Cigar City Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale

Brewed by Cigar City Brewing
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Tampa, Florida USA

A: Pours a nice clear brillant punkin’ orange hue with a nice tall creamy head. The retention is very good with spotty lace noted. S: In the aroma department this one is hard to beat, it is neck and neck with Southern Tier Pumpking here. Huge real pumpkin aromas with a wonderful mix of spices. There is a real buttery crust element in here as well that I have never picked up in another beer. Even after the beer was gone from the glass the aroma still wafted from the empty glass. This one smells better than those $20 candles the wife brings home. T: The flavors are wonderful as well. Real pumpkin, a perfect mix of pie spices, and oooh that gooey butter I detected. The pumpkin stands out without the spice overpowering. This one is a perfect mix between the pumpkin beers of DogFish Head and Southern Tier. I will quickly become a favorite of the pumpkin beer lovers. M: Medium in body, smooth and creamy. D: I tasted this one when it was first finished and the booze could really be detected. Since it has aged a bit, the alcohol flavors have died and the pumpkin, spice, and buttery goodness have come together to create one wonderful brew.

This is the best pumpkin beer I have ever had, bar none. Kudos to CCB! Pours orangey gold witha nose of pumpkin pie with whipped cream, booze, ice cream, cinnamon, spice, and graham cracker crust. Flavor is equally deep and sonorous. Finish is lingering pumpkin with sugary goodness. When I started drinking pumpkin beer this is what I wanted. Please keep this bad boy around.

Bottle courtesy of Retorp. Pours a golden caramel color with thin white head. Aroma is pumpkin, spice, nutmeg, cream. Flavor is much of the same with some stronger pumpkin and spice notes, heavy cream flavors, slightly boozey. Generally medium body with a pleasing herb/spice finish. This was an amazing pumpkin beer and likely the best that I have had.

Pours orange with viscosity and quickly dissipating tan head. The aroma is huge thick rich pumpkin goodness. Smells like a slice of fresh baked pie. Around the edges of the aroma are notes of graham crackers and cinnamon. It smells just amazing. The taste is just like the nose with solid fresh tasty pumpkin with cinnamon spice and pie crust mixing to create a graham cracker sensation. The alcohol presence hits midway and thins it out some. It ends on the dry side with nice rich pumpkin and spices lingering deep into the after taste. This is what I want a pumpkin beer to both smell and taste like. WOW!!!

Orangey-amber with a creamy head. Big spice and lots of sugars plus cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and pumpkin. Big brown sugar with more of the same spices. Very rich. Creamy and delicious, this is as big a pumpkin ale as I’ve had and as good.

Draft… This beer rocks!... Murky caramel-colored ale with a small, creamy, off-white, orange-tinted head. The aroma? Wow! Literally one of the best things I’ve ever smelled. Smells almost too good to drink. It’s a warming blend of the very best pumpkin pie and pumpkin roll my grandma used to make. If genitalia smelled this good, the world’s overpopulation problem would totally subside. Couples everywhere would get to oral sex and then say “to hell with going-all-the-way!” Okay, okay… full-bodied and oily with gentle carbonation. Tastes wonderful. Sweet, spicy, bold and boozy. Nice bitterness. Finishes pumpkiny, spicy, minerally and bitter. A touch grassy at the very end. World class beer!

Tap and Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy orange gold with a small white head. The aroma on this beer is freaking amazing. Tons of whipped cream on top of lightly spiced pumpkin pie and a hint of graham cracker crust in the finish. This beer smells like pumkin pie in a bottle. Taste is pumpkin meat, caramel, heavy cream, light spices, and a touch of hot alcohol. Medium thin mouthfeel with a mild amount of bitterness and slightly hot alcohol in the finish. A damn fine beer.

Deep pumpkin pie filling color. Creamy luscious nose is like the whole pie including whipped cream--a nice sweet and spicy combination. Unique for a pumpkin beer, similar to pumpkin ice cream. Creamy soft carbonation. Gentle, mild but assertive, spicing is integrated and not overpowering. The predominant spices are nutmeg and cinnamon as opposed to clove and allspice. Gets spicier with each sip as it warms, tastier too. Not in the least bit vegetal. Nice, smooth and sophisticated character. Nice malts and a good alcohol dryness in the finish. Super.