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September 27, 2012

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New Holland Ichabod

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New Holland Brewing Co.

Holland, MI

Ichabod Pumpkin Ale

5.2% ABV

One of the newer pumpkin beers I’ve come across this year is New Holland‘s Ichabod. There doesn’t seem to be anything too exciting about the beer – brewed with real pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg – but New Holland is one of my favorite breweries, and they consistently put out great beers, so I figured it was worth a shot.

The pour is a brownish orange color with more of a copper tint toward the middle. There’s half a finger of a foamy head on top that’s gone fast. There’s really no lacing or alcohol legs, not that surprising for such a low-ABV beer.

There’s a good bit of spice on the nose. Definitely a big cinnamon note, almost like one of those cinnamon brooms you can find at craft stores or whatever. There’s just a very slight sweetness from the pumpkin and a bit of nutmeg, too. Overall, it’s balanced and not overpowering.

The spice from the nose is very prevalent on the taste as well. You get that bite of dry cinnamon on the front of the tongue and it comes up again on the back along with some clove and nutmeg. Again, a very slight pumpkin taste to it, but just enough to balance out the spiciness. The mouthfeel is a bit thin, but it’s very drinkable and a good solid midrange pumpkin beer.

Nothing stands out about Ichabod aside from the face that it’s very well-balanced. You get that punch of spices on the front, but it’s evened out nicely with the sweetness and richness of the pumpkin.  Not necessarily one I’d come back to over and over, but certainly worth checking out.

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September 26, 2012

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Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin

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Weyerbacher Brewing Co.

Easton, PA

Imperial Pumpkin Ale

8% ABV

Another one of the sleeper pumpkin beers widely available come from Weyerbacher, again, one of those “I see them everywhere but never buy their stuff, even though I’m always impressed when I do” breweries for me. (See: Double Simcoe, Insanity, Heresy, etc.)

Coming in at 8%, Imperial Pumpkin is another imperial-style beer that really comes out as a well-rounded and solid example of the style. Standard ingredients – pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg – but Weyerbacher adds cardamom to the brew with theirs, giving it a bit of a different note.

The pour is an almost blood orange, with hints of ruby and copper. Much darker than other pumpkin beers. There’s barely a head to speak of, really weak lacing, and just some mild alcohol legs.

There are big notes of nutmeg and cardamom on the nose. Definitely a bite from the cloves and a richness from the pumpkin, and a bit of heat from the cinnamon. It’s definitely heavy on the spice with a nice sweetness from the pumpkin on the back to balance it out.

The beer is really mellow and rich on the tongue. It’s got an almost creamy mouthfeel from the pumpkin. But as it warms up a bit, the spices really begin to shine through more. There’s a blend of the nutmeg and cinnamon on the end and a big allspice note. The cardamom is also noticeable and a nice addition. The spices work well to compliment the alcohol and the pumpkin does a nice job of keeping it balanced.

I do pass over Weyerbacher beers a lot, but I’ve come to keep an eye out for Imperial Pumpkin. Imperial-style beers really do seem to compliment the pumpkin beer style better, and Weyerbacher does a nice job of keeping that trend going.

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September 25, 2012

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Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin

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Shipyard Brewing Co.

Portland, ME

Pugsley’s Signature Series Smashed Pumpkin 

9% ABV

It’s strange to me how one brewery can make arguably one of the worst pumpkin beers every year but at the same time make one of the most under-appreciated and solidly good pumpkin beers. I don’t know how, but Shipyard does it.

Pumpkinhead, their standard 4.7% pumpkin beer, is abysmal (in my opinion). Seriously. I think it tastes like metal shavings and spice. I’ve tried this year’s batch and it’s just as bad as – if not worse than – last year’s batch. Flat, flavorless, bland … just not good.

Smashed Pumpkin, part of Shipyard’s Pugsley’s Signature Series, is the antithesis to Pumpkinhead. An imperial pumpkin ale, Smashed Pumpkin has been around for only a few years but has amassed a pretty strong following, myself and my wife included. There’s nothing that really stands out about the brewing process, but Smashed Pumpkin rivals Pumking in terms of getting pumpkin pie into a bottle.

The beer pours a beautiful hazy deep orange color. There’s about a finger of a foamy head that vanishes quickly. Very weak lacing but some good alcohol legs. It kind of looks like what I’d expect a glass of pumpkin juice to look like.

The nose is a very mellowed balance between the spice and the pumpkin. You definitely get nutmeg and cinnamon off the nose, but it’s weak compared with other pumpkin beers. There is a big pumpkin puree note, though. It’s a bit weaker than Pumking, but still a really solid nose.

On the palate, it’s got mild carbonation and a full-bodied mouthfeel. Middle of the mouth, there’s this really big spiced apple note with a bit bite of cinnamon. That continues into the end when the pumpkin and allspice show up. The lingering taste is that of cinnamon apple, and it’s really nice. You get the classic pumpkin pie spice notes and the pumpkin as well, but it ends on a much more mellow sweet note.

Smashed Pumpkin is a sleeper hit. I grabbed a bottle of it last year when I first saw it on shelves and it’s now become one of my go-to pumpkin beers, coming in at No. 3 on the pumpkin beer hierarchy for me. It’s possible it gets passed over because of how disappointing Pumpkinhead is, but believe me when I say this one is nothing like Pumpkinhead.

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September 24, 2012

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Dogfish Head Punkin

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Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

Milton, DE

Punkin Ale

7% ABV

Saturday marked the official start of fall – my favorite season – and now that the weather is cooling down*, I feel it’s a safe time to start delving into one of my favorite styles: pumpkin beers.

Pumpkin beers are one of those most divisive styles around. People either really enjoy them or vehemently despise them. I, of course, am in the former, as pumpkin is my all-time favorite flavor. Maybe it’s because I’m an October baby and Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, but from the beginning of October through the end of November, I crave anything and everything pumpkin.

My foray into pumpkin beers is young, as I really didn’t get into the style until last year. Before that, I had tried some truly awful pumpkin beers, but last fall I had the chance to try a handful of beers from the style that made me do a complete 180. One of those beers is Dogfish Head‘s Punkin.

When I look for a pumpkin beer, I want one of two things: 1) A beer that focuses on the pumpkin and tastes like liquified pumpkin pie, or 2) a beer that lets the spices you’d find in pumpkin dishes shine. Punkin falls into the latter category. Instead of being a straightforward pumpkin beer, it focuses on all the spices that go into a delicious pumpkin pie, including nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon.

Punkin is labeled as an amber ale, and while it’s not quite amber, it does pur a darker orange that’s brownish toward the center. It’s slightly hazy with barely any head, and whatever’s there dissipates quickly. There’s some really light lacing and a mild alcohol leg.

The nose on Punkin is fantastic. There’s huge wafts of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, a slight hint of the pumpkin and brown sugar. I love how it clearly accentuates the spices. It smells like what I want my house to smell like during the fall.

As far as taste, it starts with a bite of spice on the front of the tongue. There’s a really strong carbonation and spice across the palate and it ends with all those big spice flavors just flooding into each other. The brown sugar and nutmeg are strongest on the back, and the pumpkin is definitely there as well. It lingers and just sticks to your mouth.

Punkin is my No. 2 pumpkin beer. It eschews being overly pumpkin-y and instead opts for focusing on the spices you’d expect in a pumpkin pie. The creamy, full mouthfeel is there from the pumpkin, but it’s an afterthought compared with the spices that clearly pop throughout the entirety of the beer.

*However, Saturday saw a high in the 90s in South Carolina. Clearly summer has a death grip on this state.