Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale

Brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA

On draft at Cooper’s. Poured hazy amber with medium carbonation. Sweet malty flavor with a touch of cinnamon and cloves. Spice was fairly subdued compared to other pumpkin beers.

I’ve clearly been spoiled by drinking this year’s batch of delicious offerings by Elysian, Dogfish and Southern Tier. This was musty by comparison, and had way too much of a clove finish. Seemed like it was relying on the spice to give a pumpkin allusion.

(Bottled) Amber and lightly hazy. Medium sized white head. Spices and malts in aroma. Medium bodied palate with medium carbonation. Malts, spices, hops, coriander, bitterness and treacle in taste. Sweet, malty and lightly bitter aftertaste. Pretty ok.

Bottle. pours orange with a white head. One sniff alerts me of a cinnamon bomb. There is too much spice and too little pumpkin. Sweet, strong cinnamon is all over this one. I did like the fact that it at least stayed juicy on the palate which made the spice less offensive. I prefer an even balance of pumpkin, spices, and malt flavors. This was too sweet and too heavy on the spices for my taste.

12oz bottle. Pours orange, slightly cloudy, medium-thin off-white head, no lace. The aroma is vaguely malty and quite spicy with pumpkin pie spice (ginger, allspice). The flavor at first tastes quite spicy with a subtle dark toasty malty character. As the beer washes down the spice layers are deconstructed as two distinct sources - pumpkin pie spices (mainly ginger, allspice, and a hint of cinnamon) and a soft but noticeable spicy and earthy hop flavor. The hops are light, but enough to identify. The way they accentuate the other spices on the front of the palate is interesting. The finish malty and toasty with a light sweetness, pumpking spice, and moderate balancing bitterness. The mouthfeel is full in body. Overall, a decent and drinkable autumn spiced beer.

Poured from bottle. Burnt vegetable aroma. Cloudy amber, trace of head. Overcooked pumpkin pie flavor. Got some spice, cinnamon, brown sugar too. Bitter in back. Strangely enough, I like this stuff.

12 oz. single bottle from Total Wine in Jacksonville, FL. It’s nice to see Smuttynose worked its way down I-95 into North Florida. Spice notes of pumpkin and cinnamon for a good aroma, though a little bitter, but still holds that pumpkin taste. Has a nice finish. Good beer.

Hazy orange pour. Fluffy white head and spotty lace. Cream, nutmeg and cinnamon on the nose. Pumpkin pie flavor and grassy hops. Why do I keep trying pumpkin beers ?