Defiant The Horsemans Ale

Tap at Stanton Publick House. Deep brown beer, with a thin white head. Very spicy aroma with loads of nutmeg and allspice, some cinnamon and light gingery character. There is a great lovely bready character with even a touch of buttered toast. Flavour is spicy with lots of cinnamon and clove and a great pumpkiny character. Yeasty and sweet. The yeast is a little bit dirty, but the beer is pretty good nonetheless.

Cask at the Blind Tiger. They said it was the Defiant Pumpkin Ale, so I am assuming that is this beer. Dark orange color. Aroma of pumpkin, cinnamon, and some peppery malt. The flavor was dominated by the spice, caramel malt, and pepper. Maybe the best aroma for a pumpkin beer I have had this year, but not the best flavor.

Brewery, this was amazing! A reallly dark pumpkin beer, with a tan head. The nose was caramel, fruit (apple?) and spice. The taste had raisins and and a very deep apple. Great pumpkin beer.

Sampled at the Brewery and again from a growler. Dark amber color with a good sized beige head. Let me start off by saying that I really don’t like pumpkin beers, they just don’t do it for me. This one however, was quite different. Where most pumpkin beers are over the top spiced and unbalanced, this one was mellow and just right. Nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, pumpkin and a touch of caramel covered apples are the dominant aromas and flavors, but they don’t overpower and meld together beautifully.

The brewers notes describe this beer well. What they do not do is let you know how well this beer comes together. Sometimes pumpkin beers come off as a pumpkin pie ’malternative’ , well this one is not. When you smell its aroma you get both the pumpkin and a rich malty hoppy beer. The taster is the same. Yes you know it is pumpkin, but you also know that is is a beer. Rich and complex, the malt blends right in with the pumpkin pie, spices and all. It is not lackin by any means.