Pumpkin Spice Espresso Porter
Whitewater Brewing Company

Oct 7 2025

Pours an inch of foam. Black coffee color. Smells of cinnamon, clove and allspice.
Taste is like a spiced coffee, again with cinnamon, clove and allspice. Don't think they put actual pumpkin in the beer like some of these other golden orange pumpkin ale's but I guess I would classify this as a coffee beer more than a pumpkin beer. You still get the pumpkin spice flavors all the same and it's alright honestly. Not my favorite but in general I like black beers with that coffee and chocolate flavor so it still gets a pass from me. I've had better coffee beers though from some other Ontario breweries and I think they rank higher than this one, but pumpkin spice is a little unique and i did enjoy it for what it is. May get it again in the future.

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, from the Sandwich St. South LCBO in nearby Amherstburg. My first beer from the Cobden, Ontario brewery.

 

That's annoying, I lost my full typed review. Anyways, the lack of head hamstrings the appearance, the lack of potency hamstrings the smell which is as advertised save a weird vanilla note. The taste is Vanilla and artificial tasting pumpkin that turns to a blend of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove) before a mild bitter coffee and burnt malt note appears. The lack of carbonation, and cloying pumpkin and vanilla note makes the mouthfeel a bit of a bummer even though the transitioning is good and the medium body isn't really doing it a lot of favors.

Really it needs more potency, and I think more malt to tie things together a bit more given how many things it is trying to do. Also if you are going to brand a beer as an "Espresso" beer and not a coffee beer, you had best have a big coffee presence that his beer just doesn't deliver. I would probably pass on this one, even if offered again for free.

473 mL can from the LCBO; dated Sep 22 2022 and served barely chilled.

Pours a deep, clear mahogany brown colour with copper-red highlights; situated atop is a full inch of soapy, foamy, tan-coloured head that recedes within four or five minutes' time. A tight collar and a few filmy wisps hang on, but there's not much in the way of lace. Interesting aroma of pumpkin pie crust, bran muffin, espresso and clove, with hints of molasses, cocoa, gingerbread and cinnamon. It's cohesive and enticing.

Brown bread, milk chocolate, molasses and coffee at the forefront, with the spicy elements developing later on. Cinnamon and vanilla come first, with clove, nutmeg and gingerbread on the back end; the aftertaste includes fading hints of chocolate, espresso and pumpkin spice. Medium in body, with moderate carbonation that quickly exhausts itself, resulting in a smooth, more syrupy mouthfeel toward the end of the session. I finished my glass quickly enough, and wouldn't mind another.

[Updated Oct 16 2025]

Another tallboy; the date is smudged, but since I'm drinking this in October and not February (like last time), I think it's reasonable to assume that this is much more fresh. That being said, I feel like I was in a generous mood when I originally reviewed Whitewater's Pumpkin Spice Espresso Porter. This year's batch is a little too spicy for my liking, which causes the coffee to get lost - which, as a coffee addict, makes me frown. I think I'd still recommend this over most Ontario pumpkin spice ales, because the added coffee porter aspect - while maybe not executed perfectly - does pair OK with the spice.

Final Grade: 3.68, a B

 

 

473 ml can served cold into a chalice.

Appearance - Dark brown near black in color and a finger of tan head.

Smell - Some coffee with pumpkin elements and nutmeg in behind.

Taste - Again a bit of coffee, some pumpkin elements a bit of nutmeg.

Mouthfeel - Medium-thin bodied, with medium-light carbonation.

Overall - Decent porter with pumpkin accents, kind of a blend between pumpkin and a porter.