Deliriously dynamic medium-bodied autumnal dessert drapes brown-sugared pumpkin spice with bourbon-soaked vanilla beans and sweet milk chocolate. Pumpkin-pied cinnamon, ginger, clove and nutmeg seasoning as well as dark-roasted mocha malting (and delicate perfumed hop whiff) contrast recessive pumpkin-roasted butternut squash, gourd and zucchini snips. Arguably the best beer at Virginia Craft Beer Festival 2015.
Robust full body loads massive mocha malting atop charcoal nuttiness and charred hop bittering. Bittersweet rye-toasted black chocolate frontage, light-roasted coffee surge and dried cocoa cadence gain mildly wood-smoked walnut, cola and Brazil nut influence.
‘Luscious’ chocolate-roasted märzen lager aged over ‘gobs of cocoa nibs and vanilla beans’ imparts milk chocolate sweetness above Octoberfest-related dark roasted barley malting and leafy Noble hop astringency. Splendid dried cocoa finish may benefit from richer vanilla influence.
Mildly creamed nitro-injected oatmeal stout offers silken coffee-roasted milk chocolate soothe to oats-honeyed Cafe Vanilla Porter appeasement and mellowly caramelized Chestnut Porter nuttiness. Subsidiary vanilla, chestnut, espresso, caffè latte and macchiato illusions fade quickly.
Aggressive lager-aged autumnal offering (in a can) lacquers pumpkin pie spicing with lightly perfumed hops and tart white grape esters. Sugary pumpkin frontage sweetened by cinnamon, nutmeg and coriander seasoning. Serene caramel malting tingles soft honeyed wheat spine.
Delightfully rich, creamy, full-bodied dessert elixir brings intriguing coffee-infused Madagascar vanilla theme to dark-roasted mocha malt setting. Nutty cocoa bean affluence, ascending anise stickiness, syrupy chocolate sweetness and subtle burgundy-bourbon boozing coat the intense vanilla center. Variable fudged brownie, Yoo-Hoo, espresso, creme brulee and creme de cocoa illusions deepen sweet-toothed back end.
On tap at Ambulance, majestic Belgian-styled dark ale (with hefty 11.5% Â ABV) saddles ripe dried fruiting with brown-sugared maple molasses sweetness and sugary brown chocolate malting. Fig, raisin, plum and black cherry illusions come to the fore. Tertiary chocolate cake, pecan pie, toffee, vanilla, rum, bruised banana and blackberry undertones deepen complex strong ale.
On tap at Ambulance, amplified brown ale brings black chocolate malt linger to light-roasted nuttiness and brown-sugared molasses sweetness. Fudgy hazelnut, pecan and chestnut illusions delicately drift into dusty cocoa chalking. Wispy vanilla creaming and subtle dried fruiting caress backend of compelling ‘imperial’-like dark ale.
Humdrum moderation lets sour lemon appeasement, barnyard hay astringency  and floral hop whim fade to light French-breaded spine.  Could use firmer body and crisper citric snap.
Murky moderate-bodied India Pale Ale (Heavy Seas’ first new year-round offering since 2003) offers dry rye wheat malting to musty orange rind bittering, tart lemon zing and ephemeral floral nip. Wispy straw-dried grassy hop astringency wavers beneath. Serve to leftover macrobrew fanatics as an alternative to blander BudMillerCoors suds.
Shyly sessionable IPA moderates piney citrus hop expectancy for herbaceous floral uprising and tea-honeyed crystal malting. Mild grapefruit pith bittering, orange rind sedation and ‘woodsy pine’ tones usurp grassy astringency. Pineapple, papaya and kiwi tropicalia stays way back in the mix.
On tap at Sooey’s BBQ in Nags Head, anonymously sessionable IPA lacks proper citric-hopped astringency and overall resilience. Light lemony grapefruit-orange spicing and dry wood tones fade quickly over meager white-breaded malting.
