Here’s an interesting beer I picked up in Tennessee recently: Mad Tree Pilgrim Fall Ale. Made Tree, of Cincinnati, Ohio, does not distribute its beer to Georgia, but I picked up a 32-ounce growler of this beer at Wild Hare Beer Company in Spring Hill, Tennessee. This is the first beer for me from Mad Tree, which opened in 2013.
Pilgrim Fall Ale is something different for this time of year, an interesting divergence from the abundance of malty Oktoberfest lagers and spicy pumpkin ales. To be sure, the beer is seasoned with fall flavors, but ones that will tempt your palate in a different way. Mad Tree says on their website:
This lightly hopped fall pale ale combines a canucopia of holiday flavors. Cranberry and vanilla complement the pleasant lemon and berry flavor of Pilgrim hops. Give thanks for a bountiful harvest, good friends, and great beer.
Ingredients, also from the website:
Hops Pilgrim
Malts 2-Row, Munich 10L, Rye Malt, Melanoidin Malt, Barley Flakes
Adjuncts Cranberries, Vanilla
Mad Tree Pilgrim Fall Ale has an alcohol content of 5% by volume with 14 IBUs. I lost my receipt so can’t say what I paid for it, but Total Wine sells it for $9.99 a six-pack in cans. Not in Georgia, though.
Mad Tree Pilgrim Fall Ale pours to a cloudy orange amber color with a thick head of creamy foam and a tart cranberry and spice nose. Taking a sip, the beer has soft cookie malts and vanilla, spicy rye, cranberries and citrus. It finishes with a gentle grassy bitterness, and reminds me of a fine fall harvest and/or my house in fall after my wife lights those vanilla and citrus candles.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft