Pumking - Caramel
Southern Tier Brewing Company

Pours a clear amber color with a slight head and lacing
Aroma has resounding pumpkin and caramel hints
Taste has a well balanced pumpkin and caramel flavor
A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
A very good pumpkin beer

 

 

 

Bottle. Clear golden color.

Nice upgrade to pumpking. Still has clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin. The caramel rounds things out and makes it less spiced. Solid and fun.

 

 

I was excited to try this pumpkin ale and had heard it was great. To be honest, everything was fine with the pour and the nose but the taste was straight up cream soda to me. Not that I dislike cream soda but I just couldn't get past it. A decent beer but I didnt get a lot of pumpkin etc. An average one to me. I much prefer the original Pumking.

 

Great new pumpkin beer added to the Southern Tier fall lineup. Good caramel flavor and not over the top pumpkin.

T'is the season for Pumpkin beers. This one is not bad. Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass, this beer features a beautiful, clear light copper color and a small foamy white head with somewhat better than average retention. Light lacing on the glass. Taste is malty with a nice blend of caramel and pumpkin/pumpkin spices. Don't know if the pumpkin spices could have made this beer artificial tasting because the caramel adds a good bit of sweetness and flavor Mouthfeel is rich and malty...a slow sipper. There is no alcohol harshness. ThE sweetness is not overdone. Not just another dessert beer, I had it with a pork chop dinner and it went really well.

 

 

So sweet it has to be a slow drink.

Pours a clear orange. Thin foam. Caramel aroma. Caramel and pumpkin spice body. Spicy bitter finish. Pretty sweet. The caramel tastes very artificial. The worst one of the series.

Clear, nearly transparent dark amber body. Good head production and retention.

Aroma is a bit musty, implying a heavy hand of the dry spices. Caramel isn't particularly noticeable, but it may be hiding along with the malt base. Otherwise, this smells like a fairly classic pumpkin ale - which Pumpking is. It smells quite good, but it also portends too much dry spice, which can easily overwhelm a beer.

The hefty 8.6% base helps fend off that dry spice on the palate, but it's still more of a player than I'd prefer. There's a hint of the artificiality of regular Pumking that I detest, but it's honestly not quite as bad - but also not as solid as Warlock. At the same time, the caramel doesn't quite add enough; it's there when you know to look for it, but otherwise could easily be overlooked. The pie crust is a lovely addition, honestly, as it adds a slightly sweet and grainy flavor to the malt base in complementary fashion.

Overall, this isn't bad, and it fits the season. It's an improvement over regular Pumking, but it's not going to be a pumpkin ale I happily reach for, either - on the rare occasion I'm in such a mood at all.

 

OK, just for clarity, this isn't Caramel Pumpkin, although CARAMEL appears in bold capital letters above Pumpkin Imperial Pumpkin Ale on the label. The label even suggests 'rule on caramel'. None of the semantics matters, after two twelve ounce brown bottles are emptied into a clear glass liter mug. There's very little head. The brew is a bright and relatively clear copper-amber. The aroma brings modest Pumpkin pie spices, with an additional sweetness. This is a wonderful extension of the Imperial Pumpkin mainstay from this brewery. Pumpkin and Warlock are Pumpkin brews without reproach. Add this one to that list. The caramel inclusion is very tastefully done. It doesn't overly sweeter the brew, it only adds a minor taste that makes a major enjoyment. Adding just a little caramel sweetness and body does nothing to shortchange the original Pumpkin Ale. Everything true to the original remains in tact here, like taste, body and mouthfeel. That's a good thing, because this brewery has few rivals when it comes to Imperial Pumpkin Ales. This is a pleasant, although not drastic, variation on a very successful brew.