Pumpkin Season Is Upon Us: Dogfish Head Punkin Beer Review

Craft Beer Pumpkin season is upon us.  Yes it might be a little early, but who am I to tell these breweries to put Pumpkin production on hold until the fall weather has taken over.  It’s a real catch-22, because as much as I’d love to hold off on grabbing and drinking these pumpkins until Mother Nature has given me the okay, they’re fresh RIGHT now.  What’s better than fresh beer? Well nothing obviously.

With that said, I’m going to review our first pumpkin beer of the season or should I say our first Punkin.  It may not be the highest rated Pumpkin brew on Beer Advocate but it certainly is the most reviewed, crushing the competition.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale with a Sandwich

Pumpkin brews can really be divided into two sectors, full bodied and light bodied.  Punkin is certainly part of the former group.  It is a full-bodied brown ale with just subtle hints of the pumpkin characteristics.  Unlike some of the sweet, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar bombs that other breweries produce.

The beer pores a beautiful light amber color with a veracious white head that really sticks around in the glass for some time.  The smell is not a smack in the face of pumpkin but more subtle pumpkin with hints of various spices.  As for the flavor it is a brown ale through and through, far more nutty flavor in this one than most pumpkin ales.  The taste begins with the nutty brown mixed with the pumpkin flavor and some cinnamon, and it finishes off with a slight spice that doesn’t overwhelm the palette as other pumpkins do.

There’s a reason that Dogfish Head is quickly becoming one of the nations largest microbreweries, they make damn good beer in ever sector.  Per the usual they do so with a twist, this is set apart from the others because it’s not your typical spice bomb but a full bodied well-rounded brown ale with pumpkin flavors mixed in well throughout.

Check out last years Great Pumpkin Tasting done by the Tri State Beer Blog right here, http://tristatebeerblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/great-pumpkin-tasting-results-and.html

Rating:
Dogfish Head Punkin Ale 8.5/10