Cape Ann Fishermans Pumpkin Stout

Brewed by Cape Ann Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Gloucester, Massachusetts USA

I feel like most pumpkin beers I have are straight-ahead ales, so I was intrigued by this stout offering. And I wasn’t let down. The Pumpkin Stout has all the pumpkin deliciousness of a great fall beer, along with the richness and complexity of a strong stout. Poured a dark black with a solid beige head. In the flavor, you can certainly detect notes of coffee, chocolate and other spices, which all compliment the pumpkin quite nicely. Finishes smooth, making the whole experience amazingly good.

Courtesy of Dragonstout. Very unique brew. Pours a dark dark brown with a very thin tan head. Aroma is mostly pumpkin. Tastes of spice, pumpkin, smoked malt, wood, nut, and cocoa. Almost like chocolate covered pumpkin pie? Palate is full bodied with a spicy, low carbonation taste. Great job on this brew. Gives me lots of ideas.

Pours with an almost, three finger-thick, lightly browned, tan colored head that is a mix of creamy and frothy consistencies. The beer is a dark brown almost black color that is dark enough to be opaque when held up to the light, despite showing a clear, dark chocolate hue as I was pouring. The aroma is clearly pumpkin influenced as that is what is most noticeable as I am pouring this brew; not just spices either, there is a nice, fleshy pumpkin meat character to this brew. Upon deeper inspecting softly roasted, dark malt notes (light espresso, toasted grain, touch of chocolate) accent notes of cinnamon, caramelized pumpkin flesh and a touch of nutmeg. The nose of this brew has a really nice balance that I was not expecting; this is clearly a pumpkin beer, but the spice notes are quite restrained and the underlying Stout aromatics are a really nice touch.

The beer starts out dry and lightly tart, but picks up a malty, chocolate-like sweetness through the middle at which point some cinnamon notes accentuate the sweetness a bit more. The beer finishes with a flash of pumpkin pie and then a long, lingering, roasted grain character that tastes of charcoal, a light burnt acidity, a touch of blackened chalk, and a dry black coffee finish. Initially the pumpkin meat is not as noticeable in the flavor as it was in the aroma, but I think it does accent the middle of this brew and adds just a hint of squash flavors towards the finish. As the beer warms up though, the pumpkin flavors start to play a little bit bigger role here and are actually fairly noticeable. The texture of this beer is quite nice; soft, sort of creamy, with a palate coating quality to it, yet it is not overly heavy and is a the perfect drinking beer for cooler weather.

Definitely one of the best Pumpkin beers I have ever had; I would not have guessed it but the base beer style of a Stout pairs really well with the typical Pumpkin flavors and light spice notes. I definitely love well made Pumpkin brews, but they have been so hard to find commercially that I am really loving this beer. One of those beers that justs really hits the spot at this particular moment in time.

This is a really fun brew, especially on tap. Pours dark, like a stout, with a formidable head. Smells of cinnamon, malts, and cloves. The flavor is remarkably complex, with hints of chocolate, pumpkin, alcohol, and strong malts. Very good, because it retains its stout-ness while embodying a lot of the pumpkin-ness.

This one caught my eye on tap at Hop Devil Grill, NYC, during their "Stout Month". Nice pumpkin and stout aroma, surprised how well that works together. Dark brown body with decent sized white head. Great taste - wow, this really works! Big stout base, huge pumpkin flavour that never falls out of balance. I could drink this all night, great stuff.

Gravity keg at Ginger Man. What a delicious beer! The pumpkin flavors are really strong, and add great complexity. The underlying stout is nice too, and is a welcome change from the typical amber ales that hold most pumpkin brews. Spices are not too strong. Great stuff!

Tap at Brewtopia. Black beer, thick brown head. Aroma of nutmeg, cinnamon and molasses. Smells like my mom’s molasses cookies. Some earthy yeast underneath a slightly tarry roastiness. Flavour of light pumpkiny spice and a bit of pumpkin but the finish is of chicory, molasses and light roast. The spice tends to dominate the malts, but it’s still a tasty pint. Ap 4 Ar 7 Fl 7 Pa 3 Ov 14 Tap at Barcade. Got to try a full pint this time and I thought differently enough to warrant an addendum. I should add that this pint was a gift from the bartender (this never happens in Vancouver!). Pitch black with a thick brown head. Aroma of nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice over a lovely roasted barley aroma. In back is the same sweet molasses and roast that I picked up the first time. Great flavour, a bit of pumpkin pie spice mixed with molasses malt sweetness and a touch of chocolate as well. There is also some pumpkiny herbaceousness in both the aroma and flavour. Warming really increases the malt component bringing forth bitter chocolate and toasted malts with blend very well with all of the pumpkin pie spices. Beautiful beer.

Bottle. Nearly completely dark brown with a medium-dark brown head. Nose of chocolate and roast with the roasted pumpkin note a bit subdued, but certainly present. Rich roasty flavor up front, more pumpkin and cream in the middle, and then comes a shot of rich, syrupy and then chalky chocolate, coffee and light pumpkin. I think this is probably the best use of pumpkin you could imagine for a stout - present but not overwhelming - complementing the stout characteristics rather than distracting from them.