Part of the reason I had to split my birthday weekend into 3 posts is because I knew I wouldn’t have any time to sit down and write a post on Sunday! Saturday and Sunday were packed full of events, including two soccer games. A friend asked me to play with her team that morning, and I couldn’t think of a more fun Saturday morning activity : )
After my game I had this healthy lunch in anticipation of a delicious afternoon. Kale chips and Siggi’s Pumpkin!
For the big event, Matt threw a pumpkin beer tasting party and invited a bunch of my friends!
Since the party was throughout the afternoon, Matt put together a beautiful spread of cheese, flatbread and nibbles to complement the beer.
The cheese platter, from Flora, was EPIC!! Matt and Nadjeeb selected six amazing cheeses (the orange gouda in the top right was my favorite!) and the honeycomb in the middle that Matt found at Whole Foods was a huge hit.
Matt also made this grilled flatbread that made an awesome base for a cheese + honeycomb combo!
Sarah S. brought over the pretty decorations!
And now for the tasting. Matt had SEVENTEEN pumpkin beers for us to taste!!
The whole tasting was blind, and many of us took notes and ranked our favorites.
Here were my notes:
1. Williamsburg Alewerks – Pie. Sweet. Slightly metallic. Alewerks? (<— I was right!) // 8
2. Schlafly – Vanilla. Cinnamon. Bready. Sweet. // 9
3. Starr Hill Boxcar Porter – Slightly hoppy. Toasted. // 3
4. Matt’s Spiceless 5% Homebrew – Beery. Fizzy. Amber. No spice. // 3
5. Cottonwood – Fizzy. Subtle hops. Slight spice. // 4
6. Devil’s Backbone Pumpkin Hunter – Sour. Belgian. // 0
7. Rogue Pumpkin Patch – Spiced yet lower in alcohol. Vanilla yet toasted. Not sweet. // 7
8. Hardywood Saison – Belgian. Not pumpkiny. Meh. // 3
9. Matt’s 2014 Homebrew – Homebrew? (<—right again!). Spiced. Little sweet. // 8
10. 21st Amendment / Elysian He Said 1 – Little Belgian. Little spice. Meh.. // 4
11. 21st Amendment / Elysian He Said 2 – Rich brown. Roasted. No pumpkin flavor. // 6
12. Southern Tier Warlock – Warlock! Butterscotch. Dark Pumking. Marshmallow. // 10
13. Dogfish Punkin – Spiced smell. Subtle. Light vanilla. // 6
14. Matt’s 2013 Bourbon Barrel Homebrew – Sticky toffee. Sweet. Marshmallow. // 9
15. Weyerbacher – Minty. Ginger. Dry. // 7
16. Blue Mountain Spooky – Pie. Minty. Sweetness. // 8
17. Southern Tier PUMKING – Pumking!! // 10
At the end we asked everyone to raise their hands if a beer was in their top 3. The beers that appeared most frequently in the top three were:
4. Warlock + Matt’s 2014 Homebrew (tie)
3. Blue Mountain Spooky
2. Pumking
1. Schlafly + Matt’s 2013 Bourbon Barrel Homebrew (tie)
The gentlemen did a great job as stewards! Thanks so much for the wonderful day Kanz!
We snapped this after a good amount of people had already left – I’m blessed with amazing girlfriends!
And I almost forgot the cupcakes!!! I snapped this when they were mostly gone. Delicious as always from Sweet Haus!
Saturday night we ate nibbles of cheese for dinner and snuggled in with Survivor and hot tea! Turns out my mom loves Survivor too : )
Holly @ Happiness This Hour says
What a great party Matt threw! Super impressed with the decor, too. Way to go, Matt!
Kaila @healthyhelperblog! says
What a fun celebration! Happy Belated Birthday! I am jealous of that Siggi’s pumpkin yogurt! I want to try it so bad. None around me though. 🙁
Maryea {happy healthy mama} says
What a fun party! Love it.
Linda @ The Fitty says
Sports, cheese, and wine. I can’t think of a better way to spend a birthday 🙂
What game was it? From the looks of it, my guess is soccer.
KathEats says
Ah yes soccer!
Fran@BCDC says
What fun. I’ve never dried pumpkin beer but I bet I’d enjoy it since I love everything else pumpkin!
Elise says
That looks like a big crowd! Just curious, what do you do when you have too many people over to fit around the picnic table? I assume everyone would want to sit down to take notes during the tasting.
KathEats says
We spread out. ..some stood,some on porch. We squished in and it was cozy.
Charise says
My husband was recently in Cville for work, and I sent him to Beer Run to explore and look for things we don’t get around here in Ohio. I spied the Schlafly Pumpkin in the background of a picture he sent and insisted he bring home a 6 pack as I’ve been wanting to try it for years. It is now in my top 3 pumpkin beers, too, along with two you guys actually didn’t have in your awesome-sounding massive tasting – Shipyard’s Smashed Pumpkin (not their regular one, which is ick) and Fathead’s Spookytooth.
Happy birthday to you! 🙂
Katie @ Live Half Full says
What a fun idea! Pumpkin and Warlock are the best- my husband and I both do not usually love stouts but we loooove Warlock this year!
Tonya says
Looks like a really fun time. mmm I just want some beer right now. LOL!
Lindsey @ SimplyLindsey says
I love the idea of having a beer tasting as part of a birthday celebration! The fall themed cheese plate looked awesome! I’ll have to remember to grab a little pumpkin next time I have guests over for dinner. 🙂
erin says
what? No saranac pumpkin ale.. seriously that’s by far my favorite!!!!! and my girls and I did a pumpkin tasting — i believe we did 9 beers. saranac still tops as my favorite!
KathEats says
Not sure I’ve had that one! Matt got all the interesting beers he could find around here
erin says
if you can find it, try it! I promise it’s so good. best when you pour it in a glass!
lisa valinsky says
Wow – quite the turnout! I’m curious – how have you met a lot of your friends in CVille (and how long have you lived there now? I suppose it’s been a while!)?
KathEats says
Some are through the blog but most are through moms groups
Alyssa @ The Healthy RD says
Look at all that cheese Yum!
Shel@PeachyPalate says
That’s a whole lot of beers to try!!! Awesome way to spend an evening/afternoon! Cupcakes are so darn cute!
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl says
That is an absolutely AWESOME party idea! I love pumpkin beer and would thoroughly enjoy an event like that!
Dana @ fresh simple five says
I love pumpkin beers – what a fun event!! I’ve only tried a handful you guys sampled, but of the ones I’ve had Pumpking definitely tops my list. I also have a bottle of Warlock sitting at home waiting to be tried – can’t wait! Jaw-Jacker by Arcadia (based in Michigan) is delicious too – not sure if you get that by you!
KathEats says
I don’t think we’ve seen that one!
Tricia @ A Couple of Dashes says
What a fun looking birthday celebration!
Amy says
What a great hubby!
Eva says
looks like a perfect birthday celebration 🙂 i absolutely love your lifestyle. for some reason i’m really intrigued by the beer pitcher though… i kept staring at that picture of the beer being poured.. where is the bottom of the measuring cup??? idk if that makes any sense….
KathEats says
Haha – it’s this one that is angled so I think the curve is in just the right spot.
Rebecca Hanlon says
That is such an awesome idea for a party! How fun! I wish we had those amazing beers on the West coast.. We have 2 of them but I want to try them all now! haha
Coco says
Pumking is our favorite beer! SO much so that at our wedding 3 weeks ago, we pre-ordered several cases and instead of those girly, cheesy “signature drinks” people always have, we had PUMKING FOR EVERYONE!!!! haha. I am going to take your notes and try some of those other varieties I haven’t tried yet.
KathEats says
Love it!
Sam @ Grapefruit & Granola says
Looks like a fun get-together!
Ashley @ Saving Money in your Twenties says
that is such a brilliant idea for a party! so cool to be able to try different pumpkin beers! 🙂
Faith says
Sorry to have missed it, looks so lovely (and delicious!). xo
KathEats says
Missed you!
Taryn says
We were just at the Southern Tier brewery this past weekend for a tour and taste testing! Too funny! The Warlock was amazing but they have good hard cider this time of year too.
KathEats says
Jealous!