Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale

Brewed by Shipyard Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Portland, Maine USA

Serve in Lager glass, Tumbler

Bottle. Amber beer with a reasonable head, but quite flat looking. The aroma is apple or pear like, and the flavour is fruity, but very sugary and watery dry. Overall a very disappointing beer, very weakly bitter and odd tasting. It’s like apply strudel in a glass. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Brutal based on expectations. Much too light for style and time of year with an overwhelmingly spicy aroma. Don’t waste your time.

So if you’ve been following my blog, or drinking with me, you know the arrival of pumpkin beer is one of my favorite times of year. So, over the next few days, let’s take a little tour of the pumpkin beers available in New England. Tonight’s brew: Shipyard Pumpkinhead The Pumpkinhead is a brew I’ve had a few times now. And every time I open one, I set standards high, but I truly WANT to love it. One of, if not THE most popular pumpkin beer on the market, the Pumpkinhead comes in 12 oz bottles, available in 6 and 12 packs. The Pumpkinhead pours a light amber color, with just a slight little touch of opacity. The foam is strong at first, almost pure white in color, but fades very quickly. In the nose, there is a slight hint of pumpkin, but definitely not in your face. I’m also picking up a whole lot of nothing else. I’m sadly reminded of the simple and non-complex smell of a Coors original. So once I take a sip, I’m getting more complexity than expected. It’s not really a pumpkin flavor coming through, but more of just a slightly more full-bodied light beer. There is just the slightest bit of spice coming through as the brew warms up a bit. I’m still not really getting much pumpkin, even close to room temperature. Over all, the Pumpkinhead reminds me of something between a Coors original and a Bud light lime.

Damn good if you’re looking for desert. Orange color. Little white head. Malty pumpkin aroma. Brown sugar taste. Refreshing medium-light body. Sweet finish.

Bottle purchased at the Niagara Falls Consumer’s Beverages. Pours an amber colour with a decent white head and flecks of lacing here and there. Aroma is very subtle, a little pumpkin. Taste is more pumpkin, but not really an authentic pumpkin flavour. It seems like an oil really. Not really what I’m looking for in a pumpkin ale.

Poured from a bottle into my pint glass.

A: Golden colored clear beer with a 1.5 finger head that quickly dissipates into a thin lacing.

S: Malty pumpkin with slight cinnamon. Nothing special, but not bad.

T: Pumpkin malt foretaste which fades fast into a very bland mid-taste, spice aftertaste.

M: Medium carbomation, medium body. Creamy finish.

O: I don’t think this beer is as bad as the reviews make it seem. I picked it up as a single, and wouldn’t buy more than 1, but it’s not terrible. There’s better beers to drink though. I wouldn’t buy again, but I wouldn’t be mad if someone offered one to me.

Smells like it might be good, Tastes like musk, mildewy, not very good. Light body, kinda spicy. I wouldn’t recommend this.

Bottle. Clear light amber color, very little head that quickly disappears. The nose is strong and spicy - Nutmeg, cinammon, ginger. The taste is more savory sweet, pumpkin and apple flavors spring forward. The finish is mildly bitter and somewhat abrupt. The body’s a bit too thin, the finish too abrupt. Not a great pumpkin ale in my opinion.