Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the bottle shop..........(dramatic pause)............
More pumpkin beers cometh!!!! No one ever expects a horror movie to end on the first go around. You have to beat any good idea into the ground like it's a stumbling, worm infested zombie. Thus,
The Pumpkins Live.
In round one a
Pie-in-a-glass (aka P.I.G) scale was introduced to judge the pumpkin pie effect of the selected brews. A 1 rating denotes it's less pie like while a 5 rating suggests a side of whip cream is appropriate. Let the tasting commence.
Heavy Seas: Great'Er Pumpkin (Imperial Pumpkin Ale Aged in Bourbon Barrels)
If you're launching back into the pumpkin beer sea you might as well go big and boozy. Great'Er (9.0% abv) is the bourbon aged version of
Heavy Seas Great Pumpkin (not reviewed) and there is no denying this beer spent some time in the wood. Bourbon catches air during the pour, lashes out at first sip and remains the dominate flavor. Pie spices, pumpkin and roasted malt are detectable while the bourbon provides a mild sweetness. As expected the warmth kicks in towards the end and hangs on through the finish. Overall Great'Er is good but a fuller bodied imperial pumpkin beer as a base may of worked better with the barrel treatment.
P.I.G factor 2. This is one serious drunkin' pumpkin.
Cigar City: Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin AleThis seems to be the year that brewers want to say, "My pumpkin is bigger than yours". The imperial train keeps on rolling with
Good Gourd (9.0% abv). This is one of the few bottles that I didn't drag from my cellar. I was lucky to share this with friends at
Craft Ale House one evening. The yummy pie flavors are all present but what stood out most was the great balance of flavors. Pumpkin, spices, graham cracker, sweetness and booze were all in check. No high octane burn, no sudden nutmeg spikes and not a single sugary rush. Simply a solid flavorful pumpkin beer. The
P.I.G is high on this one
4.
New Belgium w/Elysian: Kick (pumpkin, cranberry, barrel aged)
Leave it to
New Belgium to put a sour twist on the pumpkin beer tradition. Part of the
Lips of Faith series,
Kick (8.5) is a pumpkin cranberry ale that's blended with wood aged beer. In this unique wrestling match for flavor supremacy the cranberry lays a serious smackdown on the old orange gourd. Sweet tart cranberry, crisp citrus and oak flavors barely give the pumpkin a chance to surface. The sour effect is low so it's not a tongue buckler. Pumpkin lovers don't let the
kickass Jack-o-Lanterns on the bottle fool ya. This one is more Thanksgiving than Halloween. A very good lightly sour beer that sends the pie a packing.
Zero P.I.G.
Rock Bottom Brewery (King of Prussia) Ichabod's Pumpkin Ale
One of the few things that keeps an extended trip to the mall bearable is the ability to sneak away to
Rock Bottom for a pint. No shifty moves were needed to seek out their pumpkin beer.
Ichabod is a break away from the imperialized trend. In fact it could officially be the anti-imperial pumpkin. The most exciting option offered when ordering a pint was the sugar & cinnamon treatment done to the rim of the glass. I opted out and went in clean. Everything about the 5.5% abv ale is clean and easy going. The pie spices and pumpkin flavors are middle of the road and almost textbook plain. Surprisingly the underlying flavor even leans more towards a traditional macro lager than an ale. Tasting more light hops and malt than in-your-face pie spice isn't necessarily a bad thing. However on the
P.I.G it gets you a
2.5.
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| Pumking on display at Wegmans Collegeville |
 |
2010 & 2009
(Ghostly finger provided by Big Dan) |
Southern Tier: Pumking
If there were a heavyweight equivalent to pumpkin beer,
Southern Tier Pumking (9.0% abv 2011) would be champ. The hurrah hype that hits every fall causing bottle packed displays to quickly dwindle down to empty cardboard stacks is almost deserved. I've reviewed this beer multiple times so I'll keep it simple this go around. This is the
Grand Puba P.I.G 5. Sure, go ahead toss in a dollop of fresh whip cream for effect (just kidding). Sweet cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, yadda, yadda, yadda, yummy pie goodness, you get the idea. To make it somewhat interesting this year I had the chance to taste the 2009, 2010 and this year's draft and bottle versions. The draft had a more pronounced cinnamon sharpness than the bottle and a pallet far better than mine is needed to pick out any subtle difference between the 09 and 10. Whichever one you encounter, here's to raising a pint of pie.
Now that Halloween has passed does this mean a death to the pumpkin beers? Something tells me this tale of spice and hops has not seen it's final chapter. To be continued..........????
A secret source has revealed that a highly sought-after rare beer will be available somewhere in the western burbs of Philly on Sat (3/3) @ 10:30am. Along with this beer will be two other hop heavy offerings from the same brewer and a tasty mix of other hop bombs. Many beer fans would smack their mamas simply to have the opportunity to sample these pours. I've promised not to reveal much more, although other advocates have already put the word out on the street. For this reason expect a mass of humanity to gather early. These grainy surveillance photos and a cryptic message are all I can provide on the location for the event. Good luck beer brethren and godspeed. Hope to see you there. 
