BREW REVIEW - Dogfish Head Pumpkin Ale

'Tis' the season for Pumpkin Ale!'

Dogfish Head is one of my favorite craft breweries. They produce unparalleled IPA's and a wide variety of other beers, each a unique twist on a traditional style and each indefatigably* delicious!

But today I'm not drinking any of their versions of traditional styles. Today, I’m drinking their Pumpkin Ale! And why not? Halloween is less than a week away, and when the holiday is done and gone the Pumpkin Ale will be quick to follow. So without further ado, lets get right to the fun part, the BREW REVIEW!

As soon as I cracked open the bottle a flood of aroma poured out of the glass. The intensity of the flavor was stunning, I literally had to look around to verify that I hadn't been teleported to my mothers kitchen by a strange external force. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and caramelized brown sugar seized my nostrils and set up camp. The beer was much lighter in color than I had expected, more of a yellow/copper than the expected golden brown, and had a beautiful bright clarity (there were no chunks of pumpkin pie crust as I'd secretly hoped).

When I finished pouring the beer I brought the glass close to my face and took in a long, unabashed sniff. Instantly I was filled with warm feelings as my mind raced over memories of holidays and time spent with family. I closed my eyes, held the glass still closer, and selfishly indulged in a second, and then a third long, deep, inhalation. Each draw revealed something different, a memory of dropping a pie (face down) when I was a touch too young to be 'helping' in the kitchen. I picked up a whiff of sweet cream and remembered the feeling of being cold and toasty warm at the same time. I remembered the utter satisfaction of a delicious dessert at the end of a great meal...

After a few more slow pulls I was finally ready to take my first sip. The beer felt much lighter on my tongue that I expected--the weight of two percent, when I was expecting whole milk--and the flavor, surprisingly, didn't parallel the aroma in intensity. After a second sip I made the perplexing and somewhat disappointing observation that the beer was almost a bit watery. Like many of the Dogfish Head beers the alcohol level is fairly high, at 7%, and that did give the beer some structure, but with as high as my expectations were, the flavor concentration was definitely let down. That said, I don't think it's a bad beer--quite the opposite--but I do think that it is a beer that leaves something to be desired. I have no doubt that next year the team at DH will roll out something great, but as for this year, I think the missed the mark. By the numbers I give it a 5 out of 10 [flavor 4/10, Balance 5/10, Complexity 6/10].

-Prost!
D.Lux

*I went back in forth quite a bit on what adverb to use here. The goal was to use a word that would both firmly emphasize the goodness of the beer, and not make me sound like a tool. I settled on 'indefatigably' which I think fails to satisfy either of the two criteria, but after saying it a few times I remembered what a cool word it was, and decided, what the heck-it stays!