Bourbon Barrel Pumpkin Ale
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

Even though the chalkboard at the front door and the poster behind the bar refer to this beer as simply Pumpkin Ale, I have chosen to use the full name given on the chalkboard above the cask. As will become obvious, the shorter name is more appropriate.

Slightly murky, dark orange-brown. The beer looked remarkably similar to strong iced tea, or if one prefers fanciful comparisons, like a muddy pumpkin. The beige head was bar pour small and didn't last all that long. Lace was present as nothing more than a short collar initially, but when the glass was nearly empty I noted a solid sheet extending almost the entire height of the glass opposite.

The nose was somewhat muted, but was more aromatic than most brewpub beer in my experience. It smelled unquestionably of pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices with an added scent of overripe apples. Nothing in the nose said 'bourbon' to me.

BBPA had a wonderfully toasted malt flavor along with pumpkin and a perfect complement of nutmeg and clove. A nice balancing act. Good mix of sweet and bitter with bitter winning handily. Other than an understated woodiness, I appreciated no flavors that reminded me of bourbon. No brown sugar-like sweetness, no vanilla notes, no mild char... nothing. The body was more light than medium and the finish was slightly sour and pleasantly bitter.

If this beer was much higher in gravity and was truly aged in bourbon barrels, something special might have resulted. As is though, it's still a good pumpkin ale and is one of my favorites of that much maligned style. Bourbon Barrel Pumpkin Ale is yet more evidence, if any more is needed, that fellow BA wdmrock is the talent behind the best brewpub in Des Moines; perhaps even in the state.