Pinchy Jeek Barl - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
Anderson Valley Brewing Company

Pinchy Jeek Barl - Bourbon Barrel-AgedPinchy Jeek Barl - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
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From:
Anderson Valley Brewing Company
 
California, United States
Style:
Pumpkin Beer
Ranked #186
ABV:
8.5%
Score:
82
Ranked #24,489
Avg:
3.64 | pDev: 15.38%
Reviews:
73
Ratings:
358
Status:
Active
Rated:
Nov 23, 2023
Added:
Apr 06, 2014
Wants:
  12
Gots:
  60
Aged for 6 months in Wild Turkey® barrels, this bourbon barrel-aged pumpkin ale is pleasantly creamy with a silky body and sweet caramel flavor. The aging process imparts notes of coconut, vanilla, and oak to compliment the tang of the spices and a hint of hops, all wrapped in a smooth, round finish.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by oberon:
Photo of oberon
Reviewed by oberon from North Carolina

4.04/5  rDev +11%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Pours into an impy nonic a deep amber brown with a creamy/sticky beige colored head,multiple rings of lace left behind.Vanilla tinged bourbon with a bit of toast followed by light pie spice and real pumpkin.Very impressed with the creamy but not to heavy feel,Iam likin this stuff so far.Not over the top in either the bourbon barrel or pumpkin spice but both come together very well on the palate,mild vanilla and oak but not overly sweet,pumpkin more than pumpkin "spice " in the finish.In my opinion vastly underrated unless there has been a change in recipe.
Sep 18, 2015
More User Ratings:
Photo of Pegasus
Reviewed by Pegasus from Texas

3.91/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Appearance: A murky brown body is surmounted by a small, finely-beaded light tan head with good retention. A thick, slightly irregular, but unbroken ring adorns the glass wall. Before a strong light, the body is a medium amber. Clouds of minute bubbles drift lazily to the surface.

Aroma: Cloves and pink bubble gum are quite prominent, as well as sweet alcohol and, as another reviewer mentioned, a note of Coca-Cola. As it warms, the pumpkin pie spice notes become more evident.

Taste: Tasting presents an assertive, but pleasant wave of pumpkin pie spices, soon followed by spicy, warming alcohol. Midway through the taste, the bourbon and wood notes ascend. The finish i dark caramel and wood, with an undercurrent of pumpkin pie spices.

Mouthfeel: Fairly full, perhaps not as full las it could be, but pleasant, with a bit of zesty carbonation.

Drinkability/notes: Really quite good. As a long-term "cellar dweller", three years, I believe, it held up very well. Storage in the back of the refrigerator works wonders. Alas, I'll likely never have this again, a Thanksgiving-themed beer on Thanksgiving.

Presentation: Packaged in a standard twenty-two ounce brown glass bomber, with a pry-off crown, served in a La Fin du Monde tulip.
Nov 23, 2023
 
Rated: 3.77 by EMV from Pennsylvania

Dec 17, 2021
Photo of q33jeff
Rated by q33jeff from New Jersey

4.07/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
**
Various

Update of Pumpkin Beer from 2013-2019 Blind Tastings.

**
Oct 12, 2019
 
Rated: 3.7 by Matuhg from Michigan

Apr 29, 2019
Photo of eddingsaur
Reviewed by eddingsaur from North Carolina

3.2/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75
Ordered off the tap from American Taproom in Singapore for the price of a high ABV import beer. Have I complained about the price of alcohol in Singapore yet? I should.

Alcohol is really expensive in Singapore.

L: Served in a flute with a fluffy white head. Almost looks like nicely beaten egg whites. Sadly, unlike beaten egg whites, it doesn't hold it's shape for very long. Dissipates down the glass with very light lacing. If you like it thick and bubbly you might have to look elsewhere - like at the large smiling lady at the end of the bar. It's a dark beer - almost opaque, but with a bit of light, you can appreciate the amber-red glow of the beer. It's like a really thick tea - amber-red, clear and, equally effervescent.

S: The description says coconut, vanilla, and oak. I smell blackcurrants. Or specifically: blackcurrant cordial. Or even more specifically: Ribena, which is a blackcurrant cordial. Which, looking back, tastes a bit like slightly sour, dried coconut and vanilla. There's a little bit of something else there. Like some Asian herb - it's pleasantly woody and reminds me of something my mom made me drink when I was a kid.

Now that I think about it, coconut, vanilla, and oak really does fit the description. Damn...

T: Down the hatch. A BBA. But not really. It's got the bourbon barrel-ness, and it's ale-y with pleasant hoppy spiciness. But it's too easy on the palate - I'm on edge here. Come on beer... surprise me with some complex depth... And yep. There it is. At the back of the mouth. Something different: Pumpkin. Which is what it says on the label. So maybe I'm not THAT surprised. But at least it's something. Caramel? Yeah, it's all in there, but I was going in expecting rich dark fruit and complex malt profiles. I didn't get much of that. I guess I need to keep my expectations in check. I'm taking another sip now and it's warm - room temperature. And there it is - hints of dark fruit, and biscuit, and creamed pumpkin. Jeek, it took you long enough to surprise me.

M: It says smooth and rounded in the info. It started crisp and sharp. It's almost like the copywriters barely got a taste of this drin... and it's warmed up now. And it's smooth. And it's rounded. There's still a slight snap to it, but if the past 20 or so minutes are a thing, I'll find out that that changes too. Pinchy Jeek, why are you such a blueballer... Was I rushing in to this too quick?

O: It's not the best BBA out there by a long shot. But it's a pretty safe segue into the style. It's not hard, it's not complex, it's not esoteric. It's a good, safe ale that beginner drinkers can lose their BBA virginities to. For the rest of us, it's like that one person we all know that blueballs us to hell and the let's us get off to the most vanilla of vanilla-coconut-pumpkin orgasms.

Rating:
Awkward first time getting it on.
Apr 12, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by Griffith from Connecticut

Apr 05, 2019
Photo of patre_tim
Reviewed by patre_tim from Thailand

4.15/5  rDev +14%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Ruby orange with little carbonation, clean filtered with a half finger of beige head.

Smells of pumpkin, caramel, and coke bourbon.

Tastes of bourbon, pumpkin, caramel, toffee and a tannic, bitter finish.

Medium body with a slightly sticky feel and moderate carbonation.

Got this in Redding, where I am enjoying it Sept 14th, 2018.
Sep 15, 2018
 
Rated: 3.81 by GarbageMan10 from Texas

Apr 14, 2018
Photo of BeerTastesGood
Reviewed by BeerTastesGood from California

2.58/5  rDev -29.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.75
There were three warning signs. First, the barrels are prominently advertised as Wild Turkey, which I only know as cheap whiskey from college. Second, it was $7, which is the cheapest beer I've seen that has been aged in barrels. Third, what is a pumpkin beer doing on a supermarket shelf at the end of March? What I learned is that there's a reason barrel aged beers are expensive. This beer has a light brown body, harsh nose, a very flat mouth feel. I thought the beer had a chance, like it could be a a nice deep pumpkin, but no I'm going to get it over with quickly.
Mar 30, 2018
 
Rated: 3.97 by Jcarriglio from Florida

Mar 30, 2018
 
Rated: 3.18 by johnnyboy76 from Oregon

Mar 02, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by Tludke from Florida

Feb 03, 2018
 
Rated: 4.29 by TheHexIsReal from North Carolina

Jan 13, 2018
 
Rated: 3.5 by 1971bernat from Virginia

Dec 28, 2017
 
Rated: 3.86 by blissfulNemo from Michigan

Dec 21, 2017
 
Rated: 4.24 by Bbock13 from North Carolina

Dec 17, 2017
 
Rated: 3.81 by TheHopsman from Nebraska

Dec 12, 2017
 
Rated: 3.71 by BrewsandBlues from Florida

Nov 24, 2017
 
Rated: 3.74 by CJNAPS from California

Nov 19, 2017
Pinchy Jeek Barl - Bourbon Barrel-Aged from Anderson Valley Brewing Company
Beer rating: 82 out of 100 with 358 ratings