2011 Pumpkin Beer Review

For all of its fun and frivolity, the seasonal beers of summer are notoriously un-fun. Perhaps the activities of the season itself are so much fun that the beermakers of the world have concluded that really good beer is not necessary to enhance the beerdrinker’s experience. I mean, if you’re out running around on the beach and splashing in the ocean, are you really paying much attention to that citrus flavored beer that you have half-buried in the sand sitting next to your unattended beach chair? Are you even going to notice that your beer is heating up to lava-like temperatures in between service points of your volleyball game? No. You’re not. When there are tanned women in yellow bikinis all around you, you’re paying as much attention to that beer as you are to that mole on your lower back that your mother swears keeps getting bigger. If your beer were swapped out for a Zima without your knowledge, you would guzzle it down and not even know the difference.


Ah, but then Autumn arrives. Suddenly, the bikinis are gone and the tanned girls are wearing sweatshirts with names of colleges they couldn’t get into. You’re spending more time indoors. You’re getting reacquainted with your couch. My Lord, football has returned to your flatscreen! Suddenly, there are far fewer distractions, and now you begin to actually pay attention to your beer. Knowing this, the beermakers of the world unleash a fury of autumn seasonal beers in an effort to respond to your reestablished interest in good beer. Autumn is, without question, the greatest season of the year for beerdrinkers. Breweries you have never even heard of are suddenly appearing on the liquor store shelves with Oktoberfest, marzens, and harvest ales. As much as you want to cling to that lemony beer and the good times associated with it, you know in your heart that it is time to get off of the waverunner and transition your taste buds to a new type of fruit – pumpkin!


So, how do you decide which of those beers with the jack-o-lantern staring back at you from the label to buy? Well, here’s something to help you with this monumental decision so you can get your beer and get back to your couch before kickoff:


Non-Imperial Pumpkin Ales

Lakefront Brewery Pumpkin Lager

This light-orange colored beer has the unique distinction of being the only pumpkin lager in this tasting - all of the other pumpkin beers are ales. The affect of this lagering technique results in a wonderful pumpkin flavor at the forefront of this beer which is perfectly accentuated by complementary spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. The Caramel and Munich malts produce a pleasant and soft mouthfeel with a tasty finish. This medium-bodied lager is 6.00% ABV which makes it oh so nice!

Optimal enjoyment: All day, every day.

Harpoon Pumpkin UFO

This beer has a perfect pumpkin orange color with some haze and cloudiness resulting from it being unfiltered. More than any other beer in this tasting, this beer tastes like raw pumpkin. It begins with a strong dose of pumpkin scent, fills the mouth with pure pumkin flavor, and finishes with a long, lingering pumpkin finish. This baby is all pumpkin, all the time.

Optimal enjoyment: If you're going to be drinking pumpkin beer this Fall, it might as well be this one.

Saranac Pumpkin Ale        

This beer has a nice amber color, like a deep rust, with a good, frothy head. The nose is well balanced with pumpkin and spices, including cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger, and vanilla. Consistent with the nose, the taste of this beer is very well balanced, as the spices complement the pumpkin base perfectly. It is full bodied, and the pumpkin notes steadily increase as it warms. This is a good beer – not just a good “pumpkin” beer.

Optimal enjoyment: All day. Every day. The heft of this beer may be the only factor that may slow you down….but that shouldn’t prevent you from at least trying to fit more in you.

Michelob Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale

This beer looks like Autumn in a glass – a lovely burnt orange color, like a fallen leaf. The aromas of pumpkin and spice are very well balanced, and the head is nice and even. The level of pumpkin flavor this beer possesses is at a very modest level. No pumpkin overload here. Nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and clove are used with delicacy and intelligence to enhance the pumpkin quality of the beer. A very clean finish. Medium bodied with a moderate carbonation for easy drinking.

Optimal enjoyment: This beer is ideal for the person who would otherwise never consider drinking a beer flavored with pumpkin. Your grandfather who has never had anything other than Budweiser and thinks pumpkin beers are for female lumberjacks would actually enjoy this beer. The moderate levels of pumpkin and spice flavors combined with a moderate level of carbonation results in a beer that can be enjoyed all day.




Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale

This burnt-orange colored beer has a thick, frothy head which reflects it's full-bodied nature. While this selection demonstrates good levels of pumpkin flavor, what makes this beer unique from the others is it's roasted maltiness. This is a toasty beer which gets maltier as it warms. There is even a very slight smokey quality lingering in the background. A soft mouthfeel with nutmeg on the finish.

Optimal enjoyment: It is a true shame that this beer is only available in seasonal 12-packs, and there are only 2 bottles of this beer in those packs. Otherwise, this is a beer you'd be drinking a lot more of....




Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat

The fact that Shock Top has now joined in the pumpkin beer movement is further evidence that pumpkin beer has "jumped the shark." I will admit that I expected to hate this beer...I WANTED to hate this beer...but I didn't. I am somewhat ashamed to like this beer and I am resigned to only drink it at my home where other people cannot see me. Unlike the other beers in this category, this unfiltered wheat beer is very refreshing. The pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove notes in this beer sit atop a light and lively Belgian-style wheat beer. You, too, will hate yourself for loving it.

Optimal enjoyment: Alone at home with the blinds drawn.

Shipyard Brewing Company Pumpkinhead Ale  

Remember how much you loved the Godfather I and II, and how excited you were to see Godfather III....and remember how much it sucked and how disappointed you were? Well, get ready to live that same level of blown expectations with the 2011 cantation of Shipyard Pumpkinhead. Drinking this beer is like drinking The Matrix Revolutions - how could it be so bad when everything before it was so good? The formula worked before, so what has gone wrong?? If the formula hasn't changed, then there must be something wrong with the ingredients....and that is exactly what seems to be wrong -- this beer tastes like it was made with immature pumpkins which weren't quite ready for the brew kettle. Perhaps they have had too much success with this beer in the past and are now overproducing it and do not have access to the same level of quality ingredients. The 2010 edition of this beer was superb. Luckily, I bought 8 cases of it and still have some left. The 2011 version is still decent -- you're not going to dump it down the drain -- it just does not live up to the high standards which have been set.


Optimal enjoyment: Due to this being a wheat beer, it has a lighter body, making it easier to drink than its peers. As a result, this is a beer that you can enjoy all day long with a big old smile on your pumpkinhead. You might want to it wash it down with a Weyerbacher.

Buffalo Bill’s Brewery America’s Original Pumpkin Ale

This beer looks, smells, and drinks like an American wheat beer. The coloring is more golden than orange, and it has a cloudy, unfiltered look to it. The head on the beer is very thin to start, and is completely gone by the time the glass is halfway finished. While the nose has a wheaty, fruity feel to it, it also possesses a slightly sour property, but slightly less so than the 2010 edition of this beer. This may be a by-product of using roasted pumpkins. When drinking the beer, the primary experience is the sharp effervescence of the beer, rather than any taste of pumpkin, cinnamon, clove, or nutmeg. These flavors only become apparent once the beer has been swallowed, sort of like flavor residue. When the beer is halfway gone and the head has vanished, the pumpkin flavor begins to blossom. Too bad you only have half a beer left to enjoy.


Optimal enjoyment: This beer is a real challenge to experience optimal enjoyment as it needs to warm up in order for the pumpkin flavor to blossom, but due to the light-to-medium body of the beer, it lacks the strength to be enjoyed at warmer temperatures. So, for optimal enjoyment, let it sit for 20 minutes, then chug it.

Brooklyn Brewery Post Road Pumpkin Ale

The deep copper color of this beer reflects its full body. The spice notes on the nose outweigh the pumpkin, which is virtually undetectable. Consistent with the scent, the taste of the beer is dominated by nutmeg and clove, and the pumpkin remains just a wallflower. The finish of this beer is all nutmeg, which sits on the back of the tongue defiantly like a kid on a swing who refuses to get off. As the beer warms in the glass, the pumpkin decides it wants to dance and pumpkin notes become more evident, which improves the overall balance and taste of the beer.

Optimal enjoyment: Take this beer out of the fridge, pour it in a glass, go to the grocery store to pick up some snacks, and it will be ready to drink upon your return. When you finish it, you will probably be heading back to the fridge for something else to drink. Hopefully, you picked something better up while you were at the store.

Blue Moon Brewing Company Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale

Despite its copper color, this beer has the scent and taste of a traditional amber ale. In fact, the pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, and allspice flavors are so slight, it is challenging to detect them at all. The heart of this beer is its amber nature, and any pumpkin-related qualities appear to be an afterthought. This is an amber ale, and you will not feel like you are drinking an Autumn seasonal.

Optimal enjoyment: If you like amber ales, then you will probably enjoy this beer. However, if you are searching for a good pumpkin ale, your search continues…




Tommyknocker Small Patch Pumpkin Harvest Ale

This 5.00% ABV beer from Colorado looks and tastes like a brown ale which is accentuated by notes of pumkin and spices. There is some sweetness on the nose from the molasses used in the brewing process. This is a medium-to-full bodied beer with a dry finish. While this is not a bad beer, it's just not a good pumpkin beer. When you eat pumkin pie, you want to taste pumkin. When you drink pumpkin beer, you want to taste pumpkin. This one just isn't very pumpkin-ey.

Optimal enjoyment: Colorado is such a lovely state. There are so many options to enjoy the outdoors, and there are so many wonderful breweries producing quality craft beers. So, go for a hike, then find some other beer to enjoy.

Southampton Publick House Pumpkin Ale

There is a cloudy, almost shady tone to the look of this beer. It has a strong spice nose, dominated by vanilla extract. Consistent with other offerings from Southampton, this beer is heavy on the malts. This beer gives you a lot of malts and a lot of vanilla – what it does not give you is a lot of pumpkin. The use of vanilla extract is a fairly risky choice, as this flavor has the ability to wipe out all other flavors if not used with great care and restraint. Rather than serve to enhance the flavor of pumpkin in the same way as cinnamon and nutmeg, vanilla is from a different taste paradigm, and it may be the very thing that serves to diminish an otherwise excellent beer.

Optimal enjoyment: If this flavor suits your palate, then enjoy! However, the heaviness of this beer will prevent you from enjoying too many in one session.




Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale

This beer will attract you with its beautiful orange color and its wonderful pumpkin and spice nose....but then you will drink it....and you will experience its ugliness. The flavor is so inconsistent with the scent. The spices are overwhelming, especially the cloves, which makes it a challenge to choke down even one glass. The aftertaste is very tart and unpleasant. 

Optimal enjoyment: Pour it in a glass...look at it...then drink a Weyerbacher.




Imperial Pumpkin Ales

Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale

This beer has a deep, amber color and a good, frothy head. The pumpkin aroma is wonderful, and it is accented by tones of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and cloves. This is a full-bodied beer. Thick and creamy with a hearty pumpkin flavor. At 8% A.B.V., a bit of alcohol can be detected on the roof of the mouth. Everything about this beer is BIG…and wonderful.

Optimal enjoyment: Because this is such a big beer, you probably won’t be able to fit too many of them, or anything else, in your belly….unless you have a really big belly. In that case, pound away. Otherwise, plan on enjoying one or two of these on a chilly Autumn night.




Southern Tier Brewing Company Pumpking Imperial Pumpkin Ale

This copper colored beauty smells like pumpkin bread baking in the oven. Hands down the best fragrance of any beer in this category. The taste is very sweet, which results from the use of pureed pumpkin and caramel malts. This beer is stunning. There is nothing else quite like it. This is like a concept car that actually ended up getting put into production – it is the Dodge Viper of pumpkin beers. The high level of sweetness of this beer can be somewhat overwhelming by the time you reach the bottom of the glass.

Optimal enjoyment: At 9% A.B.V. and available only in 22 ounce bottles, one is all you’ll need!

Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin

Consistent with the decline in quality in Shipyard's Pumpkinhead this year, the Smashed Pumpkin was a huge disappointment. Drinking this beer is like drinking pumpkin Kool-Aid with a shot of grain alcohol. Very low carbonation levels makes it a very flat beer. This was such a sickeningly sweet pumpkin concentrate beverage, I could not finish one glass of it.

Optimal enjoyment: None.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale
For some reason, beerlovers seem to go nuts for anything Dogfish Head puts out in the market. Whatever the reason is, it continues to escape me, and the Punkin Ale only deepens this mystery. This beer has a rusty orange color to it, and the nose is overwhelmed with malts….as is the flavor. Where is the pumpkin, you ask? Well, it is “Punkin” Ale, not “Pumpkin” Ale, so they apparently did not feel that it would be false advertising if they made a beer that tastes nothing like pumpkin. The label at the top of the beer reads "punk," and Dogfish Head has "punked" us by giving us a pumpkin beer without any pumpkin flavor. Dogfish Head does not make bad beers. They just don’t make beers that taste good.

Optimal enjoyment: For optimal enjoyment, leave this one on the shelf and spend your hard earned money on a better selection.