Pumpkin Beer Tasting Notes
Alaskan Pumpkin Porter
Alaskan Brewing Co.
Juneau, Alaska
Taking its impetus from Colonial brewing, where pumpkins replaced a lot of the malt as a source of fermentables, this beer clocks in at 7% with 11 pounds of pumpkins per barrel. Black like a stout, it throws a nice, tawny head. The addition of brown sugar and alder-smoked malts, made popular by the brewery’s legendary smoked porter, gives a distinctive element of smoke and molasses. While the smoke and brown sugar endure in the nose, the holiday spices seem moderated by the rich porter malts, providing just hints of spicing to the vegetable richness brought on by the pumpkins.
Southern Tier Pumking
Southern Tier Brewing Co.
Lakewood, NY
More like a pie than most, Southern Tier gives this ale the dessert treatment, bringing in not only the pumpkin and spice, but dare we believe it … a flaky crustlike taste, without being overly sweet. There is an earthy depth to this beer, rich gourd thickness that helps mask the big alcohol content at 8.6%.
Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin Ale
Elysian Brewing Co.
Seattle, WA
Light auburn and brilliantly clear, putting off a dense creamy head that lingers. With 7.5 pounds of pumpkin per barrel, Night Owl (5.9%) provides a lot of earthy, sweet, vegetable aromas, reminiscent of a Saturday afternoon in the garden harvesting tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. Although spiced in the conditioning tank with ginger, cinnamon and allspice, Night Owl is far from a pumpkin pie in a bottle, finishing with a distinctive tartness that is rather unusual in that no single spice rises to the top.
Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale
Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
Easton, PA
Warming and filling, this boozy bad boy has big notes of cinnamon and nutmeg in a hazy burnt-orange-colored ale. The spice follows through on the palate, where clove and cardamom come into play. This is the kind of beer most will think of when considering pumpkin beer. Big, unapologetic and bursting with the flavors of the season at 8%.
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Heather Vandenengel
Heather Vandenengel is a freelance beer journalist and news editor for All About Beer Magazine. She is based in Montreal, QC, but takes any excuse to travel, especially when it’s for beer.