We met with a window guy this evening to see what it would cost to replace all of the windows in our 25-year-old home. After the meeting, and more specifically, the price he gave us, I needed to have a really big beer. I bought this beer a couple weeks ago when I was up in Chicago for work, along with the 6 or 7 other pumpkin beers I’ve tried recently. I’ve been searching for new pumpkin beers to add to my top 10 list. I’m a bit surprised it’s so early, but it says it was bottled on 6/26/2014.
Location: Poured into a large Sam Adams Perfect pint glass at my home in Bloomington, IL.
Numbers: 8.6% ABV, 19° Plato OG, ~290 Calories
Appearance & Aroma: It’s very dark mahogany brown, almost black in color, with reddish brown highlights when held up to the light. It has a nice creamy head on it that had good retention and lacing. The aroma is light with a roasty pumpkin pie smell.
Taste & Feel: The body is full and the mouthfeel is smooth and slightly viscous. It has a roasty maltiness, and a very nice, almost graham cracker-like, sweetness up front. In the middle, the sweetness grows and a good amount of spices enter, overtaking the sweetness. The finish is a decadent mix of graham cracker like sweetness, roasty malts, and mostly cinnamon spices. The sweetness and spices lasts for a minute or two in the aftertaste.
Food Pairing: The graham cracker sweetness and roasty malts would make a great pairing with lots of different kinds of BBQ or a steak, and the spices would add a nice bit of flare go the end of each sip.
Overall Impression: I really enjoyed the complexity of this beer and think it makes for a great fall beer. While I enjoyed the graham cracker-like crusty sweetness and spices, I didn’t get a lot of pumpkin or pumpkin pie like flavors. It was mostly like a spiced beer, instead of a pumpkin beer. It was still very good, with a good amount of complexity, and I enjoyed it, it’s just that I didn’t get much pumpkin out of it.
My Rating: 
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