REVIEW 61: PUMKING

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  USA

BREWERY:  Southern Tier Brewing Company

STYLE:  Pumpkin Ale

ABV:  8.6%

PURCHASE:  Draught (12-oz.), $8.50

SERVING:  Beer snifter. The usual inch of head, or thereabouts. Average retention . . . on the first beer. Round 2 saw an inch and a half of head with slightly better retention.

APPEARANCE:  A translucent, rusty orange color with a slightly off-white tinted head. No lacing whatsoever.

BOUQUET:  Pumpkin spice will hit you first. (Well, obviously!) Traces of nutmeg, cloves, and brown sugar are quite evident. Possible hints of cinnamon and caramel. There is a faint presence of malted grain and hops. The main aroma here, however, is ginger. Hold a ginger snap to your nose. Same result. Minus the malted grain and hops.

PALATE:  Body is a bit on the heavy side. Carbonation is controlled unless you hold it unreasonably long. The pumpkin factor becomes evident mid-palate, but it doesn't dominate the mouthfeel. The overall taste profile seems somewhat twofold: Pumpkin ale in front, pale ale in back. Malt, pumpkin, and other spice notes in front, strong hop presence in back, especially in the aftertaste. 

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  Well. This is certainly a unique beer. And also a much better attempt at a pumpkin ale than the mediocre brew I reviewed from Stegmaier last week.

This one may have ventured a little too far from pumpkin ale territory. But at least it had the balls to venture somewhere.




GRADE:  B

Get it? It's a pumpkin . . . shaped like a pair of balls!