Pumking - Caramel
Southern Tier Brewing Company

Southern Tier Caramel Pumking Imperial Pumpkin Ale, 8.6% ABV. Pours light-copper with a one-finger off-white head that left scant lacing. Aroma is strong caramel shading the pumpkin spices, and pumpkin. Taste is caramel, pumpkin, and pumpkin spices, slightly sweet, equally bitter. Decent mouthfeel, if a little light on carbonation. Overall excellent.

Look - 12 oz bottle, poured into a large stemmed glass. Dark golden in color, clear, with not much head and little lacing.

Smell - pumpkin, syrup (possibly caramel here), with strong scents of nutmeg/cloves, and some malts. as with other pumking products, almost too sweet on the scent and a bit artificial.

Taste - pumpkin and malts hit the palate first, accompanied by light spices and caramel notes, with even a tad bit of hoppy bite towards the finish. nowhere close to the sweetness suggested in the smell, and quite palatable.

Feel - medium bodied (on the lighter end), average carbonation, and on the heavier side with an ABV of 8.6%. alcohol masked but can be felt from warming finish.

Overall - Pumking (and variants) is one of those beers that you just either love or hate. The sickeningly sweet scent is sometimes a turn off, but tastewise, it's one of the most balanced and delicious pumpkin beers. the caramel notes are subtle here but a nice addition to the original.

From the 12 oz bottle in a snifter. This decent little Pumking variant pours a
luminous and clear shimmering amber with a nice head of white foam that settles
to a thick ring, thin dusty layer, and sports some nice lacing. Nose of rich caramel,
toasted malts, pumpkin, and light clove / ginger notes. Flavors present the aforementioned
with some nuances. Rich pumpkin drenched in sweet but not cloying caramel, ginger,
allspice, and clove round out the rear of the taste with some herbal hop nuances.
Mouth feel is medium, medium light carbonation that offers lift, and a sweet and
herbal finish that is subtly dry.

Overall, while I am not a huge fan of pumpkin brews, this is a solid offering,
and while the herbal elements are there they don't overpower the taste.

Cheers

 

Poured from a brown 12 oz. bottle. Has a caramel color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of spices, a touch of caramel. Taste is strong of spices, some caramel and pumpkin are present. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a decent beer.

 

This one pours a dull looking amber color, with a small head that disappears pretty much immediately, and no lacing.

This smells oddly perfumey, and definitely overspiced, with sweet caramel and vanilla.

This is unfortunately a big old mess. It’s both overspiced and too sweet. I’m honestly surprised that a variant of Pumking with caramel added would trend towards too sweet for me, as Pumking itself generally doesn’t present as heavily overspiced to me. The mix of spices together just sort of dully tastes like perfume and potpourri, with no interesting individual spice notes poking out. There’s basically no pumpkin notes here, and it ends very watery, with no oomph at all.

This is very light bodied, and very thin, with not the best drinkability.

This was one of the worst beers I’ve ever had from Southern Tier. I usually like regular Pumking but this was tough to get through.

12 FL OZ bottle
Served in a nonic pint glass

This beer pours a brilliant orange color and is topped with a giant tan head that leaves rocky lacing.

It has that classic pumpkin pie aroma of Pumking with a dose of caramel.

It tastes like a slice of pumpkin pie and one of those caramel chews mixed together. Sweeter than Pumking.

Medium bodied with a smooth, slick mouthfeel

Good beer. Pumking goodness with a caramel twist. What's not to like?

 

Poured into a wide mouth grip shaped goblet: color is gold, clear, head is off white with fine bubbles and presents a scant quarter inch.

Smell is caramel sweetness, light ginger, hint of cinnamon, some graham craker from the base Pumking.

Taste is more caramel sweetness, lighter spice mix with cinnamon and ginger forward, light graham cracker, light malt.

Mouthfeel is lower carbonation, moderate sweetness, no real bitterness or dryness from the spice but a lingering feeling on the tongue.

Overall an interesting spin of the Pumking style - caramel is strong but not completely overtaking.

 

Cloudy lighter brown with a beige head. The smell is exactly what you want with the caramel and vanilla notes really integrating well. But the taste it just feels like there’s a dash of sweet caramel and then pumpking with the trademark biscuit tones but in a watered down form. Feel is sugary, light and is just so short lived on the palate. A pretender to the pumpkin throne! (But would make a great scented candle)

A desert beer. If you like Werthers candy, you'll like this beer. Tastes like a cinnabon and the aforementioned candy. Very sweet. The best attribute about this beer is that the 8.6% alcohol is not detected. I much prefer their Warlock and Pumpkin over this experiment. Tasted from a 19.2 oz stye pipe can.

 

 

 

 

12oz bottle.

Pours clear dark gold with a short-lived head of white. Toffee and spices in the nose. Medium bodied with a tacky mouthfeel. Caramel on the palate with light malt and autumn spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice. Finishes a bit sweet and spicy.