Samuel Adams Pumpkin Ale

The second beer in the first annual Great Pumpkin-Off is from a larger, more well known brewery. Every year, Sam Adams puts out a Harvest Pack and in the Harvest Pack is their very own Pumpkin Ale. While it may seem like Sam Adams has been around forever, the brewery actually started in 1984.

This was an impressive beer. The color was deep reddish orange, bordering on mahogany with a cream colored head. The head was thick when initially poured but thinned as time passed. The nose was rich with cinnamon and spices along with a good dose of malts. The beer itself had a rich, spicy flavor that was thoroughly reminiscent of pumpkin pie. It was warm and full bodied, which I realize is generally a wine description but it is the best way to really describe this beer.

I would highly recommend this beer to anyone and look forward to trying the rest of the beers in this year's harvest pack. For the 12 pack it ran me $16.49 and there were 6 different types of beer in the 12 pack. The third beer will be the Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout from Cape Ann's Brewing Company.

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

Love letter to Big Sky Brewing Co.'s Moose Drool

Moose Drool

Not exactly something that screams being delicious. Kind of seems like something that would be a last resort when you go into the refrigerator. I was mostly intrigued and only a little wary of the name when my cousin told me about this brew. I did some cursory research before going out to see what I was getting myself into and was a little more scared when I saw it was a brown ale after my experience with Raison D'être. I know they're not nearly the same, for the record, but Raison D'être was based on a Belgian style brown ale so that was what I was basing my experiences off of. 


Needless to say, I was smitten at first sip. This was perhaps the most rich and balanced beer I have ever had the pleasure of drinking. Moose Drool is made by Big Sky Brewing Co. in Missoula, Montana and it is one of my new goals in life to visit there some day because if this beer is any indication, the rest must be brilliant. 

The beer was served on tap and was a dark mahogany color with brilliant ruby highlights. There was very little head on the beer but what was there was white. It did manage to hang around for the whole pint too. The smell was rich and mallty. It wasn't very different from other malty beers in the nose but the biggest difference for me was undoubtedly the taste. It was smooth and velvety but still mildly carbonated in just the right amount. The flavor was rich in dark chocolate tones with coffee highlights and stayed that way through the glass, even as the beer began to warm up a bit. 


The only bad thing about this beer is I can't have it on a regular basis as Big Sky doesn't distribute to New York. I would love to try their other beers that they have listed on their website such as Slow Elk or Cowboy Coffee Porter. It runs about $9.99 a six pack from their online distributors plus shipping and tax. I believe it was about $5 or $6 at the bar for the pint. It was undoubtedly worth it and everyone should try this beer if they're given a chance. It truly is worth drooling over. 


Edit: As informed by my cousin/comment, the bar served Moose Drool at a very manageable $4.50 a pint. Now, if only shipping it were so convenient...