Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale

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

Full on ginger bread in the appealing cookie dough aroma. Hazy copper coloured body with a decent off white head that recedes to partial cover with some lacing. Floral and ginger spiciness with doughy yeast and dry, assertive and lasting finishing bitterness. Medium full body with soft carbonation. Very tasty in small amounts but spiciness builds and sweetness becomes cloying. Sampled on tap the The Ginger Man in NYC with Olivier_MTL and Rastacouere.

2 bottles shared with HogTownHarry, GregClow & tupalev -- courtesy of HogTownHarry & myself. Pours a bubbly clear orange with a small diminishing white head. Wonderful aroma of pumpkin pie (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and pumpkin) along with some malt and hops. The flavour follows the aroma and is so much more flavourful then most other pumpkin beers -- It’s much spicier and hoppier then most. Medium bodied. What a pleasant surprise this beer was, I certainly wasn’t expecting much but it was really good. I need to get more!

Two bottles shared with blankboy, tupalev & HogTownHarry - courtesy of blankboy & HogTownHarry. Deep orange colour with a small white head. Big pumpkin pie aroma, with a good hop backbone. Flavour holds a well-balanced mixture of the pumpkin & spices (ginger & nutmeg being the most noticable to me) and fresh-tasting hops. It may be gimmicky, but I really liked this.

Shared with blankboy, GregClow and Hogtown Harry - courtesy of blankboy and Harry (2 small bottles). Thus begins the pumpkin / autumn portion of our evening. Light "pumpkin" orange in the glass, small white head. Lovely pumpkin spice aroma. Taste is also quite nice - pumpkin and ginger are the 2 dominant spices from the usual suspects for this type of beer - all balanced really well. Light, it doesn’t burst with flavour, but is done really well and is very drinkable. Nice job.

Bottle2 (2x12oz). Shared with blankboy, GregClow and tupalev - courtesy of blankboy and myself. What a surprise! Poured hazy bright reddish-orange with a small diminishing white head, a few tiny white floaties at the bottom of the bottle. Aroma very sharp, of actual pumpkin, almost sweet, with pumpkin spices - this is vegetal, but for once in a good way. Taste follows the aroma, a little sharper, with some pungent hops on the finish, very refreshing. Mouthfeel is fairly full, spicy, almost creamy, certainly lively. Very nice and appropriate for the autumn season.

Was told this was one of the better Pumpkin Ales to try. Well I bought a six pack and went home with it. Well I was not very impressed. It barely had any hint of pumpkin and was quite bitter. I would not recommend this.

Aroma has a bit of nice pumpkin and spices, and flavor does as well, but unfortunately is a bit off tasting. Pretty watery too.

This beer smells like a pumpkin pie for the first few sips! I like that in a beer. After that it tastes like nothing special. It’s good to have around on tap in fall, but I don’t think I’ll cry when it goes away for the winter.