Style: Pumpkin Beer
Package: 6oz bottle from a 4-pack,
purchased at Bottleworks in Seattle
Sampled from a pint glass
Rating: Solid
Pours a beautiful dark gold color,
with a 2-finger off-white head.
Smells pumpkin-y, bready, and earthy,
There are spices and yeast here, and also a little grass in the
background.
Taste is pumpkin against a lightly
sweet, malt backbone. Spices are definitely present – nutmeg... and
a perfect balancing bitterness, with a touch of alcohol in the
finish.
Medium body, moderate carbonation. Not
bad, but I wish it were a little more creamy than it is.
Some pumpkin beers are so heavily
spiced and so poorly attenuated that they should really be marketed
as pumpkin pie
beers. Thankfully, Punkin isn't one of them. Instead, you could
almost think of it as more of a pumpkin bread beer – sure, it's got
spices, and some sweetness, but they are somehow balanced by the
yeast and bread character, and when you toss in a healthy dose of
pumpkin and the near-perfect bitterness, you've got what is a winner.
But perhaps my favorite
thing about Punkin is that, when I serve it to a friend who isn't
acquainted with the style, they're likely to think it tastes like
beer.
From the Dogfish Head Web Site:
A full-bodied brown ale with smooth hints of pumpkin and brown sugar. We brew our Punkin Ale with pumpkin meat, organic brown sugar and spices. This is the perfect beer to warm-up with, as the season cools.
Read Beeradvocate reviews of Dogfish Head Punkin Ale
Read Ratebeer reviews of Dogfish Head Punkin Ale
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