Smoking Pumpkin
Abandon Brewing Co.

This brew was served on draught at Tap and Mallet in Rochester, New York. It arrived in a house stange, showing an amber cider coloring. It held a ring of toasted marshmallow head, but was otherwise garnished with very little. A dense haze reduced clarity, but no sediment was noted. Carbonation appeared to be light. The aroma was comprised of crunchy peanut butter grit, pumpkin flesh and spice, nutmeg, cornmeal, cherry Jolly Ranchers, maraschino cherry syrups, white sugar, smoked wheat, plastic phenols, toasted amber malts, wet metallic yeastiness, fresh dill leafiness, buttery diacetyls, chrome, and raw hazelnuts. The flavoring gave massive smoked wheaty maltiness alongside an inclusive variety of rye, amber, and crystal malts, flambéed pumpkin and banana fruity fleshiness, burnt pine nuts, moldy gourds, hard plastics, raw cane and brown sugar, smoked almonds, campfire smolder, ginger and parsnip root, and mild ethanol. The body was lightly medium, and the carbonation was medium, with pleasingly harsh prickle to it. Slurp, smack, cream, and froth were all okay, but the mouth was left with a nice toasty and crispy coating. This quickly gave way to a fine powdery dryness. The abv, although unknown to us or the establishment, was easily received, and the beer drank a bit slower, as a more wintry entity might.

Overall, we thought this beer better showcased what they can do with smoke, more so than that they can do with pumpkin. Either way, it makes for a seemingly appropriate seasonable beer that fits both autumn and winter. Unlike many other beers along these lines, this one lacked that gimmicky quality that tends to cheapen a lot of seasonal offerings inherently. It is hard to put our fingers on it, but there is a cleanly freshness to the malt profile, and the smokiness somehow, that makes this beer scream “local upstate New York”. It just feels like home when you’re drinking this one, even if it isn’t the craziest flavored beer you’ve ever had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured a hazy bright copper hue with a one finger foamy white head. There was good retention and lacing.

The smell and taste featured a subtle, clean smoke, trace amounts of nutmeg and a chewy rindy pumpkin flesh.

The mouthfeel was toward the chewier side of the style with a soft carbonation.

Overall a tasty pumpkin ale that could have benefited from either more smoke or more spice. It was kind of caught in between.