The Great Pumpkin Tasting ended Friday night right about the time the Cardinals took the World Series from the Texas Rangers. And, like this Game 7, there were no surprises. Just like everyone knew the Cardinals had the momentum to make them the favorite to win it all, I had a pretty good idea which beer would come out on top in our blind taste test before we even started.
After tasting 19 brands of pumpkin ale, one brand stood out so much that 6 of the 8 judges chose it as their favorite without knowing what it was. 3 of the judges were even confident enough to name the beer in question.
Side Note: I would challenge any life-time Bud drinker to do this when Bud was put up against just 5 other bland macro lagers. His beer would be lost in that small pool of mediocrity.
Here’s how the test went down:
After lining up the 19 different bottles so the judges could see what they were up against, my brother Brian and I took the beers out onto the porch to keep them at a cool 45 degrees and out of sight of the judges. We poured each into 8 small cups and allowed the judges to take their time smelling and sipping each and recording their observations. They were asked to describe the beer as best they could and give it a rating between 0-5, 5 being the best. The brands of pumpkin beers they tasted, in order, were:
1. Smuttynose
2. Uinta
3. South Hampton
4. Lakefront
5. River Horse
6. Wolaver’s
7. Dog Fish Head
8. Shipyard Smashed
9. Post Road
10. Blue Moon
11. Sam Adams
12. Shock Top
13. Elysian
14. Hoppin’ Frog
15. Landmark
16. Southern Tier
17. Weyerbacher
18. St. Ambroise
19. Fisherman’s
Some of the descriptors the judges used were unique to say the least:
“Smell – Bile, Taste – More bile”
“Smell – None, Taste – Some sort of cleanser”
“Smell – Clorox, Taste – Gourd”
“Smell – Dirty Diaper, Taste – Smokey Memphis BBQ” (I don’t know if this says something about the beer, the baby or the BBQ – maybe all 3)
Three Judges were able to pick the mass produced macro beer out of the bunch naming #12 as the Shock Top.
The overall winner was described as: “inviting”, “buttery”, “delicious”, “hazelnut” and “fantastic”. The average rating for the top pumpkin ale was a whopping 4.7 out of 5.
The average rating for each brand is as follows:
Brand Rating
1. Smuttynose 1.7
2. Uinta Punk 1.8
3. South Hampton 3.0
4. Lakefront 2.5
5. River Horse 2.7
6. Wolaver’s 2.5
7. Dog Fish Head 2.6
8. Shipyard Smashed 3.4
9. Post Road 3.1
10. Blue Moon 1.9
11. Sam Adams 3.3
12. Shock Top 2.3
13. Elysian 3.0
14. Hoppin’ Frog 4.0
15. Landmark 1.5
16. Southern Tier 4.7
17. Weyerbacher 3.6
18. St. Ambroise 2.8
19. Fisherman’s 2.8
The Southern Tier Imperial Pumpking brewed in Lakewood, New York has always been my favorite and I was pleased to find out that I am not alone. To my taste buds, it has a sweet, nutmeg flavor that tastes so good on my tongue I’m hesitant to let it go down my throat. As an Imperial Ale, it’s brewed to carry a pretty high alcohol content. But the 8.6% ABV is more than masked by the sweetness and flavor. The Pumpking, which I recently reviewed, gives you a good “bang for your buck” at $7.99 per 22oz. bottle.
Another standout was Frog’s Hollow from Hoppin’ Frog Brewery in Akron, Ohio. The judges described this Double Pumpkin Ale as “spicy”, “nutmeg” and “cinnamon” and gave it an average rating of 4.0.
What are your favorite Pumpkin Ales? Are there pumpkin ales we should be including in next year’s test? We’d love to know.
