Highballer Pumpkin Ale
Grand River Brewing

Highballer Pumpkin AleHighballer Pumpkin Ale
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From:
Grand River Brewing
 
Ontario, Canada
Style:
Pumpkin Beer
ABV:
5.2%
Score:
85
Avg:
3.76 | pDev: 9.31%
Reviews:
53
Ratings:
97
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Nov 27, 2018
Added:
Sep 29, 2007
Wants:
  4
Gots:
  6
Pumpkins for the Highballer Pumpkin Ale are all grown by our owner Bob Hannenberg in his Garden.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Mr_Hoptimistic:
Photo of Mr_Hoptimistic
Rated by Mr_Hoptimistic from Canada (ON)

4/5  rDev +6.4%

Oct 02, 2013
More User Ratings:
Photo of rapayn01
Reviewed by rapayn01 from Kentucky

3.75/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a standard 473 ml Canadian pint can. This beer genuinely has pumpkin flavor (and color) without excessive pie spices. I appreciate that in a pumpkin brew. I paired it with (American) Thanksgiving leftovers when daughters visited Ottawa for the holiday.
Nov 27, 2018
Photo of bixby1971
Reviewed by bixby1971 from Canada (ON)

3.54/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Have not been a huge fan of the Pumpkin beer craze, but this one was very well balanced. Flavour became much more complex as it warmed a bit. A solid choice, glad I picked it up.
Mar 03, 2018
Photo of patre_tim
Reviewed by patre_tim from Thailand

3.93/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Orange amber and filtered with very little carbonation. Topped with 3 fingers of off white head.

Smells of pumpkin spices, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, oranges, and an array of light, fruity notes.

The taste follows the nose, with a light sweetness, lots of ginger, and a hint of metallic.

Light body, low carbonation.

Got this yesterday in Kitchener, drinking nearby Nov 21st, 2017. Really good, standard, pumpkin ale. Would definitely have it again.
Nov 21, 2017
Photo of Jtee
Reviewed by Jtee from Canada (ON)

2.52/5  rDev -33%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 2.25
From a 473ml can served straight from the fridge at 8 degrees Celsius into a white wine glass. Canned on date: 09/19/2017.

Look: The beer pours a brilliant medium amber with 0.5cm of big bubbles that fully disappear in less than a minute. I totally missed the head colour as it was gone in an instant. Poor overall head with no lacing. The clarity and colour manage to score some points.

Smell: Medium-light, sweet, and a bit strange. I had to take a moment to figure out what memory the aroma triggered. It's reminiscent of a drink from my childhood that is pretty close to mulled wine. The nose is lacking beergredients and driven by strong cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a touch of pumpkin. I wish there was more overall balance between the special ingredients and the actual beer.

Taste: Moderate intensity and sweet. Follows the nose seamlessly in its “mulled wine” character. The pumpkin is subtle with the malts and hops overpowered by the spices. Same notes as the with the aroma. The finish is of moderate intensity and length while leaning towards sweet.

Feel: Medium body with fairly mild carbonation. Smooth and wet with no apparent alcohol. No astringency or any kind of harshness. Quite pleasant actually.

Overall: A simple beer with moderate drinkability that makes me think of Christmas instead of Halloween. A step up from macro breweries yet not far from boring. Because of the prominent spices and lack of malt and hop character, I'm not entirely sure I'd recognize this as beer if I was blind tasting it. I will likely not revisit Highballer Pumpkin.
Oct 30, 2017
 
Rated: 3.54 by joemcgrath27 from Canada (AB)

Oct 10, 2017
 
Rated: 2.87 by JahTurbo from Canada (ON)

Oct 20, 2016
 
Rated: 3.85 by Boo-urns from Canada (ON)

Oct 08, 2016
Photo of SSS
Reviewed by SSS from Canada (QC)

3.61/5  rDev -4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
A-Dark orange and no head to speak of
S-Very feignt aroma of spice but not much else to go by
M-Very low carbonation and light watery mouthfeel
T-Sweet and watery upfront with some warming spices appearing in the aftertaste, cinnamon and nutmeg is what I get, Christmas flavours
O-On the pour this had some potential aromas, but ultimately fell flat and underwhelming.
Oct 08, 2016
 
Rated: 4.06 by ikidunot from Canada (ON)

Aug 23, 2016
 
Rated: 3.46 by al_al1357 from Canada (ON)

Jan 27, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by fortyfield from Canada (ON)

Jan 25, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by atsir

Oct 10, 2015
 
Rated: 3.48 by jfreeze from Canada (NB)

Oct 08, 2015
Photo of PorterPro125
Reviewed by PorterPro125 from Canada (NB)

4.06/5  rDev +8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Serving Type: 500 mL Bottle

A- Clear Coppery colour with a good 1 finger off-white head with good retention.

S- Cooked pumpkin (pie filling), malty caramel sweetness, and a healthy dusting of cinnamon (other pumpkin pie spices?)

T- Similar to aroma but with more malt and a lingering bitterness to finish off. Nice...

M- Light Body and Moderate Carbonation.

O- For my first true Pumpkin Ale (not pumpkin pie spice), I quite liked this beer. The pumpkin flavour came through better than I expected and it sat well with me. Will definitely be picking up this one again before the Autumn draws to a close.
Sep 28, 2015
Photo of mikemands
Reviewed by mikemands from Canada (ON)

2.96/5  rDev -21.3%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
head dissipated fast,
smells fair, not too pumpkiny, more like a patch of uncut pumpkins
taste little pumpkin, little caramel, little...cinnamon/ginger? kinda flat
feel is also somewhat flat, little carbonation, pumpkin taste is the only thing left, but faint and fleeting.
overall not too bad, like a low carbonated pumpkin ginger ale, probably my fault, this beer was bottled almost 5 months ago
Apr 11, 2015
Photo of FRANKIE65
Reviewed by FRANKIE65 from Canada (ON)

3.85/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Wasn't sure what to expect from my first pumpkin beer. What I got was a very good sipping ale. Wouldn't want to drink more than a couple at a sitting.
Would I buy it again...heck, yeah!
Dec 13, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by R_Kole from Canada (AB)

Nov 01, 2014
Photo of Pmicdee
Reviewed by Pmicdee from Canada (ON)

3.81/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Pours a dark orange colour with a long lasting 1 inch head on top. The smell is malty with hints of your typical pumpkin spices. The taste is better than most pumpkin beers, there is actual pumpkin flavour not just pumpkin spice. This has been one of the better pumpkin beers on the market for a long time, hopefully the new owners (who closed the Cambridge brewery) keep it this way, but I doubt it
Oct 31 2020
Update Oct 4 2021
The appearance and smell of the beer remain similar to the original. The taste seems to be muted, less spice, less pumpkin. Still tastes ok but not as good as it once was
Oct 24, 2014
Photo of BGDrock
Reviewed by BGDrock from Canada (ON)

2.75/5  rDev -26.9%
Appearance: bright, light copper, not quite clear; head does an ok job of sticking around

Aroma: kind of funky, real pumpkin aroma like pie filling, with some cooked apple, caramel sweetness, spices accompanying it

Taste & Mouthfeel: thin and watery is the first impression, with little carbonation - there's no backbone; light flavour, barely anything to speak of, just hints of spice and caramel, nominal pumpkin; minerally

Overall: a boring brew, feel led astray by an interesting aroma, may as well have been a glass of water; not worth the time
Sep 21, 2014
Highballer Pumpkin Ale from Grand River Brewing
Beer rating: 85 out of 100 with 97 ratings