Great Gourds Of Fire
Hopworks Brewery

Canned on: 9-3-25
Many thx to muchloveforhops3 for this can!

A - Deep orange amber color with vibrant carnation, a few floaties, and dense caramel colored cream lacing.

S - Cinnamon, spice, nutmeg - yep, smells like a punkin beer!

T - Pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon, nutmeg, with a little bit of peppery spice buries the caramel malt base with some subtle bitterness on the back side.

M - Medium body with light pricklies on the tongue.

O - A solid Pumpkin ale.

This beer pours an amber color with a thin head that stays around for a while. The aroma is cinnamon and pumpkin. The taste is pumpkin without all the other spices that make it taste like a pie. The chilis give a little heat at the finish. I enjoyed this beer more than I thought I would as all the ingredients blended well together. Rated 1-27-2023

 

 

 

Pumpkin spice and breads with a slight fruitiness. Same on the taste except the fruitiness of the hops and pumpkin taste come together but as it warms the clove and cinnamon and slight chili bite come out more. Good pumpkin beer!

 

Can from TJs.

A dark ruddy brown with a dense, light brown head with good retention and lacing. The nose is sweet and bready, with the Munich malt character clean and fresh, along with a soft spice blend, with nutmeg and clove with a touch of allspice. Mild pumpkin flavor as well. The palate opens clown, mildly sweet with brown sugar, toasted bread, caramel and nice spices. Soft, creamy, cooked pumpkin notes are present. Mildly sweet on the finish with a lingering pumpkin flavor. Solid!

Pint can dated 9/29/22. Served in a goblet. Pours quite orange and forms a quite large head in the glass, where it takes on a more traditional amber color. Aroma is malty and a bit vegetal / it smells like a gourd. I'm not picking up specific spices (though my nose may be impaired) but there may be some chili here. Flavor has a nice, tasty, almost savory pumpkin flavor. There's some heat to those spices and it actually works well with the alcohol.

Very enjoyable and I appreciate that they took a pumpkin ale in a somewhat different direction while preserving both the pumpkin flavor and the spice.

Look: Amber-red in color and the pour brings a formidable beige head that swells up, holds, and slowly puckers away, leaving great lacing behind
Aroma: Roasted pumpkin, raw pumpkin flesh, roasted pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, wafts of clove, some nutmeg, and freshly baked pumpkin bread
Taste: Starts off with a rush of roasted pumpkin and bread that is quickly followed by a chili pepper note sans the heat. Spices wiggle their way in alongside roasted pumpkin seeds and everything mingles nicely through the close
Mouthfeel: Full, somewhat soft, clean, medium-high carbonation, and soft on the finish
Overall: This is tasty stuff. Thanks to my sister-in-law for this gem as I’d seen it but hadn’t pulled the trigger yet, which I will definitely be doing now. A delicious real tasting pumpkin beer with a perfect ratio of spices to keep it from being a pumpkin pie beer and the roast aspect is quite prominent too. Recommended

Handsome dark orange brew with abundant off-white foam in the Maredsous goblet. Tangy on the tongue with lush carbonation. Aromatic with spice, a hint of cinnamon, but restrained. Pumpkin in the nose but not so much in the taste. Rather bitter spicy aftertaste. Some peppery heat, but again, not heavy handed. Malty, just the right sweetness to go with the concept. A better than average pumpkin brew. From the 16 oz can purchased at Elizabeth Station. Dated 9/7/22.

16oz can from Brewers Haven. Dark amber, cloudy, off-white frothy head. Aroma is roast pumpkin and a hint of cinnamon. Taste is more of the pumpkin, nutmeg, a small bite from the peppers. So nice to have a beer that focuses on the pumpkin instead of the spice.

 

a little lower abv this year on the pint cans than what is listed here, mine says 6.5% abv, really cool brew, done with roasted pumpkins and spices, plenty squashy which i love, earthy and perfectly supplemented by the malt profile, not overly pie spiced, and its quite dry too, all the thing i want from one of these. rich brick red to amber in color with a sturdy creamy inch of khaki head, great retention. the aroma is definitely a roasty thing, lightly sweet, pumpkin seems evident, cooked and soft and a little charry, with some molasses and toffee character from the grain, a kilned warmth as well, definitely autumnal. i get a cool spice mix too, a little unconventional, clove and black pepper in front of cinnamon and nutmeg, less desserty that way. the flavor is all of this, malt and squash both ahead of spice, plush fuller body, minimal residual sugar, and the enhancing spice finish, a whisper of cinnamon to it, really great balance to this, letting the pumpkin do a lot of the walking and talking. fantastic build on this, and it ends up being one of the more flavorful, satisfying, and drinkable pumpkin beers of the season for me, so distinctive, so organic seeming, really ideal for this time of year as we approach halloween. top tier for the style for my money.

 

Brownish red with three fingers of cream color head. Rings and swathes of lace appear as the levels drop.
Smell is pumpkin spices and some sweetness.
Taste is pumpkin spice and some bready malts. No real hops detected.
Mouthfeel is medium with decent carbonation. The finish is lightly dry and balanced.
Overall a tasty pumpkin spice ale. Note: The can lists the abv. as 6.5%.
Canned on date of 15 Sept. 21.

 

 

This pours a relatively clean deep reddish mahogany with a thin off white head. Minimal lacing.

Spices dominate the aroma, but not a whole lot of pumpkin going on, which might be a good thing. Cinnamon, nutmeg, caramel, and a hint of vanilla.

Flavor follows. Very well spiced with a lot going on. The caramel malt delivers, keeping it sweet , but again, not getting much pumpkin other than the spices.

This is where this one loses me. At 8.6% and it's style, I was hoping for some real richness. This only gets its richness from spices, as the body is very thin. The booze is well hidden, and it has a light, almost crisp finish.

Great Gourds Of Fire comes out more like a typical spiced ale and not much more. I would love to see this with the spices dialed down, and the body and pumpkin turned up, which is saying a lot as I normally do not want more pumpkin. Cheers!