Imperial Pumpkin
Dry Dock Brewing Co.

Imperial PumpkinImperial Pumpkin
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Dry Dock Brewing Co.
 
Colorado, United States
Style:
Pumpkin Beer
ABV:
9%
Score:
87
Avg:
3.88 | pDev: 12.37%
Reviews:
20
Ratings:
74
Status:
Active
Rated:
Apr 25, 2019
Added:
Aug 22, 2013
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  6
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by swedishmailman:
Photo of swedishmailman
Rated by swedishmailman from Georgia

3.75/5  rDev -3.4%

Oct 21, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.84 by Kolb from Montana

Apr 25, 2019
 
Rated: 3.84 by jaydoc from Kansas

Nov 11, 2016
Photo of Vonerichs
Reviewed by Vonerichs from Colorado

3.44/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Dark orange. The carbonation is fizzy but the head is wispy and poor retention.

Pumpkin spice aroma, slightly sweet.

Lots of fusel spice, very boozy, almost like rubbing alcohol. The pumpkin flavor is overwhelmed by the booze.

Mouthfeel is thin with high carbonation and has a hard time supporting the big boozy flavor.

Too boozy and thin for my liking. The pumpkin spice is nice, but takes a back seat to the rubbing alcohol.
Sep 14, 2016
Photo of akolb
Reviewed by akolb from Colorado

3.94/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Taken from the fridge and allowed to warm for an hour before opening. Nose is a huge blase of spices. Cinnamon is very strong followed by ginger, allspice, and cloves. A little pumpkin hiding in the background. Smells like gingerbread or pumpkin pie. Taste is creamy. The spices are a bit more muted and harder to individually distinguish. As others have noted, it tastes more like pie than anything pumpkin-y, which to me isn't a bad thing at all (I wonder why we don't see more chai beers... a chai milk stout would be awesome!) Anyway, they're a bit of sweetness and a bit of bitterness but not too much of either. A warm aftertaste. This is one of the more enjoyable spiced beers I've had. The high ABV helps give the spices enough backdrop not to be overwhelming. The pumpkin flavors are very muted, which is a plus in my book.
Sep 05, 2016
Photo of Wasatch
Reviewed by Wasatch from Colorado

4.61/5  rDev +18.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
22 oz. Bomber

Pours a very nice clean/clear golden amber color, very nice carbonation, with a nice small off-white head, which leaves some very nice sticky lacing behind. The nose is malty, with some very nice pumpkin, spice, nutmeg notes. The taste is very nice, malty, spicy, very nice pumpkin/nutmeg notes. Medium body, ABV is basically non-existed, with a nice little bitter dry finish. Overall, this is one of the best I've ever had, definitely hitting the spot today.
Dec 14, 2015
Photo of Jugs_McGhee
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Colorado

2.95/5  rDev -24%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
Brief notes from a 2015 bottle:

A: Pours a healthy off-white head which is pretty standard for a pumpkin beer, replete with nice frothiness and foam. Recedes within ~5 minutes. Body is a vibrant copper with no visible yeast.

Appears well-carbonated. Not a unique or special appearance overall, but right on the money for the style. Neither hazy nor cloudy.

Sm: Pumpkin gourd and brown sugar are prominent, with more minor notes of clove and caramel in there too. Not the nutmeg/allspice/ginger spice-bomb many pumpkin beers are, which is a nice change of pace and helps emphasize what should count in a pumpkin beer...the pumpkin.

Aromatic intensity is above average. This suggests a straightforward ale with authentic pumpkin character.

T: The pumpkin isn't quite as genuine as the aroma suggested, suffering from a bit of an artificial extract-y feel. Spicing is minimal, but some clove does sneak in. The copper ale backbone is apt for a pumpkin ale, but in terms of complexity and nuance this leaves much to be desired. Still, I love that the pumpkin doesn't get drowned out by nutmeg or allspice.

Mf: What you'd expect. Smooth, wet, medium-bodied, maybe a bit overcarbonated, and of average heft and weight on the palate. Doesn't accentuate specific notes or elevate the beer as a whole, but it suits the flavour profile decently enough and it gets the job done, delivering the flavours without distracting.

O: Its higher ABV will please fans of the imperial trend, but it won't dazzle discerning pumpkin ale drinkers. I wouldn't pick this up again (especially at bomber prices), but it's decent work from a brewery that does much better beers. Seems like an obligatory seasonal for the market, not an inspired beer with passion behind it.

High C (2.95) / AVERAGE
Dec 09, 2015
 
Rated: 3.39 by SierraFlight from Virginia

Nov 11, 2015
 
Rated: 3.73 by LXIXME from New Mexico

Oct 31, 2015
 
Rated: 3.25 by WiggyKGB from Illinois

Oct 25, 2015
 
Rated: 4.73 by acslatersbtb from Colorado

Oct 11, 2015
Photo of allforbetterbeer
Reviewed by allforbetterbeer from Colorado

4.23/5  rDev +9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
Poured into a snifter from a 22oz bottle.

Smells of rich nad layered Thanksgiving/pumpkin pie spices. Some good pumpkin in there too. Really, one of the best smelling pumpkin beers out there. Awesome.

Not overly sweet, but just rich with pumpkin pie. The spices almost amount to a light bitterness, which is pleasant. The body might be a tad thin, but it is pretty creamy. The pumpkin adds a nice vegetable note but doesn't go too far (as so many seem to do when the pumpkin doesn't integrate right). Unusually pleasant aftertaste for a pumpkin beer. Nice all the way around in the flavor department.

The body is slightly fizzy, but maybe this is still too cold. I can't knock this much, but I want something smoother and softer. That is just nit picking though.

Conclusion: Great job Dry dock, as usual. The best pumpkin beer of the season so far (I am on a mission to find another pumpkin beer I like as much as Venetucci Pumpkin Ale from my local Bristol brewing company. This might be a contender! I still have a bit longer for VPA to be released, so I will get this again when the time comes and do a side by side.
Sep 09, 2015
Photo of KLHBB
Reviewed by KLHBB from Arkansas

4.2/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Oh how yummy. Poured on tap at the Brewery. DArk amber color, minimum head. Smell of cinnamon, taste of cloves, nutmeg, molasses, caramel.... I never actually taste the "pumpkin", pumpkin doesn't have a lot of taste to me. But this has a dark sweetness and at 9% ABV, this did me for the afternoon. A dense mouthfeel and overall, delicious.
Sep 07, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by noxtenebrae17 from Colorado

Jul 30, 2015
 
Rated: 3.16 by nathanmiller from New York

May 26, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by Hohnbaum from Kansas

May 17, 2015
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

4/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
wow, i did not expect to like this one so much. its a beautiful pumpkin beer, with a ton of real cinnamon flavor to go with the pumpkins, its beautiful. rich dark copper color with nice clarity for the style and an inch of white head on top. the nose is cinnamon first, but not totally at the expense of the pumpkin, and not muddled and confused by other spices, its just cinnamon i smell. the grain base is largely caramel, mid range crystal, medium bodied and only sweet enough to fit the style. i taste cinnamon and pumpkin together, like a pumpkin muffin, a small amount of roasted malt, even a touch of rye spice maybe to this, or something else in the spice mix contributing a similar character. a hint of honey and vanilla in the finish, but its not real sweet. it then dries up pretty good with only the cinnamon left at the end. the alcohol is warming in the belly but cannot be felt or tasted at all. i should not have overlooked this beer, its one of the better dry dock beers ive ever had really, perfect for late fall and thanksgiving time.
Nov 23, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by newbeeraday from Pennsylvania

Nov 16, 2014
Photo of ONovoMexicano
Reviewed by ONovoMexicano from New Mexico

4/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from a bomber into a snifter.

This brew pours a cloudy orange almost like a witbier. Carbonation is aggressive and leads to a fizziness on the head that forms a finger and a half thick pale, off-white head. When the head dissipates, a film forms over the body and remains. 4

Heavy doses of pumpkin and spice on the aroma. Nutmeg is the more prominent of the medley of spices. There's a biscuity quality that essentially reminds me of some pie crust. Not bad, not bad at all. 4

It's funny, this reminds me of a spiced chai drink almost more than a pumpkin beer or anything pumpkin. As I continue drinking, the pumpkin emerges more and there's a creamy vanilla flavor that I like quite a bit. Continued drinking and I start getting a lot of pumpkin pie. 4

Again, this beer is like a chai... a chai with milk. It's spicy, but a tasteful, unoffensive spice with a bit of a bite and has a good creamy quality. The body feels lighter initially but it's in fact quite big-bodied. 4

This is a unique brew. It could just as easily be a chai beer, but whatever you want to call it, it's a spiced beer done right. 4
Nov 03, 2014
Imperial Pumpkin from Dry Dock Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 74 ratings