Pumpkin Chai
Saugatuck Brewing Company

 

smooth pumpkin ale slightly strong from the chai tea

 

Look is cool, but the smell is rather foul. The only thing worse is the taste. While the mouth feel is somewhat watery and underwhelming, the taste and smell is reminiscent to battery acid. I would have a hard time recommending this to my worst enemy.

 

 

 

Hallowe'en 2017 is fast approaching & I suddenly feel like I need to drink more Pumpkin Ales! Don't ask why, but when I see a new one available for purchase, I feel compelled to partake.

From the bottle: "Illustrated by @Crocodilesoutlate"; "& drink happily ever after".

I Pop!ped the cap & since it was a fresh bottle, there was no need to hold back on the pour. My heavy hand created two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, tawny head with decent retention. Color was a Coppery-Brown (SRM = > 17, < 22) with NE-quality clarity. Nose had an odd spiciness that I could not put my finger on. It was not exactly cinnamon, but close. Mouthfeel was kind of thin, slightly watery. The taste was oddly spicy, in the realm of cinnamon, but not cinnamon. I do not remember the last time that I had chai tea, but perhaps I need to reorient myself in order to recognize the taste. Finish was dry, spicy, but somehow just not fulfilling. It was worth a try, but one was plenty.

 

Pours a nice amberish copper color with quarter inch head. Not really anything special with the aroma. Smells like an amber ale. Tastes like an amber ale as well. Goes down smooth, but has a bitterness aftertaste. This fits all the characteristics of an amber ale and would be great if it was, but as a pumpkin ale it's just average.

 

Not much on the initial smell besides malt ans carmel and some clove/spice. Do pick up the chai and spice in the taste and an amber ale inspired mouthfeel dominates. The finish of the sip is akwardly but appreciately bitter and dry/cloyingly edgy like a pale ale. Solid. Oh and theres pumpkin there too. I feel it on my tastebuds. Pumpkin. Yep.

This brew is a solid pumpkin brew....a bit of malt,some vegetable, and a little spice. The taste is a bit sweet, with an underlying malt and dried fruit taste. Some musty flavors and a full, hefty boy. This is a solidly good brew.

Pours a clear, brown color. One inch head of an off-white color. Great retention and great lacing. Smells of sweet malt, caramel malt, slight pale malt, pumpkin, hint of hops, and slight spice. Fits the style of a Pumpkin Ale. Mouth feel is smooth and clean, with an average carbonation level. Tastes of sweet malt, caramel malt, hops, spice, hint of pale malt, hint of yeast, and a hint of pumpkin. Overall, good appearance, malty, smooth, and good body.

 

 

 

 

12oz bottle. Poured out an orange/amber color with a white, small head. It smelled of pumpkin and chai spices. It has a sweet pumpkin taste with a unique chai spiced finish.

"Welp, if it's going to have pumpkin in it, then we gotta add pumpkin pie spice, right?" And Saugatuck's brewers exclaim a big 'ole "Hell no!" in response. It turns out the the question is a lazy on and it takes a lot of courage, honesty and harmony to rethink the pumpkin and to arrive at a place where the spices of chai tea works best with both the ale and the fruit.

Pumpkin Chai's deep chestnut mahogany pour casts a creamy but fading froth- one that expels a shocking array of spices. Cinnamon, clove, star anise, cardamom and coriander play into the nose with a sweet tea-like soothing scent. Its taste is deeply caramelized, almost toffee-like with the taste of the grilled edges of fruit cobbler and all of that graham cracker and praline character that draws us to pumpkin pie to begin with.

As the tongue is awash with malty spicecake flavors and sweetness, the beer lifts its sugars slowly and leaves behind the toasted taste of french toast as those spices begin to billow. All those spices of the nose resonate in the taste as well along with the spiciness of ginger, peppercorn and fennel for a spicy, earthy finish with only hints of actual pumpkin flesh lurking in the recesses of taste.

Medium-full in body, the beer's charm isn't in how well it resembles actual pumpkin pie, but in how the flavors of pumpkin pie and oriental teas can come together in a unique collection of taste but also in a masterful culinary combination. Trending spicy and drying, the beer extends sharply with cinnamon and simmering rum-like warmth.

 

 

 

Absolute miss. Will not buy again. Spiciness and pumpkin, little malt. Sweet. Did not finish

 

 

I want to love this beer, but it has a slight metalic aftertaste.

 

Pours an extremely murky tawny color with a moderate head of fine, khaki froth that soon settles into a thin but even cap. Aroma smells of roasted malt, milk chocolate, and something I’ve never encountered before (presumably chai tea). Whatever pumpkin exists in the nose is very faint.

The taste is also somewhat difficult to describe--earthy, herbal, slightly peppery, with a nutty malt sweetness. It takes some appreciable warming to tease out the pumpkin flavor, but it is there. Milk chocolate and toasted bread also emerge as the beer warms. Medium body and fine, soft carbonation make for a smooth, creamy mouthfeel that is quite nice.

Overall, this is an unorthodox beer, but not bad if you appreciate chai tea. I like the mouthfeel, and the maltier components aren’t half bad, but the other flavors aren’t quite my bag.

 

 

Bottled on 9/9/15. 12oz bottle poured into a tulip. Pours a dark auburn with ruby hues and solid clarity; fluffy tan head that slowly fades leaving nice retention and sticky lacing. The tea notes are present in the aromas. Pumpkin spices are there. Hints of sweet caramel and vanilla as well. Also some cola notes in the mix. The flavors follow the nose. Lots of earthy spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger is there. The herbal tea notes are alive, but aren't overwhelming. The tea blends in well with everything else going on. There's also hints of chocolate all throughout. More caramel and vanilla. Malts do their thing. Possibly some black pepper in the finish. Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of medium-bodied with active carbonation. Smooth and easy drinking.

This is a solid pumpkin ale. Not my personal favorite, but they deliver exactly what they advertise. I appreciate the herbal tea notes in a pumpkin ale because it's different.

 

 

 

 

 

12 ounce bottle, label says packaged on 08/13/15. Served in a pint glass, the beer pours a dark reddish/brown color with about an inch light tan head. Head retention is good, and there's a decent amount of lacing. The brew smells mostly like pumpkin and chai tea spices (more chai than pumpkin), along with a bit of bready/grainy malt. I think the taste is just like the aroma, it's mostly chai tea spice tasting, along with some pumpkin spiciness and bready grainy malt. This brew is all about the chai, and that's fine with me! Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's coating and creamy with low/moderate carbonation. I liked this brew, and if you like Chai then it's definitely worth picking up! I wouldn't mind trying this again in the future.