Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

Not bad for a spiced beer. The ingredients mask the alcohol, but for the season, it well worth the wait.

12 oz bottle. A brown ale...hmmm...not really. Pours copper with a thin head. Aroma of mild spice. Flavor has a slight hint of pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon and a bit (this may sound a big strange) ’perfumey’. Strong pepper finish that sticks around for a while. The spices were a bit over the top for me. Not my favorite style, but I have had better pumpkin ales.

Pours a brown amber with no head. Aroma of nutmeg, cinnamom and brown sugar. Flavor of spice, some pumpki, with some brown sugar.

Ironically enough, as I sit here writing this review for Dogfish Head Punkin Ale, we set a new record for our area in Florida for the coldest night in October. Could this be a foreboding sign of a cold winter to come, unlike the warm winters I have enjoyed for the last few years? Hopefully not, but either way, I see many seasonal fall and winter beers in my future weeks to come. What better way to warm the body, mind, and spirit then with a masterpiece brew from near and afar.
Pours a deep amber orange and a decent head of lightly orange tinted foam tops off the brew below. The head fades into a thin blanket on top with an impressive amount of brussels lace sticking to the sides of my glass. In her nose I am caught up in an explosion of spices; ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a few others I cannot put my nose on. Lingering in the background is freshly pulped pumpkin. Ripe and rich, but not sweet like prepackaged or processed pumpkin filling. Her body is clean and smooth with a pleasant hint of weight to keep her from being too easily quaffable. The intensity of the spices I detected in the nose are in full force in her palate also, demanding that I take my time and savor each quaff in all her spiced, herbal pumpkin glory. Her weight and mouthfeel surprisingly also has a pleasant frothiness to it, preventing her from being more of a suffocating dead weight of spice. While the spices are in the forefront and everywhere else possible, her notes of fresh pumpkin are subtly hidden within her background, smoothing out the edges and balancing her palate from start to finish.
A very fresh pumpkin ale, and a different impression than what I was initially expecting in comparison to other pumpkin ales I had quaffed. On one hand, a bit too heavy on the spices, but on the other hand, as I savored my glass, I came to an understanding and fond appreciation of the spices and vegetal nature of my Dogfish Punkin Ale. A couple days ago, I had the opportunity to try her on draft, and she is definitely a pumpkin beer which wiggles her way into your heart. I look forward to enjoying another.

Not a brown ale..lol... Was good. Poured dark yellow clear nice head. Nose apricots other light fruits some roast. Flavors baked pumpkin pie and fruits such as plum. Very balanced fall beer. Cheers!

one of my favorite pumpkin beers, however the pumpkin is hiden by the other spices in the beer which I prefer, also it’s not overly carbonated. Good seasonal beer but can’t drink it all night.

Pours a deep amber color with a small off-white head. Aroma is full of autumn spices (nutmeg and cinnamon). Not much pumpkin flavor and the spices are too strong. My friend and I brewed this same recipe, but as a porter instead of an ale, and I liked it much better.

Poured a clear copper amber color with a nice creamy light tan head. The head went down slowly to about 1/2 inch and left some decent lacing. The aroma was very nice with hints of nutmeg, cinnamon and gingerbread. The aromas were stronger than the flavors. The taste was slightly dry and a bit spicy. The mild flavor of cloves and the aroma spices were detected with a bit of a sweetness. A nice pumpkin beer, easy to drink.