Great Pumpkin Ale
Batch 1 Appearance: Deep orange and slightly hazy. Head is off-white. Decent retention. Almost no lacing. Carbonation is solid. It's a glowing pumpkin in a glass. Smell: Smells like a real pumpkin filled with delicious beer. Spices, the typical fall compliment of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, are present. Vanilla. Touch of roasted malts. Nice hit of real pumpkin brings an earthy, vegetable quality to the whole thing. Gotta love that squash. Caramel malts add some sweetness in the long run. Taste: More real pumpkin flavor than any pumpkin beer I've had the chance to encounter. Big squashy, pumpkin flavor. Pumpkin flesh coupled with a mild compliment of cinnamon and nutmeg. Thankfully, the cloves and nutmeg take a back seat and let the beer shine through the spices. Earthy and just a touch sweet. The real pumpkin flavor gets a little pressing toward the end of the bottle. Mouthfeel: Medium body with a moderate carbonation to keep things moving along. Smooth with a touch of creaminess to bring it all back together. Overall: This really is a pumpkin turned in to a beer. Loads of fresh pumpkin flavor. At times I really felt like I was drinking down some pureed squash and that got a little distracting. All said and done, I'm really glad this is in bottles and hopefully I'll make it to CBC to try it on tap sometime.