Jacks Pumpkin Spice Ale

Brewed by Anheuser-Busch InBev
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
St. Louis, Missouri USA

Picked up a single 12-oz bottle at Cellars Wine & Spirits. Pours a semi-clear orange amber colored brew with a thin off-white head that quickly dissipates to a film top and thin ring. Aroma of golden grain malt, some corn, light pumpkin pie filling and orange zest. Taste is light bodied, lots of carbonation with flavors of multi-grain malt, light pumpkin and cinnamon. Finish is watery, crisp with some light pumpkin and golden grain malt aftertaste.

Reviewed 11/8/2009 (Draft @ Gingerman, Houston, TX): Pours a light orange clear colored body, average sized creamy white head. Aroma of pumpkin and spices, but muted. Some nutmeg. Not too strong. Light spicy taste. Not too bad. Crisp, tasty.

Moderate pumpkin aroma, buttery with hints or orange peel. Clear orange amber, no head. The flavor is all pumpkin, no spice. Nice creamy mouthfeel. Raw potato is left on the palate. Poundable and not terribly overwhelming, but still flavorful.

Draft. Orange pour. Smells like flabby rotten pumpkin and xmas cookies. Nasty flavor. Bad old canned rotten pumpkin and some leaves maybe. Mouthfeel is sticky and flabby. Oh god, the horror. The horror.

Decent ’pumpkin’ color. Kind of golden orange with hints of brown. One-finger of loose foamy head. Minimal retention and slight lacing. Smells of pumpkin pie. Pumpkin is present, along with nutmeg and clove scents. Slight ’woodiness’ here, also. Decent malt presence. Smells sweet and spicey. Not a whole lot going on in the taste department, sadly. Dominated by the spice components. Minimal pumpkin presence. Slight hint of malts. Light to medium body. Crisp and clean, yet with a touch of creaminess. I can see that some people would find this easy to drink, based on the body, mostly. I would have a hard time drinking this again though, as there is just not much to it.

Amber with a white head. Aroma is standard pumpkin spice. Taste is sour, with astringent edge, and one-note vanilla and spice combo. Not happy about this product.

Serving: 12 oz. bottle. Appearance: Clear amber color with a foamy, off-white head. Poor head retention and no lacing left behind. Aroma: A bit vegetal, some obvious caramel notes (artificial?), and pumpkin spice. Flavor: A bit on the thin and watery side with some vague vegetal notes and pumpkin spices added. A spiced up Bud Light perhaps? A bit too artificial for my liking. Palate: Medium-high carbonation with a medium-light mouthfeel and a medium, spiced finish. Overall: I hate to say it, but I agree with some other raters that this beer is better than the Blue Moon. Still, I can’t recommend it.

Draft at Olive’s in Cincinnati. I had never heard of this, but it was the only one of the 10 taps I hadn’t rated already. My girlfriend then told me it was an A-B beer. Pours a red amber color with a small beige head. The aroma is pretty weak for a spiced beer like this, but there are some notes of nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, clove, caramel malt, and pumpkin. The flavor has a lot more pop, but those elements all add up to an artificial-tasting brew. Easy to drink, but a weaker example of the style and nothing special.