Another entry in my occasional series of posts about variety 12-packs…

As the calendar turns to November, I”m still drinking fall brew, even with winter beer hitting the shelves. My latest foray into fall mixed 12-packs…

Harpoon Brewery Fall Tailgater

My favorite thing about the fall season is football…and the World Series…and the start of hockey season. Dayum, I spend a lot of time watching sports in the fall! What better 12-pack to have with a weekend of football, baseball, and hockey than the Fall Tailgater from Harpoon Brewery?

This 12-pack features:

• IPA, Harpoon’s best selling beer is one of my favorite IPAs (5.9%)
• Octoberfest, Harpoon’s “malty tribute to fall” is a solid interpretation of the style (5.3%)
• UFO Pumpkin, this unfiltered pumpkin ale goes down as easy as pumpkin pie (5.9%)
• Take 5, this excellent Session IPA is the newest member of Harpoon’s year-round lineup (4.3%)

With that many games to watch, one 12-pack is not enough, so on to the…

Long Trail Survival Pack

This 12-pack from Long Trail Brewing Company in Bridgewater, Vermont features two seasonals and two year-round brews:

• Long Trail Ale, the brewery’s flagship beer is a sessionable Amber Ale (4.6%).
• IPA, a traditional English-style IPA (6.0%)
• Pumpkin Ale, Long Trail says this Pumpkin Ale is “artfully brewed with all natural pumpkins” (I’m so glad they’re not artificial pumpkins), and that this brew is “reminiscent of grandma’s pumpkin pie.” (5.5%)
• Harvest Barn Ale, this Brown Ale brewed with Vermont maple syrup “pairs well with wood-splitting, leaf-raking and pumpkin carving” (4.4%)

I’ve enjoyed a lot of Long Trail beer over the years, so I was happy to sample two new brews in this fall 12-pack. The new Pumpkin and Harvest Ales, combined with the solid stand-bys Long Trail Ale and IPA, make this the perfect fall 12-pack.

While I’m on the topic of fall brew, shout-out to Sea Dog Pumpkin and Gordon Biersch Festbier, the latter of which is now on tap on the BoaBeerBlog kegerator!