WILK Friday BeerBuzz - 20 Sept 2013 - Anderson Valley Fall Hornin’

Back in the late 1990’s I stumbled across a beer that was one of my first exposures to a sweet stout.  The beer used oatmeal in the malt bill and the flavor and texture were distinctive.  The beer was called Anderson Valley Brewing Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout and it was literally like nothing I had tasted at the time.  It quickly became a favorite and it’s a beer I recommend whenever someone is unfamiliar with an oatmeal stout.

About 100 shows or so ago we featured another Anderson Valley Brewing classic on the WILK Friday BeerBuzz in Hop Ottin’ IPA.  The English-style-leaning IPA is another Anderson Valley Brewing classic, but more importantly, it introduced all of us to “boontling.”

So what is boontling?  Well the story goes back to the 1880’s shortly after the Anderson Valley and the town of Boonville was discovered.  The locals literally developed a language called boontling and to this day modern linguists consider it one of the most extraordinary examples of a home-made language.  Hop Ottin’ translated to “hard working hops” and the very logo of the brewery itself includes the line Bahl Hornin’ Since 1987…which translated to Good Drinking since 1987 when the brewery opened.

This Bahl Hornin’ has now translated into a series of seasonal releases, so of course we had to sample one on the show today.  Fall Hornin’ (aka Fall Drinking) is a really interesting beer that uses pureed pumpkin as well as some classic fall spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.  Combined with 5 different malts, including a dark chocolate malt and simply hopped with just Bravo hops and you have an interesting and tasty fall beer.  Fall Hornin’ comes in at a sweet 20 IBU and with the ABV at 6% it will get you attention.  The color is deep-copper and the aroma is all caramel malt for me.  I did really like the creamy mouthfeel and of course the finish is sweet and spicy.

We’re marching into the fall season, so this is the perfect time to try a great pumpkin ale like Fall Hornin’ from Anderson Valley Brewing.  Be sure to get your Kimmies and apple-heads and drink a heelch of Steinber.

Thank you to Nancy, John, Karel & Kyle for yet another

fun Friday.

The Friday BeerBuzz…bringing good beers and good people together.As always you can check out the video on-line at the WILK Friday BeerBuzz page by clicking HERE.
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