want to sip on during a cool evening. I am a huge fan of brown ales in general, and this is an extremely tasty and easy drinking beer, perfect for the upcoming autumn evenings.
Food pairing: Tumbler is a great beer to have with a hefty dinner, especially those dishes that include a fair amount of meats. A delectable baked ham and mashed potato dinner make a great pairing with Tumbler. Another great match-up is with roasted pork, as the smoothness and sweetness of the beer intermingles perfectly with the fatty pork. A truly impressive coupling with this beer is grilled salmon topped with smoked Gouda cheese. The complexities of this dish, along with the smokiness of the cheese, pair perfectly with this beer and really highlight the toasted malts and subtle hop flavors within the beer. This is also a great beer to have with desserts, but keep it light as too hefty of a dessert can overpower the beer. Desserts such as brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and light cream puffs are all perfect pairings with Tumbler.
Is it worth trying? As with everything brewed by the world-class brewery Sierra Nevada, yes! Brown ales are wonderful any time of the year, but this truly is a fantastic way to kickstart the fall season. Tumbler offers the perfect bridge between light summer beers and heavier winter warmers and stouts that come when the snow starts to fall which, unfortunately, is right around the corner. While pumpkin and Oktoberfest beers may get all the glory this time of year, there are many other fabulous fall seasonal releases, and this is certainly in the top of the crop. Grab yourself a bottle while you can and enjoy this delightful seasonal beer around a nice warm campfire.
Rating: W W W W
Where can I get it? Currently available in bottles at Wegmans, Dickson City; Goldstein’s Deli, Kingston; Krugel’s Georgetown Deli & Beer, Wilkes-Barre; and J&H Beer, Plains Township.
Remember, enjoy responsibly! Cheers!
-Derek Warren is a beer fanatic, avid homebrewer, and beer historian. Follow Derek’s beer blog at idtapthat.org.
