Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery [MyBreweryTap.com (US 52 Week Beer Club Selection #2)

This bottle of Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin Ale turned up in the second consignment of US 52 Week Beer Club beers from MyBreweryTap. It’s a style of beer I’ve been curious about for a while, so I was glad to find one in the box and I finally got around to trying it at the weekend.

Post Road Pumpkin Ale pours a deep orange-amber colour, and gives off a distinctly dry, spicy aroma, like ginger-nut biscuits when you snap them in half. But for ‘spicy’ you can read ‘peppery’ when it comes to the flavour; this was a distinctly savoury beer with a definite vegetative tang, and that fiery pepper on the after-taste. Dry, but not particularly hoppy and with hardly a hint of malt or sweetness, in a way it was more lager-like than ale-ish.

After a couple of sips I found myself frowning slightly, really not sure whether I liked it or not and although I finished it off okay, I don’t think it’s one I’d be desperate to try again. I was still glad I’d had the chance to try it, but can only conclude it’s something of an acquired taste. Or maybe there are sweeter versions of the pumpkin ale style around that might not be quite so challenging? Either way, I think I’ll just take your word for it.

Speaking of: anyone else got an opinion on Pumpkin Ale?

Brewery: Wychwood
Location: Witney, England
ABV: 5.0%
Version: 500ml bottle
Source: Tesco

Yes, I know Hallowe’en was three weeks ago but as I covered my other Hallowe’en themed beer a week early it seems only fair to post this one late. That, and my local Tesco didn’t actually have any in stock until the week after. At this rate I’ll be covering Christmas ales at Easter.

Wychwood were already marketing Hobgoblin as the unofficial beer of Hallowe’en so not sure where Pumpking is supposed to fit in their seasonal line-up. And to be honest, I’m not quite sure why it exists at all. Like the aforementioned Hobgoblin, it pours a dark amber colour and gives off the familiar fruity aroma with a hint of toffee. The flavour is very similar to Hobgoblin as well, with the dried fruit giving way to some bitter hoppiness, only with an added touch reminiscent of toffee apples. Didn’t detect any pumpkin. There is some sweetness present but it’s better controlled and not as offputting as the offering from Badger. The whole lot ends with a slightly dry finish but really, it just tastes like Hobgoblin made to a slightly different recipe. Interesting to try but I won’t be seeking it out next year, better just sticking with the original Hobgoblin.

Brewery: Badger (Hall & Woodhouse)
Location: Dorset, England
ABV: 4.6%
Version: 500ml bottle

Hallowe’en is coming and the goose is getting….blah, blah, blah. I know I should have saved drinking this one until Friday but then I couldn’t have reviewed it in time for you to go out and get some for yourselves, if the notion took you.

Released in a limited batch specifically for this time of year the label states this ale comes with “hints of roast pumpkin, cloves and peat”. I’m not exactly a fan of pumpkin itself, tried it once and was thoroughly underwhelmed, but Badger usually get good results with their odd experiments so thought I’d give it a try anyway.

The ale pours a golden amber colour with loads of bubbles running through it initally. The aroma is very much of winter vegetables (did I detect carrot in there somewhere?) with a hint of malt. Didn’t pick up much in the way of peat though, or cloves. The taste is very much at the sweet and fruity end of the scale, with a touch of bitterness coming through in those bubbles. I found the carbonation a bit too much to be honest and had to leave the glass to sit for a short while to give the fizz some time to calm down. Overall however, the recipe works better than it should but it’s a bit too sweet for an all-nighter. Would I get it again? Probably not, but it was worth sampling.