This amber-colored, 5.1%-ABV wheat ale offered by Shipyard Brewing Company was an alright seasonal treat. It had very little head, and the little bit it did have was white and frothy. I was surprised that there was very little pumpkin smell - the waft that hit my nose was all ale. After the first taste, it was evident why there was little pumpkin smell - there wasn't much of a pumpkin taste either. The beer had a subtle spiced flavor with just enough bite to it. Once the aftertaste kicked in, I did notice a faint cinnamon pumpkin flavor, but still not very strong.
I've never tried any other pumpkin-flavored beers, but I'm curious to compare. Today, Iron Hill Brewery is releasing their Great Imperial Pumpkin Ale (read more about it on Bil's mybeerbuzz.com blog), so I'm gonna have to head on over to try it out. Prost!
You should check out the Southern Tier Pumpking. Best pumpkin beer I've had.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Evan! I'll have to look that one up. BeerAdvocate and RateBeer.com both gave it pretty high marks too.
ReplyDeleteGood God. That looks watered down. It's almost $50 a case for that? I've had both Pumking and Weyerbacher Imperial. Those two are top-notch.
ReplyDeleteSad to say, I was not impressed. Unfortunately, this was my first Shipyard beer, so I'm much less inclined to want to try their others.
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