McAuslan Spiced Pumpkin/ St-Ambroise Citrouille

Brewed by McAuslan Brewing
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Montreal, Canada

12oz bottle. Pours dark orange with a rapidily dissipating off-white head. Lots of carbonation bubbles. Aroma is of pumpkin, spice, whipped topping, and malt. Smells like a sweet piece of pumpkin pie, but not much else. Taste starts of with a big amount of pumpkin and spice. As far as pumpkin in beer goes, this one has it down pretty damn well. Has a very muted, bready malt backbone. Mouthfeel is very carbonated, but creamy. Lingering taste of spice and breadiness. A one-note beer, but it is damn tasty.

Sampled at a Mead, Cider, and Beer Tasting sponsored by Binny’s Beverage Depot in Glen Ellyn, IL. Poured to my wine/sampler glass a clear, deep brownish amber with off white, fine bubbled foam and fair lacing. The aroma was caramelly sweetness and pie spices, with nutmeg high lighted. The flavor added to these a complimenting dryness, but the body was somewhat thin. Liked the deeper than average hue than most other pumpkin ales offer.

341 ml bottle - pours a gorgeous mahogany copper with a slightly fizzy that vanishes rather quickly. Aroma very nice - the ginger comes through, and the cinnamon as well. Very pumpkin-y, but unique too. Flavour quite sweet, cinnamon upfront then blending with the other spices. Nice and full in the mouth. Maybe a bit too sweet. Beautiful beer for autumn.

Bottle at Bieres et Saveurs Chambly. The color is orange with a thin off white head. The taste is a mix of spicies like cloves nutmeg and of pumpkin all mixed in to one, let us not forget also the malt. The aroma is the same but less intense.

341ml Bottle: My bottle bills this one as "The Great Pumpkin Ale", and as a massive Charlie Brown fan, I couldn’t help but pick up a pack. Pours deep orange-brown, decent head that doesn’t stick around long. Aroma is powerful, heavy on malty sweetness with noticeable pumpkin spices. Very well balanced on the nose and I can’t wait to try it. The first sip offers lots of cinnamon and a bit of a bitter hop bomb, but it quickly settles down to showcase nutmeg, cloves, and that aforementioned cinnamon. As it warms it waters down, but still one of my favourite pumpkin beers to date.

Bottle. The Great Pumpkin Ale. Very clever title. Pours a transparent orange with a large, dying head and small carbonation. The aroma is more inviting and dominant than the flavour: it’s a bit like eggnog, spiced cookies or cake and pumpkin; there is heavy nutmeg and clove, molasses, cinnamon and of course pumpkin, very heaviliy spiced. In the flavour I pick up more of the pumpkin and spices first, caramel, clove, cinnamon. Mouthfeel is quite watery.

From a friend at the LCBO. thanks buddy. I don’t really like pumpkins, so i figured I would not be a huge fan of pumpkin beer, I had southern tier pumpking a couple days ago and it wasn’t bad, i’m sure for someone who likes pumpkins it’s probably f’n amazing, this beer I would say isn’t as good as that, but I am enjoying it more because the pumpkin flavour isn’t so in your face. Pours an amber colour with a head which dissolves to pretty much nothing. The aroma is big and spicey, pumpkin pie, the pumpkin takes a back seat to the smells of cinnamon, and licorice, I swear to god I smells something else though, like coca cola or something, but it’s good. The flavour is good, pumpkin pie, cinnamon, but ends on a strange coca cola note, strange, but it works. The weight is a little light, compared to southern tiers version, which is one thing that I preferred by them, a little higher of an abv might have help kicked this up a notch, but i still really enjoyed this brew.

Bouteille brune de 341 ml. Arômes puissants d’épices (cannelle, muscade, girofle et gingembre). Elle sent vraiment la tarte à la citrouille. Robe rousse, peu d’effervescence. Épicée en bouche, la base maltée est cependant relativement faible. Très peu d’arrière-goût. De mémoire, cette bière était meilleure lorsque très récemment brassée.