Barrel-Aged Nunkin
East End Brewing Company

Bourbon Barrel Aged Nunkin Ale– from East End Brewing. Single 16 oz can. In reefer at Franklin Beer, Franklin, PA. Acquired 22/09/23, $ 4.00 (Including tax), $ 0.250/fl oz. Reviewed 25/09/23 (Review 3156). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Undated can. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 50.9 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 54.5 degrees F.
Appearance – 3.25.
First pour – Pale Amber (SRM 9), hazy.
Body – Amber Brown (SRM 18), opaque. Under direct light same. When rear-lite, a faint red-amber glow occurs.
Head: Average (Maximum 3.0 cm, aggressive center pour), beige, high density. Quickly reduced to a 0.2 – 0.3 cm crown and a thin partial cap.
Lacing – Fair - High density band of whitish bubbles trying to devolve into lace curtains.
Aroma – 3 – Nutmeg. No yeast, no hops, no malt. No ethanol (7.9 % ABV according to the label).
Flavor – 3.25 – Begins slightly sweet with mild spice, nutmeg predominates with a bit of cinnamon and a suggestion of bourbon on the aftertaste. No yeast, no hops, no malt, no barrel. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Mild gastric warming.
Palate – 3.25 – Medium; watery; soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: (After deducting 0.25 point for undated can) 3 Just another seasonal spiced ale sans pumpkin.

Got in a BIF from OzzyLizard. 16 ounce can into tulip glass, canned on 9/7/2021. Pours hazy red/orange/brown color with a 1-2 finger dense and rocky light khaki head with great retention. Nice dense spotty soapy lacing, and moderate streaming carbonation. This was great. Aromas and of caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, brown bread/crust, herbal, wood, pepper, pine, yeast earth. Taste comes off a bit less on the barrel aspect than the nose, stronger spice over sweetness. Light-moderate pine/herbal bitterness on the cinnamon spiciness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body, balanced creamy/bready malt and sticky hop mouthfeel. Light lingering hop resins drying finish, with zero astringency. Mild increasing warmth of 7.9%, touch of barrel booze. Smooth drinking. Well balanced pumpkin spiced ale, not a ton of barrel but a pleasant foundation of complexity. No complaints.

 

 

Sadly, this is the worst kind of pumpkin beer - the aromatics are roughly identical to a lit Yankee Candle, which is to say, extremely artificial and cloying. The taste is just over-the-top with cinnamon / other pumpkin spice but very little actual pumpkin. The barrel is discernible buried beneath all those other flavors but it doesn’t really add much.