Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale | Cigar City Brewing
Brewed by:
Cigar City Brewing
Florida, United States
cigarcitybrewing.com
Style: Pumpkin Ale
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8.50%
Availability: Fall
Notes / Commercial Description:
Legend has it that when a pumpkin comes into the world it is possessed by either a good or an evil spirit. Ours got all the good baby! Bursting with real pumpkin flavor and yummy pumpkin spices including Ceylon cinnamon, Jamaican all-spice, Zanzibar cloves and nutmeg, Good Gourd is a celebration of Fall and that spookiest of holidays, Halloween. Pair Good Gourd with pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie and costume parties.
35 IBU
Added by tpd975 on 01-03-2009
HISTOGRAM
View: Beers | Place Reviews | Events
Ratings: 1,408 | Reviews: 223
4.12/5 rDev -3.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Came in a tall glass a clear rich auburn color but really not much head to speak of,a thin soapy-like mass really.Big warming slightly spicy cinnamon in the nose along with a hint of vanilla,slightly floral and just well rounded.Cinnamon and nutmeg give off a slightly spicy opening to the palate,some graham cracker and vanilla combine with a hefty alcohol presence making a somewhat sweet finish.A fuller almost creamy feel adds to the beer style,one of the better pumpkin ales I have had in the last couple years.At least so far this year to be sure.
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look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Came in a tall glass a clear rich auburn color but really not much head to speak of,a thin soapy-like mass really.Big warming slightly spicy cinnamon in the nose along with a hint of vanilla,slightly floral and just well rounded.Cinnamon and nutmeg give off a slightly spicy opening to the palate,some graham cracker and vanilla combine with a hefty alcohol presence making a somewhat sweet finish.A fuller almost creamy feel adds to the beer style,one of the better pumpkin ales I have had in the last couple years.At least so far this year to be sure.
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3.8/5 rDev -11%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Got this bottle from Leuken's. Served in a Pumking goblet.
Pours a moderate orange-copper with a good off-white head. Decent retention and some spotty lacing on the way down. The nose carried a lot of squash and pumpkin with a bit of cinnamon and miscellaneous spice in the background. The flavor didn't have quite as much spice and really focused on the squash element. Not too sweet, which was nice. Chewy medium body with moderate carbonation and a bit of spice zest in the finish. Good brew.
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look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Got this bottle from Leuken's. Served in a Pumking goblet.
Pours a moderate orange-copper with a good off-white head. Decent retention and some spotty lacing on the way down. The nose carried a lot of squash and pumpkin with a bit of cinnamon and miscellaneous spice in the background. The flavor didn't have quite as much spice and really focused on the squash element. Not too sweet, which was nice. Chewy medium body with moderate carbonation and a bit of spice zest in the finish. Good brew.
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3.62/5 rDev -15.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A - Pours with a healthy head of off white foam on top of a hazy, amber brown body. The head settles at a moderate lace and leaves decent lace on the glass,
S - Brown, malty notes of toffee with lots of spices, including allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove.
T - Bready malt notes up front with some brown sugar. A bit of cinnamon and allspice in the middle. Finishes with clove, more dark sugar, and lightly herbal hops.
M - Medium thick body, moderately low carbonation, and a somewhat sweet finish.
D - Not bad, but I don't think it lives up to what some have said about it. Despite CCs penchant for high end spices, the pie character here is kind of bland and flabby with a malt character that only serves to reinforce that impression. I had this beer when it first came out and remember it being less sweet and spicy with more hops in the balance, but it has been so long that I might be misremembering it at this point.
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look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A - Pours with a healthy head of off white foam on top of a hazy, amber brown body. The head settles at a moderate lace and leaves decent lace on the glass,
S - Brown, malty notes of toffee with lots of spices, including allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove.
T - Bready malt notes up front with some brown sugar. A bit of cinnamon and allspice in the middle. Finishes with clove, more dark sugar, and lightly herbal hops.
M - Medium thick body, moderately low carbonation, and a somewhat sweet finish.
D - Not bad, but I don't think it lives up to what some have said about it. Despite CCs penchant for high end spices, the pie character here is kind of bland and flabby with a malt character that only serves to reinforce that impression. I had this beer when it first came out and remember it being less sweet and spicy with more hops in the balance, but it has been so long that I might be misremembering it at this point.
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4.25/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.17/5 rDev -2.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
750ml bottle shared at a recent tasting. It poured a darker, amber orange color with a thin, sticky white head clinging to the edges of the glass. Nice color to it.
The aroma shows cinnamon, nutmeg and canned pumpkin. A malty sweetness helps cut through the spices smoothing it out. Nice aroma for the style.
The taste shows more of the cinnamon and nutmeg spices up front while more of the canned pumpkin flavors come out in the finish. A malty sweetness balances out all the spices in the finish very nicely.
The mouthfeel is medium bodied with carbonation being moderate. Overall I thought it was a fantastic pumpkin beer. The spices weren't overdone and the sweetness definitely helped smooth them out even more. Very nice pumpkin pie like flavor to it overall. Definitely one of the best pumpkin beers I've had, but it doesn't quite beat out Pumking for me.
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look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
750ml bottle shared at a recent tasting. It poured a darker, amber orange color with a thin, sticky white head clinging to the edges of the glass. Nice color to it.
The aroma shows cinnamon, nutmeg and canned pumpkin. A malty sweetness helps cut through the spices smoothing it out. Nice aroma for the style.
The taste shows more of the cinnamon and nutmeg spices up front while more of the canned pumpkin flavors come out in the finish. A malty sweetness balances out all the spices in the finish very nicely.
The mouthfeel is medium bodied with carbonation being moderate. Overall I thought it was a fantastic pumpkin beer. The spices weren't overdone and the sweetness definitely helped smooth them out even more. Very nice pumpkin pie like flavor to it overall. Definitely one of the best pumpkin beers I've had, but it doesn't quite beat out Pumking for me.
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4.72/5 rDev +10.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
A - Great looking pumpkin ale. Maple amber body. Yellowed-paper head has ok retention and nice lace.
S - Whoa. Outstanding nose. Fresh banana nut bread and carrot cake. Banana, walnuts, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar canned pumpkin, allspice, raisins.
T - Awesome flavor profile. This beer definitely lives up to the hype. Canned pumpkin, nutmeg, brown sugar, butterscotch, allspice, maple syrup, sweet molasses, cinnamon, graham cracker, vanilla. The only things missing are leaf piles and sweaters.
M - Thick, rich, smooth, and full bodied.
O - If you distilled fall, had your grandmother bake it into a pie, and then brewed a beer with it, this would be that beer.
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look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
A - Great looking pumpkin ale. Maple amber body. Yellowed-paper head has ok retention and nice lace.
S - Whoa. Outstanding nose. Fresh banana nut bread and carrot cake. Banana, walnuts, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar canned pumpkin, allspice, raisins.
T - Awesome flavor profile. This beer definitely lives up to the hype. Canned pumpkin, nutmeg, brown sugar, butterscotch, allspice, maple syrup, sweet molasses, cinnamon, graham cracker, vanilla. The only things missing are leaf piles and sweaters.
M - Thick, rich, smooth, and full bodied.
O - If you distilled fall, had your grandmother bake it into a pie, and then brewed a beer with it, this would be that beer.
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4.5/5 rDev +5.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.31/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
From 12/12/13 notes. Huge thanks to Nugganooch for sharing this one; I love pumpkin beers and tihs was a big Want of mine. 750ml bottle poured into my Cigar City tulip.
a - Pours a hazy reddish brown color with one inch of off white head and low carbonation evident. Lots of head retention and lacing on the glass.
s - Smells of pumpkin pie, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin, toasted malts, bread, oats, cloves, gingerbread cookies, and sugar. Great nose, just like pumpkin pie.
t - Tastes of sweet pumpkin fillings, toasted malts, cinnamin, pumpkin, bread, oats, wheat, toasted malts, spice, nutmeg, cloves, and bready malts. Even better than the nose; I like it a lot.
m - Medium body and moderate carbonation. Body is smooth and creamy, quite easy to drink. Doesn't feel 8.5% ABV.
o - Overall I liked this one a lot; while not my favorite pumpkin beer ever it is in the mix with the top ones out there for sure. Easy to drink and the taste was great, I think I like Schlafly's pumpkin ale the best, followed by Elysian The Great Pumpkin, this, Pumking, and Alewerks Pumpkin Ale all slightly under it. Well worth checking out if you like the style.
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look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
From 12/12/13 notes. Huge thanks to Nugganooch for sharing this one; I love pumpkin beers and tihs was a big Want of mine. 750ml bottle poured into my Cigar City tulip.
a - Pours a hazy reddish brown color with one inch of off white head and low carbonation evident. Lots of head retention and lacing on the glass.
s - Smells of pumpkin pie, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin, toasted malts, bread, oats, cloves, gingerbread cookies, and sugar. Great nose, just like pumpkin pie.
t - Tastes of sweet pumpkin fillings, toasted malts, cinnamin, pumpkin, bread, oats, wheat, toasted malts, spice, nutmeg, cloves, and bready malts. Even better than the nose; I like it a lot.
m - Medium body and moderate carbonation. Body is smooth and creamy, quite easy to drink. Doesn't feel 8.5% ABV.
o - Overall I liked this one a lot; while not my favorite pumpkin beer ever it is in the mix with the top ones out there for sure. Easy to drink and the taste was great, I think I like Schlafly's pumpkin ale the best, followed by Elysian The Great Pumpkin, this, Pumking, and Alewerks Pumpkin Ale all slightly under it. Well worth checking out if you like the style.
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4.22/5 rDev -1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
orange tinted amber. This was very cloudy and hazy which kind of surprised me to be honest. A good two inch or more of white foamy lace formed as a head on top and actually had some really good retention
highly spiced but yet not overpowering as you see a lot with these pumpkins. nutmeg, and cinnamon and a good amount of fresh grass or even a tree like smell to it. Lots of spice running through it though and I could pick up even on some apple in there as well. I thought the aroma was very well put together overall. a nice grainy almost yeast like back to it which really served to lighten it up. This was followed by loads of fall spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, lots of spiced apple, just a good all around mix. There was a noticeable hoppy presence and this definitely could not be hidden. Great finish
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look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
orange tinted amber. This was very cloudy and hazy which kind of surprised me to be honest. A good two inch or more of white foamy lace formed as a head on top and actually had some really good retention
highly spiced but yet not overpowering as you see a lot with these pumpkins. nutmeg, and cinnamon and a good amount of fresh grass or even a tree like smell to it. Lots of spice running through it though and I could pick up even on some apple in there as well. I thought the aroma was very well put together overall. a nice grainy almost yeast like back to it which really served to lighten it up. This was followed by loads of fall spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, lots of spiced apple, just a good all around mix. There was a noticeable hoppy presence and this definitely could not be hidden. Great finish
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4.15/5 rDev -2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
750 mL bottle poured into a goblet.
Appearance - Slightly hazy deep amber body. Not as dark as other pumpkin ales. A nice healthy head also distinguishes it from other pumpkins. And finally, it's got lacing! It looks like a real beer.
Smell - A great balance of pumpkin and spices. It's not dominated by spices, but they complement the pumpkin nicely. Nutmeg especially, I think.
Taste - Good pumpkin flavor up front, but the spices are less involved. The pumpkin flavor seems to fade and come back in the end. Maybe even a bit of earthiness with it at the end and possibly some bitterness.
Mouthfeel - Thick, but not as creamy as I'd like. I imagine a perfect pumpkin ale like drinking a pumpkin pie and it comes close, but just not quite creamy enough. Are my standards too high?
Overall - The best pumpkin ale I've had to date, but not perfect. The smell is wonderful but the taste is not quite as good.
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look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
750 mL bottle poured into a goblet.
Appearance - Slightly hazy deep amber body. Not as dark as other pumpkin ales. A nice healthy head also distinguishes it from other pumpkins. And finally, it's got lacing! It looks like a real beer.
Smell - A great balance of pumpkin and spices. It's not dominated by spices, but they complement the pumpkin nicely. Nutmeg especially, I think.
Taste - Good pumpkin flavor up front, but the spices are less involved. The pumpkin flavor seems to fade and come back in the end. Maybe even a bit of earthiness with it at the end and possibly some bitterness.
Mouthfeel - Thick, but not as creamy as I'd like. I imagine a perfect pumpkin ale like drinking a pumpkin pie and it comes close, but just not quite creamy enough. Are my standards too high?
Overall - The best pumpkin ale I've had to date, but not perfect. The smell is wonderful but the taste is not quite as good.
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3.97/5 rDev -7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Thanks to Mike for this beer.
A: The pour is a dark amber color with some brown and copper hues in there as well. A short lived off-white head is there as well.
S: A nice blend of spices, but not overdone. I get some nutmeg, all spice, and a hint of cinnamon. Some pumpkin aroma, more than I usually get in pumpkin beers. Some light vanilla, too.
T: Fairly well balanced in terms of all the different flavors going on. The cinnamon flavor seems to be more pronounced with the other spices sort of falling into the background. A decent amount of sweetness, mild pumpkin, and a hint of bitterness.
M: The body is medium, as is the carbonation.
D: Pumpkin ales are sort of hard to do, since the spicing can really mess them up. I'm happy that CCB has managed to keep things within reason and make for an enjoyable beer.
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look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Thanks to Mike for this beer.
A: The pour is a dark amber color with some brown and copper hues in there as well. A short lived off-white head is there as well.
S: A nice blend of spices, but not overdone. I get some nutmeg, all spice, and a hint of cinnamon. Some pumpkin aroma, more than I usually get in pumpkin beers. Some light vanilla, too.
T: Fairly well balanced in terms of all the different flavors going on. The cinnamon flavor seems to be more pronounced with the other spices sort of falling into the background. A decent amount of sweetness, mild pumpkin, and a hint of bitterness.
M: The body is medium, as is the carbonation.
D: Pumpkin ales are sort of hard to do, since the spicing can really mess them up. I'm happy that CCB has managed to keep things within reason and make for an enjoyable beer.
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4.5/5 rDev +5.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale from Cigar City Brewing
Beer rating:
4.27 out of
5 with
1,408 ratings
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Thanks to rudzud as he purchased this on our trip up to VT.
Big fizzy head of 1 finger fades semi slowly with a bit of lacing, crystal clear auburn ruby molasses brown color lots of light coming through.
Nose loaded with pumpkin, light fruity aroma, pumpkin pie, light spices, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, nutty, etc. light bready malts, toasty, crust, caramel, molasses, etc.
Taste is creamy, toasted malts, bready, pie crust then pumpkin pie filing, nice pumpkin, light spices nutmeg and cinnamon, allspice, etc. light spicy taste. Very pumpkin pie autumn taste. Light hazelnut, semi sweet caramel. Then light canned pumpkin, light bitterness. Very nice. Finish gets a little astringent with the spices and bittering hops.
Mouth is slightly heavy bodied, good carb, little sticky, nice.
Overall great, one of the best pumpkin beers I've had. Nice pumpkin flavors, earthy hops and spices, great malt balance, great pumpkin pie.
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