Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Milton, Delaware USA

Bottle from Total Wine. Pours a brownish amber body and a small off-white head. The lacing is spotty. The aromas are representative of the special ingredients involved: cinnamon, spices, subtle pumpkin,a nd nutmeg are apparent. Flavors are full, but sweet with more cinnamon, sugar, subtle rounded malts, and baked bread. A subtle presence of hops in the finish add a sufficient bite of bitterness. A medium carbonation and full body are in good balance here. I’ve enjoyed this brew many times throughout the past couple years and always look forward to its release.

Bottle: Pours a light copper color, almost like a red with a small head. This is by far the best brewed pumpkin ale I’ve ever tried, but not the best tasting one. Clearly the ingredients were top quality, and the beer was skillfully brewed. Even at 7% abv this beer masks the alcohol content excellently. I like that this beer tastes more genuine in terms of using real ingredients rather than just an extract mix. I also like the almost cilantro-like taste in the palate, combined with a bitterness not found in most pumpkin ales. Good I like this beer!

Bottle. Aroma has notes of pumpkin pie, squash, and sweet malt. Medium brown amber hue with an average sized off-white head that left no lace and mostly diminished. Flavor is sweet with some veggie on the finish but no bitterness. Palate is medium bodied and soft. Not a bad pumpkin brew but average overall.

From a 12-oz bottle, traded with Tripplebrew, pours a clear dark copper amber brew with a thin off-white head that quickly dissipates to a fine film and thin white ring. Aroma of caramel malt, a touch of allspice, and gingerbread. Taste is medium bodied, very light carbonation with flavors of caramel malt, nutmeg, a touch of gingerbread and cinnamon. Finish has a mild nutmeg and gingerbread aftertaste that slowly disappears. Maybe a hint of pumpkin in the background but mostly caramel malt and some nutmeg flavors. Allow this beer to come up to room temperature and the pumpkin flavor comes through.

Smells faintly of spices and pumpkin. Taste is very flaorful with spices and a faint pumpkin flavor. One of the better pumpkin beers out there.

On tap at Toronado. This orange amber ale poured with a thin off-white head and a pumpkin pie aroma. There is a decent caramel malt base with lots of sugar and spices and a fairly bitter finish. It’s an interesting seasonal beer, but not as well-crafted as some of the better offerings from this brewery.

Bottle. Clear amber with thick white foam. Pure squash aroma. Sweetness is more pronounced than spice. Lots of brown sugar. Mouthfeel is decent but slightly prickly. Sweeter, less spicy pumpkin ale but has cinnamon and nutmeg finish, and is liqueur-like. Is really accessible and appealing. Nice one.

(Bottle). Light aroma of pumpkin and nutmeg. Amber color, off-white head. Flavor could have more pumpkin; it’s rather vague, and a little too spicy. Not bad, though.