Southampton Pumpkin Ale

Brewed by Southampton Publick House
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Southampton, New York USA

12 oz bottle. Pours a deep rusty orange color, moderate head. Aroma is sweet and malty, not as prominent as I would have imagined. Taste is spicy and kind of doughy with high malt and vegetable character. As advertised, does taste like pumpkin pie. Palate is smooth, body is full. Not too overpowering or sweet so its a good option to pair with any food.

On tap at Capone’s. This is a fairly light pumpkin. It tastes like a marzen with a little pumpkin, ginger, and clove. Tried it again, in a growler from Whole Foods, and this time it poured out with a big fluffy head. Mediocre aroma, and not very spicy. A touch of malty sweetness, a little brown sugar, and some mellow hops. Pretty good.

12oz bottle. Bright orange pour. Aroma is malty, light graininess, more subtle than expected pumpkin spice and vanilla. Flavor is more of the same: malty with some breadiness and toffee/caramel residual sweetness, light notes of pumpkin spice, and vanilla. Vanilla is actually much stronger than expected (it indicates vanilla on the label, but I’d expect more pumpkin spice from a beer called "pumpkin ale"). Finish is lightly sweet with a soft, neutral, balancing bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and creamy with nice level of suds. Overall, a surprisingly sessionable brew - a bit too ordinary for me. I’m struck by the vanilla - I like it, but also find it distracting how it annoyingly covers up the pumpkin and spice flavors. Not bad...

Modest head that dies to a single ring of bubbles on the glass. No lace. Crystal clear with a orange-gold color. Raw pumpkin smell. Unlike most, there’s no cinnamon or nutmeg aromas. The taste is similar to the smell. Pumpkin is the key flavor but this is not a spiced beer. Malt provides the base of below average body. The aftertaste is quite dry, dissipating quickly.

Pours a cloudy dark copper color with some burnt orange hues and a two finger off-white head with decent retention, slowly fading into a lasting ring that leaves sporadic spots of lacing. Spicy pumpkin pie aroma with hints of cinnamon, brown sugar, pumpkin, clove and nutmeg. Soft carbonation up front with lots of sweet pumpkin pie flavor as well as hints of brown sugar, cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla ans some subtle apple cider notes. ABV very well masked. The mouthfeel is slightly watered down but otherwise this tastes like liquid pumpkin pie. One of the better examples of the style.

Transparent red-gold, light white head. Grainy, malty nose of light nutmeg and pumpkin. More grain in the lager flavor, definite cinnamon and nutmeg flavor, lightly spicy pumpkin coming strongest in the finish. Thin, short finish. I like that the pumpkin is not overwhelming, but the underside is not really that enjoyable either.

bottle. pours a orange brown with a white head. Notes of nutmeg, pumpkin, and cinnammon. Nice. Not overly spiced. Good pumpkin beer.