Southampton Pumpkin Ale

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

Copper colour with a small off white head. Malty, sweet and cinnamon spicy aroma. Cinnamon spicy flavor with a caramel seet note. Light dry and spicy finish.

Bottle from Styles. Medium amber colored, perhaps a slight bit of haze. Fair sized off-white head lingers and fades to a layer over the beer that bulks up around the edge of the glass. Nice lacing. Aroma is spicey, lightest hints of clove, nutmeg and cinnamon. A bit of pumpkin/squash in nose. Medium bodied. Somewhat dry. Spice is a touch sharp about halfway through the glass. Decently done and worth a try.

650 ml bottle

This has been sitting in the cellar for a while now. Since it is not likely to age all that gracefully I decided to pop it open now. Doing triage on a cellar is much easier when you have more than just barleywines, imperial stouts and Belgians. If somebody had taken pumpkin pie and converted it to a liquid this is what it would probably taste like. Unlike some ’pumpkin’ beers this one actually deserves the name.

Aroma / Appearance - A huge pillowy head soon settles down to about two fingers in height. Underneath is a cinnamon colored transparent body. The nose is exactly like that of a hot pumpkin pie, fresh from the oven and topped with whipped cream and nutmeg. There is not much else going on but on the other hand what should one expect from a beer like this? It is easy to close the eyes and be back on a cool fall day after smelling this.

Flavor / Palate - While a little thin bodied, it is just as dense as any other beer in the class. Nutmeg, pumpkin and vanilla ice cream form a sweet gift that is topped with chocolate syrup. It falls apart quickly but lingers just long enough to capture the essence of a Thanksgiving dessert table. This was so esy to drink the bottle was empty before I knew it. I could see sharing this with people who are not on sites like this to expand their horizons.

Pours deep copper with a soapy tan head. The aroma has lots of rich toasted malt mixed with cinnamon and nutmeg. Medium body with quite a bit of sharp carbonation that doesn’t interfer with any of the flavors. The taste starts the flavors from the aroma, only slightly sharper. The finish has a spicy hop flavor and more cinnamon - quite crisp for the style. Well done pumpkin ale.

It tastes just like pumpkin pie, sweet and creamy. Upon drinking it the only thing that seems to be missing is the whipped cream. The aromas mimicks the taste and the appearance is of a amber orange. Even my mother would like this one.

Like liquid pumpkin pie. Spicy but spice doesn’t dominate. Well balanced. Recommended.

Bottle. Copper pour with a small white head. One whiff of the aroma and I back at Thanksgiving dinner. Subtle spices, pumpkin pie with light splotches of Cool Whip on it, light nutmeg, clove and cinnamon. The taste is spot on for a pumpkin beer. Not too spicy and just sweet enough to balance what spices are there. It’s like drinking a pumpkin pie with whipped cream, but not the center, more the edge because it’s got a crusty breadiness like the crust of the pie. Very yummy! Body is medium and chewy. Medium carbonation and creamy in spots. Finishes with more spices, pumpkin pie mix and light sweet notes. I wish I had this at Thanksgiving. I bet it would have been excellent with the meal.

22oz. bomber: This one pours a clear amber color. There is a bit of an off-white head on it that drops off rather quickly. Fairly big nose of pumpkin pie spice, but not overdone. Nothing else can really make it through those. A somewhat thinner body to this beer. I taste some of the pie spices, but I get a bit of a metallic taste to the beer. Not one of their better offerings. Disappointing, since I really like this style.