TGIF. It’s been a long week at work, perhaps the first full week since before Christmas. My wife and I went out to dinner and I had a couple Hop Slams. So, when we got home, I thought I’d have another beer. My sister was in Detroit over New Years weekend and brought me back a few beers from Atwater Brewery. She knows I like Pumpkin beers, so she brought this one back for me. It’s a pumpkin spiced Scotch Ale.
Location: Poured into a pint glass at my home in Bloomington, IL.
Numbers: 6% ABV, 27 IBUs, ~190 Calories
Appearance & Aroma: It’s a deep burnt orange color, almost brick-red. It’s fairly hazy and has a big, off -white, cream-colored head that had great retention and lacing. It has an aroma very much like a chai latte, with pumpkin spices that had a toned back cinnamon.
Taste & Feel: The body is light medium, and the mouthfeel is a watery, but slightly thicker. The flavor up front has a lot of chai spiciness and a bit of sweetness. In the middle, the spiciness grows and is joined by a good dose of earthy bitterness. The chai-like spiciness opens up quite a bit in the finish, and has an almost creamy-milky feel and taste like a real chai latte, with a little bit of earthy bitterness behind it. The chai latte flavor lasts for a minute or so in the aftertaste.
Food Pairing: This beer has a lot of chai flavors in it, and would probably pair nicely with a lighter meat, like a pork tenderloin or open faced turkey sandwich.
Overall Impression: I enjoy pumpkin beers and was looking forward to trying this beer. However, the spices reminded me a lot more of a chai latte than pumpkin. Instead of big cinnamon and vegital pumpkin, the spice flavors were a bit more muted, with a pretty good amount of latte-like creaminess in the finish. While it wasn’t the big pumpkin pie flavors I was expecting, I did enjoy it. I just think it would be more appropriate if it was called a chai latte beer, instead of pumpkin latte.
My Rating: 
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