Dead Guy Ale comes from Rogue Ales inOregon. This Maibock style ale has a spicy overtone that is balanced by four varieties of malt. The malts combine for a wide base of flavor and a beautiful honey amber color. Dead Guy Ale might not be the coolest guy at the party, but is smooth enough to look graceful slipping on a banana peel. Dead Guy Ale is a perfect choice for gamers or Walking Dead fans because it features Pacman ale yeast, a proprietary secret as jealously guarded as the rejected scripts for a Super Smash Brothers movie. Dead Guy Ale is available in 22-ounce bottles for $6.99 and is 6.5 percent alcohol by volume.

Allagash is a brewery fromPortland,Maine, that specializes in putting a Belgian influence to great effect in a variety of beers. They add additional yeast and sugar just prior to bottling to create a softer-tasting beer that naturally carbonates in the bottle. Allagash Black is a Belgian-style stout that uses a heavy measure of chocolate and roasted coffee flavors for a 1-2 punch that would make Doug Marrone salivate. One key difference from other stouts is that Allagash Black is light in the body of the beer. Otherwise, Allagash Black has all the characteristics of the dark side. But unlike Darth Vader, the brewers bring balance to the beer with its malty goodness. Allagash Black is available in 24-ounce bottles and is 7.5 percent ABV.

The flavors of Double Wench are louder than your dorm room neighbor when his girlfriend visits from out of town. This brew was released to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Middle Ages Brewing Company. The brewers only know one way to make a splash, and that is to add more than one beer’s fair share of hops. These aren’t your everyday run-of-the-mill hops, though. These ones could go toe to toe with the Karate Kid and Chester Cheeto in a tag-team Kung Fu Food Product Challenge. At 12 percent ABV, this brew will steal other beers’ lunch money and should be handled with caution. Double Wench is available in growlers for about $20 at the brewery. You should get down there before it’s gone.

—Compiled by Dylan Sorensen, staff writer, djsorens@syr.edu