Cigar City Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale

Brewed by Cigar City Brewing
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Tampa, Florida USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tumbler

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Bottle at ChrisO tasting, thanks to Henrik, 30/12/12. Hazed dark amber/brown with a thin tan head that dissipates to the edge. Nose carries sugars, spice, sweet fruits, light booze, nutmeg. Taste comprises sweet candied sugars, ripe fruits, spice, clove, dark orange, dates, figgy jammyness. Full end of medium bodied with soft carbonation leading to a sweet finish with a modicum of booze. Good stuff - ideal for a tasting !

Tasting at Chriso's. Spice bomb! Cinnamon, allspice, cloves and nutmeg all in evidence, completely drowning out any beer-like flavours. A totally over the top beer, but in a sort of nice way. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

[5017-20121217] 750mL bottle. Fruity apple soap aroma infused with harvest spices. Murky, orange brown body with a long-lasting creamy off-white head and a ginormous gushing head on opening. Apple pumpkin fruit flavour has a yeasty vodka tang. Medium body. Interesting -- it’s probably infected but not in a bad way. That being said, I can’t stand it as it warms up. (6/3/7-/3/13) 3.2
(c/o blankboy, w/ him, GregClow, HogTownHarry, jercraigs)

Bottle at Chiso’s tasting 30/12/12. Hazy orange brown with a big white head. Big Perfumy nose, which reminds me of a bath bomb. Nutmeg and cinamon. Solventy, sweet. Very viscous srypy with moderate carbonation. The beer is pretty unbalanced and the mlat character is dominated by OTT spices.

2012-12-17. Very hazy dark orange body, massive gushering beige head. 3+ Musty lightly funky aroma, dusty malt, pumpkiny fruit character, mild melange of spices. 7++ Flavour is similar, musty funky overtones, modest spice and pumpkiny fruit, modest bitterness in the finish. Average bodied palate is very carbonated. I am curious if it is a bit off or if this is how it is intended, but it was fairly enjoyable either way. Bottle shared by Blankboy

Bottle at Chriso’s tasting in London, 121230. Somewhat hazy golden beer with a nice lasting offwhite head. Pumpkin aroma, sweetish, cookie dough, loads of spices, malty, chocolate. Pumpkin flavor, loads of spices again, malty, cookie dough, biscuits, floral notes. Good but maybe a bit too spicy.

Bottle shared at The Kernel, London - many thanks to The Peter. Pours clear, dark gold with a creamy, off-white head. Unreal aroma, loaded with carrot cake. Big sweet flavor, more carrot cake, rich bread, toasty sugars. Medium to full bodied with fine to average carbonation. Sweet finish, lightly warming, lightly dry, with more carrot cake, deep sugars. Beautiful nose, and very decent flavor. A sweet beer but a wonderful sipper.

750ml bottle shared by blankboy with me, gregclow, jercraigs & mabel. HUGE gusher, hazy orange-amber, huge fluffy beige head. Smells - pretty nice: sharply yeasty, spices for days, nice pumkin malt, alcohol - frankly if this is infected, it’s still nice (7+). Taste - alcohol, floral bitterness, pumpkin spice, a bit sharp and dry - again, maybe infected, but nice. Average body, sharply carbonated, a little acidic, finishes dry and a bit boozy ... nice.

Bottle @ The Kernel. Many thanks to thepeter for sharing this! The pour’s a deep amber with a large off-white head. The aroma’s of bold cinnamon, allspice, brown sugar sweetness. Rich, spicy aromas. The taste is much the same. Meaty spiced pumpkin, loads of brown sugar and cinnamon. Medium body, a bit hot and sweet. Overall, while sweet, this is quite flavorful. Not bad!

750 ml bottle
Thanks to tastybeer for sharing one more beer before we called it a night. The highlight of the evening, this was a pretty robust pumpkin ale with a bug body. Much like other Cigar City beers it is above average and on par with some of the Elysian specials.

Aroma / Appearance - A nice one finger bubbly head rises like yeasty dough. The ruby base looks like cooked squash drained into a glass. Nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and pumpkin give it the festive autumnal texture you would expect. Graham crackers finish off a big nose.

Flavor / Palate - Spices, cinnamon, apple pie, and graham crackers fill one with the components of a Thanksgiving dessert buffet. Sweet pumpkin pie with a generous dollop of whipped cream completes the feeling of a liquid feast. If I have a complaint it might be borderline too sweet (close to Pumking). Fortunately it doesn’t fall over that cliff into mediocrity.