Howling Gourds
Trader Joe's Brewing Company

 

Took this one to a musical festival in Dana Point Ca and it suddenly became my beer for the weekend. I've had many different pumpkin spiced and pumpkin based beers before but this one takes the cake for the lightness the ABV and the overall spice.
It by far is on a plane of its own because the flavor is unique pumpkin spice cinnamon and cloves but the packaging too is hilarious I've taken it to several other events since and everyone that tried it enjoyed it.

This Trader Joe's contract-brewed pumkpin is slightly better than I expected, but still not very good. With all the great local Fall beers on offer these days, why would you buy this one? Oh, right, the super low price! Quite the artificial aroma, but an inoffensive pumpkin flavor. The finish is a little sweet. I didn't hate it, but I'm glad it's over. Sampled from a 12-oz can.

Middle of the road pumpkin/spice beer. Beautiful light orange coloring with a white minimal head. Aroma is a little off. Not one distinct flavor but multiple flavors. Some spice, pumpkin, and apple juice. Bonus it’s 7%. I’ve had better pumpkin beers.

 

 

 

 

12oz single bottle best before 05/28/23 (um, that's way too far in the future). Served in a pint glass. Looks pretty nice, medium orange amber, crystal clear, with a nice thick head. Aroma has a bit of cinnamon and spice but it isn't too deep or complex -- it's enough to leave me wanting more, though not necessarily more *beer*. Actually it smells a little bit sweet like apple juice.

Flavor has some good gourdness, dry, with a bunch of that spice flavor. Cinnamon, clove, maybe even allspice. Cayenne? Or just hot cinnamon? This is actually pretty good. The pumpkin flavor isn't completely lost, but this beer is mainly about pumpkin spice, and it hits a note which is intense without being sweet at all. 7% ABV helps.

Not amazing, but I'd absolutely try this again next year.

APPEARANCE: Clean amber with a higher off-white head and little lace.

NOSE: Tons of pumpkin pie spice! Allspice, cinnamon, herbal and peppery. Hmm.

TASTE: Sweet and spiced, with warm cinnamon and allspice up front. Finishes dry and fairly well-rounded. Thankfully not overbearing or over-the-top.

Brief flash of an off white head on top of a clear caramel orange body. Pumpkin spice blend in the aroma. Tastes more like an Oktoberfest type beer. Malty, caramel notes with forward cereal grains. Fairly dry finish and not cloying. It's alright.

 

 

Look - poured into a stemmed tulip glass. light amber in color, transparent, with a frothy head that mostly dissipates, leaving little to no lacing. a ton of bubbles, likely indicating high levels of carbonation.

Smell - spices (predominantly nutmeg, with some cinnamon and cloves) are strong and almost overpowering. pumpkin pie like sweetness that has a bit of artificialness. not to the point of unpleasant, but a bit unnatural.

Taste - tons of spices (cinnamon dominates on taste) and moderately heavy sweetness, with a bit of pumpkin flavor mingled in between. spices linger along with the pumpkin flavor towards the end, with essentially no hop nor malt presence. finish is clean as expected from the lighter body, but cinnamon flavor lingers.

Feel - light bodied (leaning towards medium), high carbonation, and reasonably high ABV at 7%. alcohol is well masked under the sweetness.

Overall - a heavily spiced, overly sweet, but moderately boozy pumpkin beer. Trader Joe's has had some decent brews, but this one is definitely a miss for me.

Pours up with slight haze and a good amount of foam. Smell is heavy on the spice, like a yankee candle. It is thick and malty with a HEAVY spice finish. The aftertaste is ALL spice. Nutmeg bomb. The only saving grace here is that it's 7%

The smell of spice is strong and heavy on the nose. The taste is even stronger. With pumpkin beer at a premium, I gave the affordable TJ’s pumpkin ale a try. It’s strong on the senses and mainly spice. Not bad. Not good. One sixer and done.

 

I couldn't pass it up for $1.99 for a 6pak at 7% in January. The spices are very heavy and this leads to a almost potpourri taste/feel. This beer is different but with a few twecks it could be better.

Look: Dark light amber pour with a slight bit of lacing (1 fingers length risen to the top). As the beer dissolves it leaves a bit of lacing..
Smell: Getting huge notes of cinnamon festive nutmeg/ pumpkin spice aromas. I'm drooling just thinking about tasting this!!!
Taste: Tasting the good pumpkin spice to this beer along with notes of cinnamon nutmeg and a bit of molasses. Not many hops on this one but let me tell you this still didn't let me down.
Feel: Definitely a light to medium even if that bodied beer. On the lighter side which is surprising despite the ABV.
Overall: I really loved this! I had it back on Halloween last year and revisited it this year but it was just as amazing as it was then! I really love how festive it is and should be enjoyed in a festive manner or in my case a special manner!

Check your local Trader Joe’s. Mine is currently selling this for $1.99 per 6 pack