Barrel-Aged Monster Mash
High Hops Brewery
- From:
- High Hops Brewery
- Colorado, United States
- Style:
- Pumpkin Beer
- ABV:
- Not listed
- Score:
- +9 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 3.27 | pDev: 0%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 1
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Dec 02, 2014
- Added:
- Dec 02, 2014
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
-
-
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Texas
3.27/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25
3.27/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25
GROWLER review.
"Bourbon barrel aged pumpkin pie porter." Not to be confused with their non-barrel aged pumpkin pie porter. 32 oz grumbler filled at High Hops a few hours ago and served cold into an Odell stem-tulip in high altitude Castle Rock, CO. Allowed to warm over the course of consumption.
Reviewed live as a pumpkin porter. Poured straight with high vigor; carbonation issues are anticipated given this is a growler fill.
No bubble show forms as it's poured.
HEAD: None. Just a weak semblance of a partial floater ring which quickly dies, leaving no lacing.
BODY: Opaque dark brown-black with cola hues. Not the robust ink-black I hoped for. No yeast particulate or hop sediment is visible.
Appears undercarbonated. It looks like any other pumpkin porter, and there's ample room for improvement. Far from unique or special.
AROMA: Aggressive. Faint pumpkin flesh. Heavy spices - clove, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon. Pumpkin extract/syrup. Molasses. Syrupy dark malts. Red Hot candies. The spicy cinnamon dominates, eclipsing the disappointingly weak pumpkin.
The bourbon is nice but simplistic - some marshmallow and vanilla - but also some hot booze.
No yeast character or hop notes are detectable.
This aroma suggests an imbalanced syrupy booze-bomb with aggressive spicing. Fusel. Moderate aromatic intensity.
TASTE/TEXTURE: Nowhere near as boozy as the aroma suggested, but certainly warm. The soft mouthfeel complements the bourbony notes of warm vanilla and white oak beautifully. Carbonation is perfect. It's smooth, wet, and supple, lending it a dessert-like presence on the palate which is comforting. Unrefreshing.
The base beer is kind of a mess. Over-aggressive spices compete for dominance: nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and clove. Cinnamon wins, but the spice assault is to the detriment of the beer. And any pumpkin is faint at best. There's no evocative pumpkin gourd here. I find myself wondering why this is a pumpkin pie porter at all - why not dispense with the troublesome spices and just commit to what works - the dark and chocolate malts and the bourbon barrel notes.
It does have a pie filling-esque syrupy note, but luckily the texture isn't too viscous or rough; this isn't the sticky syrupy mess it could be.
Balance is decent, but could use fine-tuning. The bourbon character is effective; it's the base beer that has the issues. It's not intricate for the style, but there's plenty happening in this flavour profile. It's just not cohesive or focused, and never tastes like a gestalt whole.
The mouthfeel is extremely well handled. This beer just melts in your mouth, and has a velvety smoothness that is wonderful with the accompanying bourbony notes. They could dial down the syrupy attributes, though.
OVERALL: Frankly I'd like to see this reimagined as a straight imperial porter; the pumpkin and spices aren't working but the rest of the flavour profile is. It's definitely a sipper, and I enjoy it to the extent that I can ignore the troublesome spices. There's a lot of craft evident in this, and I think it's an inspired brew, but I wouldn't get it again. I'd jump at the chance to pick up a more conventional bourbon barrel ale from High Hops, though. Interesting but unimpressive, though it has huge potential. Still, at $20 for a 32 oz fill, it needs to be better.
Low B-
---
12.07.14: Further impressions (same growler):
It doesn't melt in your mouth like a bourbon barrel beer should, and the spicing is unpleasant coupled with the rough texture. Pumpkin still feels weak and unnecessary. I'm not huge on this, but it has its merits.
Why isn't the mouthfeel soft, creamy, smooth, and wet? I want a luscious supple texture. This drags on the palate.
C+
Dec 02, 2014"Bourbon barrel aged pumpkin pie porter." Not to be confused with their non-barrel aged pumpkin pie porter. 32 oz grumbler filled at High Hops a few hours ago and served cold into an Odell stem-tulip in high altitude Castle Rock, CO. Allowed to warm over the course of consumption.
Reviewed live as a pumpkin porter. Poured straight with high vigor; carbonation issues are anticipated given this is a growler fill.
No bubble show forms as it's poured.
HEAD: None. Just a weak semblance of a partial floater ring which quickly dies, leaving no lacing.
BODY: Opaque dark brown-black with cola hues. Not the robust ink-black I hoped for. No yeast particulate or hop sediment is visible.
Appears undercarbonated. It looks like any other pumpkin porter, and there's ample room for improvement. Far from unique or special.
AROMA: Aggressive. Faint pumpkin flesh. Heavy spices - clove, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon. Pumpkin extract/syrup. Molasses. Syrupy dark malts. Red Hot candies. The spicy cinnamon dominates, eclipsing the disappointingly weak pumpkin.
The bourbon is nice but simplistic - some marshmallow and vanilla - but also some hot booze.
No yeast character or hop notes are detectable.
This aroma suggests an imbalanced syrupy booze-bomb with aggressive spicing. Fusel. Moderate aromatic intensity.
TASTE/TEXTURE: Nowhere near as boozy as the aroma suggested, but certainly warm. The soft mouthfeel complements the bourbony notes of warm vanilla and white oak beautifully. Carbonation is perfect. It's smooth, wet, and supple, lending it a dessert-like presence on the palate which is comforting. Unrefreshing.
The base beer is kind of a mess. Over-aggressive spices compete for dominance: nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and clove. Cinnamon wins, but the spice assault is to the detriment of the beer. And any pumpkin is faint at best. There's no evocative pumpkin gourd here. I find myself wondering why this is a pumpkin pie porter at all - why not dispense with the troublesome spices and just commit to what works - the dark and chocolate malts and the bourbon barrel notes.
It does have a pie filling-esque syrupy note, but luckily the texture isn't too viscous or rough; this isn't the sticky syrupy mess it could be.
Balance is decent, but could use fine-tuning. The bourbon character is effective; it's the base beer that has the issues. It's not intricate for the style, but there's plenty happening in this flavour profile. It's just not cohesive or focused, and never tastes like a gestalt whole.
The mouthfeel is extremely well handled. This beer just melts in your mouth, and has a velvety smoothness that is wonderful with the accompanying bourbony notes. They could dial down the syrupy attributes, though.
OVERALL: Frankly I'd like to see this reimagined as a straight imperial porter; the pumpkin and spices aren't working but the rest of the flavour profile is. It's definitely a sipper, and I enjoy it to the extent that I can ignore the troublesome spices. There's a lot of craft evident in this, and I think it's an inspired brew, but I wouldn't get it again. I'd jump at the chance to pick up a more conventional bourbon barrel ale from High Hops, though. Interesting but unimpressive, though it has huge potential. Still, at $20 for a 32 oz fill, it needs to be better.
Low B-
---
12.07.14: Further impressions (same growler):
It doesn't melt in your mouth like a bourbon barrel beer should, and the spicing is unpleasant coupled with the rough texture. Pumpkin still feels weak and unnecessary. I'm not huge on this, but it has its merits.
Why isn't the mouthfeel soft, creamy, smooth, and wet? I want a luscious supple texture. This drags on the palate.
C+
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