Bethlehem Brew Works Pumpkin Ale

Brewed by Bethlehem Brew Works
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania USA

Lightly hazy amber; good balance (once again), caramelly malt notes mix well with the cinnamon and allspice. I’m not huge on spiced beers, but this is quite pleasant.

2004 Kennett Square BF. Poureda medium golden color with an off white head. Pumpkin and spices (duh) tastes and aromas. Not too crazy about the whole pumpkin beer thing, but this one was OK.

22oz bottle-pours a 3 finger high, foamy offwhite head. Color is slightly hazy gold/yellow with effervescence. Aroma is malt, pumpkin, cinnamon. Taste is very mild, some cinnamon/nutmeg and other spices. Faint pumpkin. A bit thin and mild carbonation, pleasant enough. That was my impression during the 1st mug. By the middle of the 2nd mug, the mouthfeel and the taste seemed just right.

Thanks to Firemoose15 for this bottle! Pours orange with a healthy white head that is creamy and sticks around in the form of lacing. The first aromas that pop out are pumpkins, nutmeg, mace, and ginger. I didn’t detect any cinnamon on the nose. Tastes lightly hopped and slightly peppery with only hints of the wonderful aromas this beer puts out. Mouthfeel is tingly but watery and the finish is on the bitter side with some all-spice notes.

Dark golden to amber color with a moderate dense, heavy cream colored head. Hello ginger, and we are not on Gillian’s Island. Yes, ginger and pumpkin spice dominate the aroma, just a mild malt and pumpkin scent in the backdrop. Thin dry flavors, with an initial utterance of EGAD! Woody with just a hint of dry spices. No malt or balance. A spiced tea type brew.

Bottle from Ortino’s. I did not know that Weyerbacher was bottling certain Bethlehem beers. Copper pour, with a great, sweet pumpkin aroma, along with minor hops and malt. The flavor is a tad watery, but contains an authentic pumpkin flavor, along with the applicable pumpkin spices. The finish is smooth but a bit lacking in complexity. This is a beer that I would gladly drink more of.

Poured a dark gold color with an off white head. The pumpkin really took precendence in both the aroma and taste, and the spices sat nicely in the background. Overall the flavor could have been fuller, but this was still a decent beer.

2005 bottle. Big thanks to Zathrus for the bonus! Consumed on 11/9/05. Typical Weyrebacher bottled appearance, clear and filtered, that is, with a fairly rapidly dissipating dirty-sand colored white head built on forced carbonation. Body is a medium auburn-amber, with some lighter yellow tinges. Heavy amount of bubbles rising. Aroma of light pumpkin meat and a moderate amount of cinnamon and allspice. Caramel and light graininess noted without a syrupy sweetness and also lacking an overspiced nature which can be off-putting in these beers. Flavor is not overspiced, and the malt creates a medium-light body at best, but the flavors bring mild pumpkin and light cinnamon-sugar toast. Sweetness is clean and round. As willblake says, the beer starts out well-enough, but comes apart as you get farther in. I found notes of alcohol and a light dirty metallic note. Carbonation is peppery, mouthfeel is lightly papery, not enough malt sugars, though it’s not terribly watery overall.