Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale

Brewed by Shipyard Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Portland, Maine USA

Bottle. Pours a yellow gold with a fast dissipating head. Aroma of cinnamon, pumpkin, malt, and other spices. Palate is very light, “crisp”, with almost no finish. Flavor is watery, of light pumpkin, apple cider, sugar. Finish is more of the same, with diminishing returns. Not impressed.

bottle. sparkling golden body with small white fizzy head that quickly and almost fully dissapated. aromas of nutmeg, vanilla, light pumpkin, and some light hops. not a good one for me.

Pours a very clear light orange color with a lot of carbonation and quickly disappearing head. Clear aroma of spice, a little cinnamon and nutmeg, with a backbone of fruitiness. Definite spice on the front of the tongue and a maltiness in the middle. Taste actually reminds me a lot of spiced pumpkin bread. Not something I would drink every day but light, thirst quenching and I think it does what it is supposed to.

Funny label with comic book pumpkin head on an equestrian statue. Light brass pour with small head. Unfortunately, the appearance is its strongest point. 12 ounce bottle sampled at room temperature. Unimpressive aroma with some scents that I associate with macrobrews, but I’m not sure what they are - cooked rice is probably one of them. The flavor is dry and sour, which is unusual for an autumn pumpkin ale. The label says natural flavor added, but maybe they added the wrong stuff, or mislabelled the bottle. There is very little spice, or hops, or malt for that matter. This could be a mediocre wheat brew, or even a malt liquor. Whatever it is, I won’t be buying any more.

12 oz bottle. Pours clear gold with 1 cm foamy white head that is quickly diminishing. Aroma of clove, pumpkin, and spice. Initial taste of pumpkin, clove and spice are the ending flavors. Aftertaste is short lived, not all that great. Light carbonation, light body, no lacing, and no real alcohol hanging around. Overall, a decent beer in the pumpkin style but wouldn’t drink it on a regular basis.

12 oz bottle. Pours slightly hazy golden orange body no head. Aroma is pretty good, light spice. Flavor is more pumpkin than spice flavor - weird aftertaste.

Draft. Clear orange tinged gold with a white head. Typical for a pumpkin seasonal - nutmeg, clove, pumpkin, meh. It’s all there, just kinda weak and boring. As a side note, shame on Shipyard for coloring the bottom of their Pumpkinhead shakers orange! Pulling a fast one?

Pumpkin pie in a bottle. Cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and of course, pumpkin. I definitely couldn’t drink a ton of these, but it was still a decent beer to have on a cold night.