Pumpkin Barleywine
Wild Wolf Brewing Company

draft at the brewpub Winter 2011, reviewed from notes, listed as an English style barleywine

a: served in the brewpub barroom in a snifter, the beer was a deep orange-amber in color, holding up a nice little layer of tan head

s: the nose features big notes of toasted caramel barley sugars - something akin to near overcooked sugar cookies, the cushaw pumpkins provide a sweet, meaty squash aroma, estery and fruity, hop aromas grassy and earthy, nicely complex

m: carbonated to around moderate levels with a satisfying medium body

t: the flavor is loaded with toasted caramel malts and brown sugars, nice mellow pumpkin flavor blended well, sweet and malty, a slightly drying grassy hop bitterness and lingering flavors of spice and toast

o: brewed with cushaw heirloom pumpkins (a native variety used by native americans, more a green winter squash than pumpkin) and no actual pie spice that I know of, this barleywine makes good use of the pumpkins natural flavor, sitting in a body of rich toasted caramel malt, complex and enjoyable