Blue Moon Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale
Pours out a big fluffy head that lasts a good bit and leaves a wild lace design as it drops. Color is rusty orange, perfect for the season and style, and the bubbles are plentiful yet patient in their race to the top. Aroma has something too metallic and inorganic lurking underneath, and something too potpourri-like, but you do get the expected allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon and clove elements. So you take the good with the bad in this department. Flavor pumpkin-ish enough to give a hesitant thumbs up. All the spices mingle well, and there's even a trace of what I imagine real pumpkin guts taste like. Who has ever really tasted the stuff straight-up? It's always spiced or curried or baked to hell...I suppose that's why it's a little harder to judge a pumpkin ale than your other spiced ales. Ultimately, it's kind of tame and ho-hum, especially considering some of the simply awesome pumpkin ales out there. Mouthfeel is probably a little too carbonated, taking some oomph away from the spice melange, but also robust enough to not feel thin or inadequate. Beer snobs can't be bothered to give this one good marks, but it's not bad at all. It's not among the best or worst pumpkin ales, performing decently in the middle-ground of the style.