I’ve been sick for the last 8 days, which has resulted in a serious lack of beer reviewing. The last time I was sick I made the mistake of reviewing a couple of beers, and I couldn’t taste a thing. What a better way to get back on the horse (or fall back off the wagon depending on how you look at it) than to do a…DOUBLE PUMPKIN ALE REVIEW!!!!!
Before I start though, a quick shout out to my two classmates Greg and Rick who are checking out the blog for the first time. With any luck, maybe we’ll see a guest review from one or both of them sometime in the future!
Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale
* Color – Dark copper.
* Head – Perfect. 2-3 inches. Thick. No lace though.
* Aroma – Spicy. A very deep aroma. I can’t specifically detect pumpkin. Oddly enough, I actually get a faint smell of licorice of all things.
* Taste – Cinnamon, cloves, nutmug (just like the label says). A good strong flavor. Actually reminiscent of a Xmas beer. Pumpkin can be found, but you’ll need to search it out.
* ABV – 8%
* Overall Impression – My opinion of Weyerbacher in the past has been that they over-engineer beers. I’ll give them credit with the Imperial Pumpkin…not over-engineered. And I’ll be honest and say at first I wrote this review with a negative tone in that I couldn’t taste the pumpkin. As I plowed on through the glass, I changed my mind and re-wrote parts of my thoughts. Pumpkin is there, and it’s delic. This beer is worth a shot.
Wolaver’s Will Stevens’ Organic Pumpkin Ale
* Color – A pretty caramel.
* Head – 2-3 inches of thick head (just like the Weyerbacher’s), except this one has lacing.
* Aroma – COMPLETELY different from the Imperial. Although it does remind me of pumpkin (unsweetened, just carved), the smell is actually not very pleasing. Very earthy smelling.
* Taste – At first, not a fan. After a few sips, my opinion is changing. The flavor that hits you first is the unsweetened pumpkin that I was smelling. If you stick with it, the flavor dissipates into an aftertaste of nutmeg and other spices. The combination of flavors leaves me thinking of pumpkin pie, which I absolutely love.
* ABV – Unknown!
* Overall Impression – High marks for: being organic, a pretty pour, and an impressively complex flavor. Low marks for the weird aroma, but I’ll let that slide. Go buy some.
Homebrew Academy
Nice reviews! 8 days is a long time with no beer! I have the Imperial Pumpkin in the fridge ready to go, I've read many good things about it like your review so I picked it up. I saw the Wolaver's, but decided to skip it this year.
I too was actually some what pleased with the Weyerbacher. I really dislike pumpkin beers, but this and the dogfish head were actually somewhat palatteable for me.
I was kinda annoyed that the Wolaver's doesn't list any information about the beer, like the abv, hops, or plato of the beer. With Otter Creek's new brewmaster, I hope he helps out the Wolavers beers some. They could use a wracheting up to get on par with Eel River