I already had the surly overrated, and I’m sitting here watching Gold Rush on TV. I decided it was time for another beer, and grab this one out of the beer fridge since it’s pumpkin beer season for only a few more days… For me at least. I picked this one up at the grocery store a month or so ago. As most readers know, I’m into great pumpkin beers, and this is one I haven’t had before.
Location: Poured into a Sam Adams perfect pint glass at my home in Bloomington, IL.
Numbers: 5% ABV, ~130 Calories
Appearance & Aroma: It’s orange amber in color and pretty clear, with a little bit of carbonation in it. The head is thin and somewhat creamy, and fell to just the ring of bubbles around the edge of the glass. It has pumpkin pie spice aroma, with a good amount of cinnamon.
Taste & Feel: The body is light and the mouth feel is somewhat crisp. The flavor up front is a lightly sweet caramel malt and graham cracker flavor with primarily clove, cinnamon and other pumpkin pie spices dominant. The spices pick up in the middle, and continue to grow through the finish. The pumpkin pie spices lasted for a minute or so in the aftertaste.
Food Pairing: This beer has a good amount of pumpkin-pie-like spices, and therefore, I’d pair it with an appropriate meal, such as turkey and stuffing, or a turkey sandwich. It might also go with another lighter meat, like pork chops, as well.
Overall Impression: I found this beer to be a fairly middle-of-the-road pumpkin beer. It had a good amount of pumpkin-pie spices, but they weren’t necessarily balanced in a way that I fully appreciated. In addition, the maltiness was there, but wasn’t as strong as I would have liked. It wasn’t bad, it’s just that I appreciated pumpkin beers and am fairly critical of them. Overall, it wouldn’t make my top 10 pumpkin beers, but isn’t one I’d turn down if offered it.
My Rating: 
Recent Comments