Bristol Venetucci Pumpkin Ale

22oz bottle. Poured a deep amber color with a larger sized tan head. Aromas of vanilla cream soda, pumpkins, and spices. Tastes of pumpkins, vanilla soda, and various spices. I think this bottle is a little old, but it is still holding up nicely and was pleasantly ’different’ from other pumpkin beers.

Had this beer on 2/17/2007. Aroma is a rich scent of vanilla, nutmeg and pumpkin, this may be the most interesting scent I have seen in a beer. Color is a deep amber with light carbonation and a tight head. Taste is light and spicy. Starting with a light body it goes down light and crisp. Finish comes on spicy then fades to a creamy nutmeg flavor that reminds me of eggnog. This is an amazing beer and by far the best pumpkin I have ever had.

During my college years the Venetucci Farm frequently came up in conversations about sustainable farming, community service, charity and sometimes about good pumpkins. As the commercial description says, this plot of land was enriched by the generosity of two very kind people, and has given a great deal to the local community. I applaud Bristol Brewery’s desire to return the favor in the form of a beer and giving a little bit back to the agrarian patch that helped children through the years to have a pumpkin to carve. It’s like that old cartoon classic “The Pumpkin That Couldn’t Smile”. The pour immediately produces a light brown head, lumpy and frumpy like a crumpled tweed cap, beneath which a passionate crimson and bronze body circulates in the lingering pour flow. The aroma is nothing short of a masterpiece. Clove, pumpkin pie spice, whipped cream, brown sugar, cinnamon, sweetened condensed milk – all the makings of a good pumpkin pie show up here with vigor and abundance. It smells just like the pumpkin pie Mom used to make. I must wipe a tear from my eye before I continue. The memories this smell invokes are profound, going beyond simple spice recollection. It is an experience. That is why the taste is a travesty. On its own it’s probably quite good, but after immersing myself in the intensity of a nigh perfect aroma I find the beer’s taste to be quite lacking. All the sugars and much of the beer’s weight disappear. Instead the mouth feel is meek and light, while the flavor has been reduced to a handful of spices. With the sugars effaced I’m left to taste some unsweetened cinnamon, then clove, and then unsweetened cinnamon again in the aftertaste. Licorice makes a cameo too, but only briefly. But these spices are too weak. Simply left to free float in the pumpkin ale’s diluted mouth feel they seem out of place. They are wandering flavors. The fall from the aroma to this lackluster taste is almost too tragic. I feel as if I’ve just seen someone with the potential to change the world snuffed out by an arbitrary stroke of fate. If I were a musician I would compose a requiem; were I a writer I’d produce an epithet; if I were a brewer I’d don black and mourn for ninety days. It is too much, and when the beer is consumed and gone I slowly climb the stairs to my room, turn off the light and cover my head with my blanket. The day is done. All I can do now is hope that the sun rises tomorrow.

22oz bottle-A medium to dark amber body with a head that dissipates quickly. Aroma of spiced pumpkin pie. Taste of pumpkin, nutmeg, pumpkin and more nutmeg with a hint of vanilla and cloves. A great tasting brew from Bristol.

Thick beige mousse atop a dark red body, blushing with vermilion. The nose is surprisingly enticing, flooded with bright spices, including salient cloves as well as nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and white pepper. Though at times slightly waxy and reminiscent of scented candles, the pumpkin pie blend is apparent and very enjoyable, especially as each spice is easily picked out. Cherries, cranberries and red apples provide a fruity component to which browned butter and salted butter caramel adds a wonderfully complex sweetness. The flavor begins with a burst of carbonation and spice, traversing the prominent ginger, clove and nutmeg. The smooth texture of raw pumpkin and soft butter appears on the mid-palate, but an obvious lack of weight and depth in the body disappoints. Though I found the palate and flavor lacking, this remains a wonderful brew in the style and an excellent QPR for those who can find it!