Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale

Bottle. Light to moderate malt aroma of cereal, light flowers for the hops and background notes of wood, nutmeg and cooked pumpkin. Head is small, creamy, off-white with a little lacing and is mostly lasting. Color is slightly hazy yet sparkling amber/orange. Flavor is lightly sweet and moderately acidic to start, then finishes lightly to moderately acidic and bitter. Palate is medium, watery with a lively carbonation and a lightly dry and a touch boozy finish. Not a big fan of the style, but this one was pretty good.

12oz bottle. hazy orange with a thin, filmy head. i really like the aroma to this pumpkin ale. not overly spiced, but enough to keep it interesting and some bready pie crust as well. a light bodied, clean pumpkin beer. nothing outrageous...i just like this one.

clear amber, beige frothy head. spicy aroma of nutmeg and clove backed by light malt. flavor is much hoppier, bitter grass and cloves, again mild malt. overly bitter and otherwise a bit bland, spice is only up front. light-medium body and modest carbonation.

Pours a brownish gold with a strong nutmeg aroma. The flavor is dominated by nutmeg on the fore, but gives way to earthy pumpkins. More complex than a lot of the other pumpkin beers I’ve tasted.

This is a good beer more bitter then sweet witch is a nice change for a pumpkin ale.Pour golden yellow with a small white head.Aroma of nutmeg and clove.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a pint glass. The bottle date reads "Best Before Feb 10" and it was sampled on 9-12-2009. Appearance: The body has a deep orange amber color with a cloudy look. The pour produces a one finger thick white cap of foam. It slowly fades down to just a very thin layer of bubbles that makes a little slice lacing on the glass. Smell: The aroma has a spicy, vegetable/squash like bouquet with some light toasted malt notes as well. Taste/Palate: Up front there are solid spice flavors of cinnamon, allspice and clove with some roasted pumpkin and toasted malt underneath. The finish sees a good balance of flavor as the spicy hops creeps in and adds some nice bitterness to the mix. The palate has a solid medium body with average carbonation and a mellow drinkable texture. Notes: This was a very solid Pumpkin Ale with good pumpkin flavor and spice balance.

On draft at Cooper’s. Poured hazy amber with medium carbonation. Sweet malty flavor with a touch of cinnamon and cloves. Spice was fairly subdued compared to other pumpkin beers.

I’ve clearly been spoiled by drinking this year’s batch of delicious offerings by Elysian, Dogfish and Southern Tier. This was musty by comparison, and had way too much of a clove finish. Seemed like it was relying on the spice to give a pumpkin allusion.