A few of the pumpkin beers that Kristan and I tasted this year. Yum!
It’s been a tough month. After going through a few various Oktoberfest six-packs, we moved on Pumpkin Ales. For science! And the betterment of pumpkin-lovers worldwide.
Our rating scale relates to the pumpkin beer as a whole. We rated the beer itself on a 1-10 scale and then added or subtracted based on the overall “pumpkin-ness” of the beer.
- Oak Jacked Imperial Pumpkin Ale – Uinta Brewing (0/10 – too strong (10.31% ABV), yet light and tasteless)
- La Parcela – Jolly Pumpkin Brewing (3/10 – very sour, no pumpkin taste, great head)
- Smashed Pumpkin (Pugsley’s Signature Series) – Shipyard (3/10 – very strong at 9% ABV, medium pumpkin taste, very thin)
- Harvest Pumpkin Ale – Samuel Adams Brewery (2/10 – tastes suspiciously like their Oktoberfest blend- is this pumpkin ale?)
- Spicy Pumpkin Ale – Indian Wells Brewing Company (6/10- just the right amount of spice to make it interesting, yet still very drinkable.
- Pumpkin Ale – Wasatch Brewery (7/10 – smooth, not spicy, a bit of a pie-like creaminess)
- Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale – Blue Moon (3/10 – like Sam Adams, tastes like a Fall blend but nothing like pumpkins)
- Punk’n Ale – Uinta Brewing Company (5/10 – smells of cinnamon & nutmeg, not pumpkin, light body)
Tasted & not pictured:
- Pumpkin Ale – Buffalo Bill’s Brewery (2/10 – slight pumpkin taste, terrible and undrinkable beer)
- UFO Pumpkin – Harpoon Brewery (6/10 – slight spiciness, good pumpkin taste, very drinkable)
- Punkin Ale – Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (2/10 – too bitter to enjoy. Not a great taste.)
- Pumpkinhead Ale – Shipyard (6/10 – our winner last year, a great balance of spice and smoothness)
- Hipp-O-Lantern – River Horse Brewing Co. (6/10 – not spicy, not much pumpin flavor)
- Pumpkin Wheat – Shock Top (4/10 – good light beer, but barely any pumpkin taste whatsoever)
