Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

In the spirit of the changing of the seasons, I decided to try pumpkin beers. This will be the first of four posts dedicated to these tried and true harbingers of fall. First up is Dogfish Head's oldest brew: Punkin Ale. Now, my first experience with Dogfish Head was less than spectacular and I was more than happy to finally be done with what I had started affectionately calling the "whiskey beer", I had promised a friend that I would send her a delicious pumpkin beer. After a bit of research, and some wandering around a distributor, Punkin Ale seemed to be the best bet to try to win her over to the wonderful world of beer.

Dogfish Head: Take 2

In case you can't read the label in the picture, it says: "A full-bodied brown ale brewed with real pumpkins, brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon & nutmeg." Once again, I was immediately on board. A beer brewed with all the best parts of pumpkin pie and none of the crust? This was something I could get behind.

Pie in a glass? 

The beer, despite being a brown ale, was more of a deep orange color which I found to be highly appropriate. There wasn't much head on it when I poured but what was there was a cream color. The smell was not very dissimilar from what you would expect. There was a lot of cinnamon and nutmeg but it was also a good dose of alcohol in it as well. The taste was as if someone infused pumpkin pie into a beer. There was a good amount of spices evident in the flavor and more than enough hints of pumpkin. It was a little thin in the mouth but I feel the high ABV may have something to do with that. The price was $2.99 for the bottle and $10.49 for the 4-pack so it was a bit pricey but worth a try. Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience and a great beginning to the pumpkin season! Up next: Sam Adams Pumpkin Ale