I’ve been super busy with my new job lately. As I mentioned before, I’ve got a lot to learn, and so my days have been long and exhausting. When I come home, I’ve been pretty much vegging out. With Halloween approaching, I bought several new pumpkin beers during my weekly trips up to Chicago. Since we’re only a week or so from the holiday, I thought I’d finally crack one of these open and see if I find any new ones to add to my Top 10 Best Pumpkin Beers list.
Location: Poured into a snifter glass at my home in Bloomington, IL.
Numbers: 6% ABV, 26 IBUs, ~180 Calories
Appearance & Aroma: It’s dark orange in color and hazy from the yeast sediment. The head rose and fell as fast as a soda, leaving it with absolutely no bubbles on top after a minute or so. The aroma is pumpkin pie like, but not as sweet and a bit brighter.
Taste & Feel: The body is light-medium and the mouthfeel is surprisingly crisp. Through the crispness you can sort of detect a lightly sweet, pumpkin-caramel malt flavor. In the middle, the spices come through with a bit of sweetness that highlights the cinnamon a bit. The spices become a bit sharp in the finish, aided by a dry, carbonation crispness. The allspice seems to be the most prevalent flavor in the aftertaste with some lingering spices and sweetness in the background.
Food Pairing: This beer is pretty crisp with pumpkin pie spices, and therefore, I’d pair it with a hearty dish like stuffing and gravy. The crispness would cut right through the food and leave you with some of the spices.
Overall Impression: I’m pretty critical of pumpkin beers, since it was one of the beers that got me hooked on craft beers (and there are now so many of them). This had potential, but the carbonation issues in this beer really killed that potential. The head fizzed up and fell like the head on a Coke, except it didn’t seem to leave many bubbles. However, it was certainly crisp, which made the spices plenty sharp in the finish. Overall, it was OK, but is certainly not one I’d add to my Top 10 Best Pumpkin beers list.
My Rating: 
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