Monday, August 8, 2011

Pumpkinhead

Beer Name: Pumpkinhead Ale
Brewery: Shipyard
ABV: 5.1%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by Jan 2012

How did this not get a post last year? Did I skip all the beers in the Pumpkin Beer Breakdown? I might have since that was last August and Mmmm, beers! didn't launch officially until September. I guess I'll let it slide.

Pumpkinhead Ale is a golden orange beer that doesn't really look like or smell like beer. It doesn't really have much head or lacing, and it smells like a pumpkin pie. I have sadly learned that the pumpkin flavor in this beer is artificial, which made me a little bit sad. The aroma is just spices, most notably nutmeg I believe.

Much like the aroma, this beer tastes like a processed pumpkin pie. Which is not a bad thing. There is a little bit of pumpkin mixed in with the spices, and it's not very carbonated. This makes for a fairly easy-drinking beer. There is no hoppiness to this beer at all. I wonder if hops are even used in the brewing process. There's a slight aftertaste of spice, which makes sense since pretty much every step in consuming this beer is sort of dominated by the spices.

Final thought - I used to love this beer, and I still enjoy it, just not as much. When I learned that there are no actual pumpkins harmed in the making of this beer, things were slightly ruined for me. Especially when I learned about the organic pumpkin beer from Wolaver's. It's still better than a lot of the other pumpkin ales out there.

-Jon

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