Block House Brewing Oktoberfest ale

Okay, I know what you're saying: "Why is he writing about an Oktoberfest ale when we are as far from the month of October as we can possibly be?"

Well, I answer you in the words of one of my favorite writers, Kurt Vonnegut: "Why anything?"

I picked up a six-pack of this stuff on Super Bowl night, looking for something inexpensive but flavorful. Lo and behold I found this stuff on sale warm for $5.99 down at "It's Doggin It," down the street from where I live. A great place to shop for beer, incidentally, because they have deals like this. Even if it is six months old at this point, $5.99 for this tasty beverage was a steal.

A very "malt-forward" beer, I feel as though Block House Brewing could have done slightly better on this offering, but overall I enjoyed it greatly. Sometimes you want a rich, malty and uncomplicated beer. This beer suffers only from what I would call (as pretentiously as possible) a lack of "complexity," but maybe I've been drinking too many cockammamy IPAs.

It's pretty much a straightforward, roasty & sweet Oktoberfest with a good body to it and a solid ABV of 5.5%. You almost don't even need food with this beer. But if you did, I'd recommend something crispy and salty, like potato chips, in order to balance out the sweetness. And look, we're not talking about drinking syrup here, just for the record. But in terms of beers of this type, it runs a little sweet. Safe for those people who hate "hoppy" beers...and incidentally, I don't understand you.

Some Pittsburghers might already realize this, but apparently Pittsburgh Brewing Company stopped brewing beer at it's Pittsburgh-based complex (on Liberty Ave. in Lawrenceville) back in 2009 and moved its operations to Latrobe. The company was then sold to a private equity firm (a company that buys and sells companies) called Verus Investments in 2011, and then just this January was purchased by a guy who owns a mining company here in western Pennsylvania (must be good money in mining!).

Apparently, Pittsburgh Brewing Co. is once again brewing beer in the city of Pittsburgh but under the Block House Brewing label, which is doing more "craft" style beers (such as this Oktoberfest, an Imperial Red Ale, and and IPA, among others) differentiating itself from the Iron City and I.C. Light brands that Pittsburgh Brewing Co. is known for but sales of which had been steadily declining...which, let's face it, you can understand why if you've ever tasted it.