Lakefront Pumpkin Lager

Brewed by Lakefront Brewery
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA

A slightly vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a fat, three-finger thick, pale tan colored head that sits atop a brilliantly clear, reddish, copper colored beer. The beer is obviously spiced with the typical pumpkin pie spices as the aroma even as I pour it is quite redolent of cinnamon, nutmeg and perhaps a touch of ginger. A deeper sampling of the aroma yields nothing more than these spices and perhaps a touch of dusty malt.

Fairly dry, with perhaps a hint of sweetness that just peeks through a tart spice character. Spice flavors of nutmeg & cinnamon dominate, but there is perhaps a touch of character that might be attributed to pumpkin, but only just barely. There is a ginger note noticeable in the finish as well as a slightly astringent spice bitterness. Crystal malt contributed caramelized sugar flavors and a medium / light malt fullness help convey the pumpkin pie analogy a bit further.

This is certainly an enjoyable version of a Pumpkin beer, and it does have actually have some pumpkin flavor to it, despite the slightly heavy handed spicing. This is a touch richer, and a bit more like desert that say something like Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin ale, but it still is to light to really be anywhere near representative of pie in a glass.

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In the bottle from Total Beverage. Seriously, this is actually the orange color of a pumpkin. Has a big white head. Strong aroma of pumpkin pie spices. Flavor is a bit on the vegetable side. Has a good pumpkin taste, but lacks the over sweetness of many such beers. This does not taste like boiled cabbage as do many pumpkin beers. The spices are strongly pronounced in the finish. Smooth palate is not spicey burning hot. Not as good as O’Fallon, but way better thanCoors in the punkin department.

In bottle. Nice orangey amber color, smells like pumpkin pie spices. I felt this beer compromised itself by going for both a pumpkin and a spice flavor. I felt it ended up rather squash-y, with a weird zucchini flavor. Perhaps this means they just went all-out and added more pumpkiin than the others; if so, kudos for the effort, and just either add more or take out the cinnamon, please.

Orangish in color, this light colored brew has a slightly spicey aroma, mixed with a bit of vegetation. Low malt, heavily spiced, with a nice light hop bite near the end, this is an easy drinking, light pumpkin beer that isn’t great, but is tasty enough to try again!

Bottle. I’ve been seeking pumkin beers this year, and I believe this is my 3rd rating so far. This one pours an orangy brown with a disapearing pop like head. Aroma is pretty well dominated by cinnamon, but there is slight notes of other spices. Flavor comes in with some pumkin, loads of cinnamon, hints of nutmeg, allspice, brown sugar, all appropriate pumkin like flavors. Not getting any hops but thats okay, it’s not needed. Tthe finish comes in fairly dry and short. Palate on this is thin, watery, but I guess it’s supposed to be being a lager and all that. Slightly out of balance in my opinion and improperly spiced this one is coming in last so far on my pumkin spree. DFH is winning right now, I wish I could get my hands on some of that southern tier stuff or O’fallons, but still.

A fittingly pumkin orange hue, foamy white head, no bubbly showing. Tasty pumkin and spice - really good aroma representing the label well. Thick type palate acceptable for a seasonal specialty flavor. Pumkin seed flavor comes to the front then a th ick buttery taste. Malt makes a limited appearance but takes a backseat to pumkin. Hops never showed up. In summation Lakefront gives exactly what the label advertises - pumkin and spice perfect for a holiday brew and one of the finest of a growing popular seasonal style.

I was going to a fall party, and picked up a six-pack of this to round out my other beer selections I brought with me. This is not the best pumpkin beer I’ve had (that would be Southern Tier Pumking), and it is not the most pumpkin-y (I think that would be O’Fallon’s pumpkin - but I haven’t had it since last year), but it is a crowd-pleaser of a beer; a good choice for people used to drinking American lagers but looking for something festive. Color is light lager color with some haziness. Aroma is definitely pumpkin-pie like; there was a lot of nutmeg and cinnamon spiciness and some suggestion of canned pumpkin pie filling. Flavor is more of the same, with a more pronounced suggestion of its pumpkin ingredients than I got from Jack’s or DFH Punkin’ (whose tastes didn’t really inform me that they were pumpkin beers). Mouthfeel it is a bit thin, but given that this is a lager, appropriate. Not bad, and made me feel like it was fall. I would argue that pumpkin pie is one of those items where there is not that much difference between the best and worst you’ve ever had. I would suggest that the same might be said for pumpkin beer. Still, I enjoyed this one. Recommended.

Light, cloudy orange with thin wispy head. Sweet caramel in the nose with some funky pumpkin notes. Light fizzy mouthfeel. Sweet caramel notes up front with some medium pumpkin meat. Taste is oddly vegetal. Finish is rather flat. Slightly clean and lager-like finish, not much bitterness to speak of. Suggestion of pumpkin guts.