Pumpkin Tart
Brewery Vivant

 

Acquired at the Grand Rapids brewery.
Pours a burnt orange bronze/amber with slight haze and a finger plus of off white head.
Aroma up front pumpkin pie, clove, cinnamon, spices but with a touch of farmhouse funk.
Taste is sharp yet sweetly spicy - pumpkin pie with a funky tart (not sour) twist -almost a bit of tart raspberry character.
Medium full mouthfeel - sweet and tart and deliciously pumpkin pie in a glass.

 

 

Pours an orange/red color with a foamy head that lasts quite a while. Aroma of pumpkin, cream and cinnamon. Creamy mouth feel. Pumpkin, cinnamon and cream comes through in the taste. Sweet. A good pumpkin beer.

Canned fall 2016; drank 1/6/17 @ the Yarchives.

Semi-opaque dull orange/red rust appearance.

A rough pour yielded a huge eggshell head; a thick curtain of lace.

Pumpkin, cream & mild cinnamon notes in the nose.

Creamy medium mouthfeel.

Pumpkin, cinnamon & cream flavors up front; faint tart bite on the finish.

Sweet but nicely balanced; a unique take on pumpkin beer. I'm pleasantly surprised...

16 oz can- Pours hazy orange with a medium sized head with decent retention. Aroma is tart, creamy, nutmeg and cinnamon, pie style aroma and very pleasing. The taste is pumpkin pie, mildly tart but melds well with the beer as a whole, spices and malt blend well. Tasty

Lightly tart, malty sweet, balanced, farmhouse, fresh pumpkin, slight apple, autumn spices

 

 

 

Great pumpkin beer with a twist of lemon. Enjoyed the uniqueness of this one. Beautiful copper color with a slight white head. Great pumpkin and spice flavors with a little lemon/citrus on the finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caramel orange with moderate carbonation, and all small bubbles. Pretty cloudy, with a finger of yellowish head.

Pumpkin spices, cardamon, allspice, and pumpkin flesh as well. Big vegetal pumpkin, and spices, anything else is muted.

Okay, I was expecting this one to be sour based on the name. Its sweet, like a little 'pie' tart, not a sour 'tart.' Pumpkin all the way with the spices again, cardamon, allspice, and ginger. Roasted pumpkin in there as well, and a caramelized taste like caramelized sugar in creme brulee.

Medium body with a solid, chewy quality, and moderate to light, soothing carbonation.

Enjoying this one on American Thanksgiving, here in Thailand. Bought this in Kalamazoo and brought it all the way here. Aside from the surprise twist in what I'd expected to be a tart beer, its a really well done pumpkin ale and I'm not disappointed. Nov 24th, 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

I had purchased this CAN with a number of other Brewery Vivant CANs that I had CANquired in my travels. If you are ever in the Chicagoland and CAN get to one of their locations, Binney's Liquors remains a CANQuest (TM) source nonpareil! This was a score from my most recent visit. It has been in my backlog/queue/rotation since, but today is the day!

From the CAN: "Belgian tradition. Local mission."; "Tier 2 Brewer's Reserve"; "PUMPKIN ALE Belgian brewers are inspired by their local agriculture. Living in the midst of a rich agricultural heritage our Vivant brewers find it quite natural to be inspired in the same way. A Michi[CAN] autumn heralds color tours, corn mazes and bountiful pumpkin harvests. This rustic beer is fermented with real pumpkin and a hint of Fall spices. Our farmhouse yeast yields a delightful tartness that sets this pumpkin beer apart."; "GLASSWARE & PAIRING Reach for your chalice to properly experience the Autumn aromas present. Rich pheasant, venison, or other game give an added depth to this pale amber ale. Pair with a slice of sweet pumpkin pie for dessert."; "A MICHIGAN MADE BEER".

The Crack! unveiled a full 1 PINT CAN & so a gentle Glug was in order to keep things under CANtrol. I then CANducted an in-glass swirl to raise a brief finger of foamy, fizzy, light-tan head that quickly fell and reverted to wisps. Color was a lightly hazy Amber to Deep Amber/Light Copper (SRM = > 9, < 13). Nose smelled strongly of pumpkin spices with just a faint lemony tartness underneath. Mouthfeel was medium with a surprising amount of carbonation, given the lack of head and head retention. The taste marked it as one of the better pumpkin ales that I have tried. It was spicy with cinnamon and nutmeg, but the light tartness gave it a depth not normally experienced in the style. Instead of being sweet and cloying from malt, this used the aforementioned "farmhouse yeast" to good results, drying it even further than the spices would have on their own. I prefer dry beers and the finish was very dry, but with a spicy taste that was very evocative of pumpkin pie. This is a great entry in a not-so-great style.

Pours a dark, burnt, Orange. The white head dissipates quickly. Aroma is pumpkin pie spice, some malt, and Belgian yeast. Also a bit of a fruity ester that isn't entirely pleasant. The taste is of pumpkin, allspice, nutmeg, and two row malt. The yeast is present as well as a touch of booze. No off taste.

 

 

1 Pint can
Served in a snifter

This beer pours copper colored with burnt orange highlights. It was topped, briefly, with an inch of beige head that left no lacing.

Pumpkin and Belgian yeast are readily apparent in the aroma.

I get roasted pumpkin up front. Then Belgian characteristics come through adding spiciness to the flavor.

Moderate body with some prickly carbonation

It tastes like a pumpkin flavored Belgian ale. I don't get any tartness though. I was a little disappointed in that aspect, but otherwise it is a tasty beverage.

A - Pours a mahogany brown with burnt orange undertones, with a an off white almost gray head. Some spotty lace after each sip.

S - Wow, the nose on this brew reminds me of Thanksgiving morning growing up. Nostalgia - would wake up to smell some fresh baked pumpkin pie, and then proceed to get ready to watch the Lions get their dicks kicked in, but I digress.... Pumpkin spice, nutmeg, malts, egg nog.

T - Spices take center stage - pumpkin, nutmeg met with an even keel malt backbone. Medium bodied and smooth and rich mouth feel.

O - yet another really strong offering from BV. This stands out in the pumpkin flavored brews - not really sure how this is a farm house ale, but if you pair this against any in the pumpkin genre this is matched only by DFH Punkin...Really solid

Serving: 1 pint can poured into a tulip. No canned on date, but this about 2 months old at this point.

A: Pours a surprising dark red/copper color. Takes on a slight orange hue when held up to the light. Almost no head even with a strong pour.

S: Faint allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg. Some pumpkin pie crust and sweetness at the back. Definitely get the Belgian yeast note here as well, but not too strong. Think less "fresh pumpkin" and more "stale pumpkin pie".

T: Subtle cinnamon, nutmeg, clove up front. Finish is a mix of pumpkin candy and Belgian yeast. Almost no tartness to this. Very light and thin flavor here, underwhelming.

M: Very thin and watery. Almost no carbonation. No tartness or bitterness. 7.0% ABV is hidden well though.

O: When I heard Vivant was gonna take their crack at the pumpkin ale, I got really excited. In a market with a million renditions of this style, a mix-up, whether it's a sour, a Belgian or an IPA, is a fresh approach. BV's version with a Belgian-yeast strain suits them well, but falls very short here. The title "tart" is very misleading as this is not tart at all. The pumpkin is very buried and even the spices don't pop. The Belgian yeast strain does not work well either, and lends a rather gamey, meaty taste to the finish. There's ways to do this style, and this isn't one of them.

Recommendation: In a huge market of pumpkin beers, avoid this one. If you specifically want a tart pumpkin ale, check out La Parcela from Jolly Pumpkin. That's a great beer that uses pumpkin well in the style.