Pumpkin Ale
Old Forge Brewing Company

From my parents, this was poured into a becher pint glass.
The appearance was a semi-clear burnt orange color with a quickly dissipating small semi-foamy head barely leaving any lace.
The aroma had some pumpkin sweetness, clove then caramel malts.
The flavor tried to blend the pumpkin to the spice but mainly stayed a bit incohesive. Mild pumpkin sweet malty aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was between light and medium bodied with a fair sessionable character about it. Good carbonation and ABV. Kinda pumpkin-like finish but there really isn't much.
Overall,it's a decent pumpkin ale.

At the source served in a pint glass. The menu puts this at 6.1%.

3.5 A: Clear orange Amber color. Came with a head but I was preoccupied and didn't visualize it. No lacing left though.

4.0 S: Strong sugary sweet caramel with lots of pumpkin spice. It's so exaggerated that it reminds me of fruity pebbles or something of that nature. That isn't meant to be an insult though as it smells great.

4.0 T: Like the nose this has a heavy spiciness with thick sweet caramel. Pleasantly toasty. Good bit of pumpkin, vanilla, and brown sugar.

3.5 M: Heavier medium body. Good moderate carbonation with a pleasant creaminess. Super smooth.

4.0 D: Super tasty and plenty pumpkin-y.

Pounder can poured into a snifter appears s clear copper color with a white head that is quick to fade leaving spotty lace.

The smell contains that of pumpkin flesh right out the gate with a mild vegetative feel and some hints of spice like big red gum.

The flavor is mildly vegetative and carries with it a bit of pumpkin flesh and green yeastiness. A little bit of herbal bitterness to the finish with faint spicing.

This is light bodied and modestly carbonated. Overall not bad pumpkin beer. I like how it captured the essence of the pumpkin flesh and was not an over-spiced mess. A little reworking of the recipe could really turn this into something special.

 

 

 

Can > Pint Glass

A - Clear light orange with a big fluffy two finger white head, medium lacing.
S - Nice complex aroma, some obvious cinnamon, pumpkin puree, a touch of clove, but there's some earthy and grassy hop notes, even a little lemongrass.
T - Interesting brew, those scents you get in the aroma definitely reflect in the taste, its not really pumpkin focused, but has a wonderful complexity to it, lots of bright flavors coming through in the mix, lemon zest, grass, a touch of pine, even some orange juice.
M - A little watery, and thin, leaves your palate fast.
O - Love the hop potency in this one, its not a pumpkin ipa, but it is a welcomed contrast to sweet pumpkin.

 

 

 

I'm really glad Abe's sells things for a reasonable price so that I can get pumpkin beers for $2.25.

For a pumpkin beer, it's not all that bad. The spices and pumpkin are there as usual. Kind of a metallic tone going on in a very minimal way. Hey, it's a pumpkin beer. Some people like them and some don't. I don't. But for what it is this does the job.

Pours a clear light copper with less than a finger of head. The nose has both notes of both pumpkin and seasonal spices. The flavor profile includes a little pumpkin and a little spice, but is nothing terribly bold. The finish is nicely dry. An adequate, but uneventful brew.

 

 

 

 

Poured from growler into a pint glass

Appearance – The beer pours a nice orange-reddish-amber color with a very foamy head of 2.5 fingers. The head fades rapidly at first but, at about one finger, persists for a few minutes more. Once the persistent foam head fades, it leaves a nice level of foamy lace on the sides of the glass and some foam islands on the surface of the brew.

Smell – The aroma is of a roasted pumpkin smell with some bready aromas mixed within. Along with these smells are some spice aromas of clove and nutmeg as well as a light cinnamon and a little bit of brown sugar and caramel. Overall a nice balanced pumpkin ale aroma.

Taste – The taste begins with a bready and lightly roasted pumpkin flavor at the front. Along with these flavors are some lighter caramel tastes sweetening the brew ever so lightly. The caramel fades as the taste moves on with some spice flavors of a clove and nutmeg coming more toward the middle of the taste. Some of the caramel returns more toward the end of the taste along with some brown sugar as well. With these sweeter flavors coming, the once lighter roasted pumpkin taste takes on a much more roasted flavor. With a decent sum of cinnamon and a light herbal and earthy flavor coming to the tongue at the very end, one is left with a lightly sweetened, nicely roasted, and moderately spiced flavor to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is a bit on the thinner side with a carbonation level that is average to above average for a growler pour. The carbonation level is quite nice for the roasted pumpkin flavors and the lighter sweetness of the brew, although a bit more body thickness may have helped all the flavors around a bit more. With that said while at only 4.6 % abv., the mouthfeel is actually quite good overall.

Overall – This is likely the best pumpkin session beer I have ever had. While not a super flavorful powerhouse like many of the pumpkin brews out there (imperials in particular) it packs tons of great flavor and a wonderful drinkability into a very modest 4.6 % abv. Perfect for sipping on a nice autumn day watching football and chatting with friends.

 

 

I had laid in a whole bunch of pumpkin beers when they were first released in late-August (!) so that I would have some available in October since they flew off of the shelves in the interim. There seemed to be a bumper crop of pumpkin CANs this year, which is a good sign for The CANQuest (TM), which is on the approach to # 1000.

From the CAN: "Forging Better Beer"; "Malt beverage brewed with pumpkin and spices, with vanilla added."; "Pumpkin Ale is a seasonal ale brewed with real pumpkin, brown sugar, subtle spices, and vanilla."; "We strive to honor personal craftsmanship. Our handcrafted beer is made in small batches to ensure quality and peak freshness. Brewed and CANned by Old Forge Brewing Company, Danville, PA."

The Crack was loud and nothing unexpected was happening, so I went with an inverted Glug. This netted me two fingers of fizzy, tawny head with reduced retention as it quickly subsided. Color was a deep-amber (SRM = ~ 8) with NE-quality clarity. Nose was nicey spicy with notes of cinnamon and nutmeg really jumping out. Mouthfeel was medium and the taste was rather muted, especially for a style that relies so heavily on spices as its driving force. It did not taste bad, just kind of weak. I certainly tasted the cinnamon, especially, but it just seemed as though I had tried better. Finish was semi-dry with the spices really contributing to this aspect of the beer. It was not a bad beer, but it did not knock my socks off, either.