It's The Great Pumpkin Ale Taste Test, Charlie Brown
Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale (Anheuser Busch)
Well, Jack's certainly takes the prize for the fruitiest label. But what I really care about is the taste. This beer should be called Cinnamon Ale. That's the only flavor I could identify in it.
Score: (on a scale of 1 to 5) 2 pumpkins
Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale (Coors)
This one tastes the most like pumpkin pie. It also is the only one of these where I could really taste the malt. There was a slight taste of cinnamon, some nutmeg, and a hint of pumpkin. It's on the darker side, making it seem more substantial than some of the others. Overall pretty good.
Score: 4.5 pumpkins
Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale
Cinnamon ale part 2, electric boogaloo. Again, this beer mostly just had a cinnamon flavor. Basically this tasted like "Dentyne gum" beer. Score: 1 pumpkin
Dogfish Head Punkin Ale
Not much pumpkin flavor in this one. I did detect cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice as the label claims. Maybe a hint of brown sugar. It's not bad, but in my opinion it's an example of the fact that sometimes you don't get what you pay for. This stuff was $9 for a 4 pack! Maybe that made my expectations too high.
Score: 3 pumpkins
The Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale
The first time I tasted this is seemed kind of sour. However, that initial bite soon settles into a nice pumpkin taste. This one had the best pumpkin flavor and aroma. Very little spice flavor. If Blue Moon is the most like pumpkin pie, then Shipyard is the most like a pumpkin.
Score: 4 pumpkins
So, the winner is Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale, with Shipyard close behind.
Labels: Food and Beverage, Holidays
posted by JC at 3:30 PM
8 Comments:
Charlie Brown musta fell on down after all those beers, hehe.
That's quite an extensive survey you carried out! Very impressive. Was this all done in one giant binge? I have been working to get myself to like flavored beer and haven't had much luck thus far. It sounds like I might like the Shipyard though. Must give it a try. Thank you for the lesson in pumpkin beer :)
By the way, the Charlie Brown falling down comment... Still laughing.
I'm not much of a dark beer drinker, but I love all the labels, especially the Shipyard one! I'm guessing you opened up all the beer at one time, had a few swigs of them all, formulated your rating system, and only finished the favorite 2? Or am I wrong? Did you drink one glass after another? Drink them on separate nights?
In the interest of full disclosure:
I drank the first two on Saturday, and the last three on Sunday. All of one beer was consumed before starting another. And actually they were spaced out quite a bit because I had so much homework this weekend that I didn't want to drink myself into oblivion! Boring, I know.
I vote for Buffalo Bills Pumpkin Ale. It's a post run treat favorite of mine.
Okay so Germany and Belgium are suppose to have the best beers ever but at this point in time I want to stop by your local grocery and pick up all that pumpkin ale! Is it seasonal? It looks delicious, of course I would have to take your rating into account before making a purchase. Im not going to waste $9 on a 3 pumpkin beer.
M - Now I feel bad for bagging on Bill's - I hope you won't hold it against me! To each their own, I guess.
sjs - Welcome! Or should I say Willkommen? I love Belgian beer, some of my favorites are Belgian. Ever had a Framboise? The pumpkin beers are seasonal.
Framboise...as a matter of fact I use to drink those almost daily in belgium.
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