Ah, how I despise October's rolling temperatures. We here in my little pocket of Ohio are being flung from 30-something degrees to 70-some degrees (in Fahrenheit, as always), meaning I've been achy and sleepy. But, hey, I'll take cooler temps however I can get them this time of year! 

I had originally planned on today's beer being the subject of my most recent post but figured it'd be better for a warmer day than one that was more brisk. Thus, my short shuffling around that I'm willing to bet most of you didn't notice. Regardless, let's get into the beer at hand: Streetside's Pumpkin Spice Latte Return of the Mac (I'll just call it PSL from here on out).

Our second beer for the month is the final of two pumpkin-themed ales I picked up post-Halloween last year. You can tell this is last year's can because it has the old label art (which I prefer--the new one isn't as fantasy-driven, going from the check-in pictures on the ale's Untappd page).

Today, we're doing Royal Docks' Pumpkinslayer, which I grabbed from a bottleshop in my hometown while visiting with my folks during the last Christmas season. It came in a four-pack, and I drank three cans of it in pretty quick succession during the end of December '22 and beginning of January '23. I liked it then. Let's see if I still like it nine months removed.

It just feels like Halloween today, you know? Besides the grey overcast sky, the brilliant autumn colors alighting the trees, and the crisp breeze on the 50-something degree day, I mean. Tonight Michelle and I are carving our pumpkins while watching Hocus Pocus. Spooky.

So, to keep the Halloween convoy that is today's activities a-trucking, I figured I might as well do up my next post of the month. This is a beer I've had before (I bought it on a whim when it dropped the other month--late-August, I think). I haven't had it since but, if I'm remembering correctly, it's something pretty special. Today I'm cracking into Erie Brewing Company's Johnny Rails.

Whenever Michelle goes on vacation I always ask her to pick up some beer for me--I prefer some cool consumable thing to typical souvenirs that just sit around gathering dust. I never want anything extravagant. I'm not a man that asks for some super rare, one-off release. No, I just want to drink something that I can't find around here. Something new for me that others have probably had many times. Something cool and regional.


Michelle never disappoints. Last year she got me some really cool Florida brews (I gave one a full-fledged blog post here). This year, on her way back from Florida, she remembered my request. Her van stopped at a gas station in Kentucky shortly after crossing its border with Tennessee. In it she found a sixer of Country Boy's Cougar Bait. She bought it and gave it to me as soon as she got home. And now, through her generosity, I can present this post to you.

Hey there, everyone! If you follow my Instagram, you'll know that I recently stocked up on wide array of brews to drink while Michelle and I were away on vacation. Well, we were gone for the better part of last week and I managed to drink every single beer I brought into the cabin with me (and a growler from Devil's Kettle). In total, I consumed twelve (!) brews I have not discussed previously on the blog. I want to take a brief moment to rectify that now.


As you'll note, I said brief above. And that's what this post'll be. Brief. Purrl won't be in it. I won't go into details about the breweries. There'll be no memory sharing. I'll post a picture of each beer, a link to the brewery that crafted it, and the thoughts I recorded while drinking it, all in the order they were consumed. Short and sweet.

I've been waiting to try this one. I'm amazed that I was able to keep away from it for so long. It's been sitting in my fridge for a few weeks now. If you'll recall, my previous (and only) experience with Upland was extraordinary. It ended with my giving Bad Elmer's a very serious 9.5/10. So, needless to say, I have high hopes for REVved UP.


Compound this with the Schlafly coffee blonde I had a few months back, and my frothing demand for this brew increases. Go figure, too. I like other beers from the brewery. I like other beers in this style. I'd have to be a fool not to want to break into this bottle.

I'm excited for this post--I've wanted to write about MadTree for a long time. For the sake of airing my biases I'll say this now, at the start of the post: I love MadTree. In fact, I literally returned from their taproom less that twenty minutes ago. Why was I there? Well, they're doing a special release day for Shade, a gose inspired by a collab they did with Listermann Brewing Company (the place where I purchase my homebrew supplies).

How was Shade, you ask? Well, since I'm not planning on doing an actual review of the brew I'll tell you. It's good, and only 4.6% ABV. If you want to know more about what I think of the gose (legitimately just the barest bones) click here to see my quick Untappd review. To see my "blog" score of the stuff, multiply my Untappd score of it by two. (If you really want to see more about the beer, apart from what I think, click the linked "Shade" in the first paragraph.)


I'm not here to talk about Shade, though. I'm here to talk about MadTree Brewing Company's summer seasonal, Sol Drifter.