Pumpkin Roll Ale
Pennsylvania Brewing Company

 

Poured moderately hard from a bottle, forming a ton of frothy off white head that slowly faded to a heavy ring of lacing. Dark orange color. Smell is slightly hoppy pumpkin, not bad. Taste is similar, with pumpkin primary, a bit of spices in the middle, and hoppiness at the end. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Okay pumpkin ale, but only because I know there's much better out there.

A: Dark Bengal-orange has a fizzy tan and short lived topping. Very low carbonation presence, with a weak speckled display of lacing on the vessel. Nice coloring though.

S: Strong spicing of cinnamon and nutmeg. Toasted warm grains and dried caramel along with ginger spicing. Really sweet and strongly spiced, pumpkin pie, with some holiday curacao oranges as well.

T: Syrupy sweet flavor and spice rack flair. Nutmeg and cinnamon sluree, ginger and spicy oranges. Heavily leans towards the spicing with some dry pumpkin pie crust fade at the finish.

M: Thick and syrupy body, low carbonation texture, spicy and malt syrup like.

O: A heavily spiced pumpkin beer that overshadows any natural pumpkin element and at times overbearing which will surely limit drinkability. Feels and taste like a malt extract beer. If you like you pumpkin beers heavily spiced and malt forward then this is for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12oz bottle poured into beer glass.
Look: Brown, with thin white head.
Smell: Pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon.
Taste: Pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon, then bread and biscuits
Feel: easy to drink, no alcohol taste or burn.
Overall: a pumpkin beer that lives up to expectations. Highly recommend

 

Poured into a narrow glass: color is opaque copper, a little dense looking, head is off white to light tan with fine bubbles and presents about 1/2 inch thick.

Smell is cinnamon, nutmeg, light caramel malt.

Taste is similar with prominent cinnamon, nutmeg; malts present as caramel and a good amount of biscuit and bread like qualities and flavors.

Mouthfeel is crisp, moderate carbonation, then drying spice but not overly done.

Overall a spicy pumpkin ale that leans heavy on cinnamon.

 

 

 

Poured into a snifter.

3.25 A: Moderately hazed bright, but darker orange color. One finger of frothy white head. Retention is a few steps below average and a short ring of lacing is left.

3.5 S: Pumpkin, nuttiness, and caramel. Hints of vanilla. Mix of spicy cinnamon, nutmeg, and plenty of ginger. Pleasant, but perhaps a bit too subtle.

3.5 T: Like the nose, it's pretty decent, but needs more power. Spices per above with vanilla. Plenty of tasty pumpkin.

3.5 M: Lighter medium body. Good moderate carbonation. Light creaminess but plenty good.

3.5 D: Not the best, but a better than average pumpkin beer.

 

DATE: September 23, 2016... OCCASION... the first fall night that might warrant a pumpkin ale--time to try a new one... GLASSWARE: Schneider Wiesen Edel-Weisse pokal... pours a dark amber, thick body with a slow, easy, glass-wide effervescence... a half-finger, creamy thick head holds steady and leaves thick, filmy lacing behind... cinnamon outweighs the pumpkin, while allspice and nutmeg cloy amidst a soft pumpkin suggestion... spruce hedges its way in--odd for a pumpkin, but not unwelcome... a smooth yet lively mouth feel that lagers at the throat with vibrancy... faint play at the teeth... medium-bodied and drinkable at 6%... finishes with a soft but noticeable burn... surprisingly, the aroma matches its flavor profile, with nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice dominating... sadly, the pumpkin is tough to locate... this is a beer that suffers from its own label--is this a pumpkin ale? not really... this actually fits better with a holiday milieu, but not bad at this time either...

 

This is kind of a twofer for me: 1) It is New Beer Sunday (Week 603) & 2) I am involved in the #2016PumpkinChallenge so it works to my advantage. Sadly, though, it only comes in a bottle.

From the bottle: "This fragrant ale evokes the rich, deep flavors of spiced pumpkin cake rolled around a sweet, creamy filling."

The Pop!ping of the cap was much easier than making an actual pumpkin roll, lemmetellya. I had an entire semester in HomeEc - Foods 3 that centered around pastries. The cake needs to be plenty moist, the filling needs to be spread evenly and you should have at least a third hand, if not a fourth, helping on the roll. Once you master that technique, then you are ready to tackle the Bouche de Noel (Yule log), which involves skilled handiwork with icing. This bottle was MUCH easier & I celebrated that fact with an aggro pour. This raised up a finger of dense, foamy, tawny head with good retention that left nice lacing behind as it slowly fell. Color was Deep Amber/Light Copper to Copper (SRM = > 13, < 17) with NE-quality clarity. I agree with their use of the word "fragrant" as it applies to the nose. Lots of spices going on there. I am more interested in how (well) they pull off the "sweet, creamy filling". Mouthfeel was indeed creamy! The taste was predominately cinnamon, like a mouthful of those Red Hots candies. Okay, we have creamy and spicy, but not so much sweet. At least it was spicy without being woody, which can happen when the beer is oversaturated with cinnamon. I had one the other day that felt and tasted like I was sucking on a cinnamon stick. Ugh. Not pleasant. They at least showed some restraint in this one, but the sweetness was not forthcoming. Finish was dry, thanks to all of the spices, but it did not live up to its own billing. Gotta work on that, Penn!

 

 

 

disappointing. While the nose is inviting, the beer is a bit thin, a tad acrid, and
does not satisfy. Was expecting more depth

 

 

Possibly the worst beer that I've ever tasted. I'd rather have a bud light. Actually if those are my two choices I'll just have water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suuuper sweet. Like that sweet potato dish with marshmallow on top your aunt brings for Thanksgiving.