Imperial Pumpkin Ale | Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
Brewed by:
Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
Pennsylvania, United States
weyerbacher.com
Style: Pumpkin Ale
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8.00%
Availability: Fall
Notes / Commercial Description:
We set out to make a bold monument for The King of the Pumpkins!
This 8.0% ABV pumpkin ale is the mother of all pumpkin ales. It is heartier, spicier and more “caramelly” and “pumpkiny” than its faint brethren! We have added lots of pumpkin along with cinnamon, nutmeg and a touch of cardamom and clove, giving this beer a spicy, full-bodied flavor.
This truly is an Imperial Pumpkin Ale. Perfect finisher on a cool autumn night or match it up with a slice of pumpkin pie and fresh whipped cream.
Added by cbl2 on 09-17-2005
HISTOGRAM
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Ratings: 2,744 | Reviews: 1,026
4.7/5 rDev +20.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 5
look: 3.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 5
3.73/5 rDev -4.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
2.55/5 rDev -34.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Amber, thin head, lacks density. Nose leans heavy on the cardamom & clove - some of those semi-softer spice smells don't assert themselves enough, and it is mostly nutmeg. Taste follows the same pattern, just worse - the cardamom especially is very heavy, and overwhelms the palate. Really needs more cinammon and nutmeg to balance it out. The malt base is very pale and cardboad-y which doesn't help. Traces of sweet pumpkin / yam but it is so far buried that you really have to strain to detect it. I don't mind pumpkin beers like some but this was too spicey in my opinion.
576 characters
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Amber, thin head, lacks density. Nose leans heavy on the cardamom & clove - some of those semi-softer spice smells don't assert themselves enough, and it is mostly nutmeg. Taste follows the same pattern, just worse - the cardamom especially is very heavy, and overwhelms the palate. Really needs more cinammon and nutmeg to balance it out. The malt base is very pale and cardboad-y which doesn't help. Traces of sweet pumpkin / yam but it is so far buried that you really have to strain to detect it. I don't mind pumpkin beers like some but this was too spicey in my opinion.
576 characters
3.8/5 rDev -2.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
look: 3 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.75/5 rDev -3.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.85/5 rDev -1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
4.16/5 rDev +6.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
2.92/5 rDev -24.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
3.56/5 rDev -8.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
4.46/5 rDev +14.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.4/5 rDev +13.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
3.52/5 rDev -9.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
4.18/5 rDev +7.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Treated as an imperial ale, this was poured into a tulip. The appearance was a ruddy burnt amber to orange color with no head or lace. The aroma starts off semi-sweet pumpkin fleshiness hitting against subtle spices of allspice, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves; well balanced. The flavor leans somewhat spicy with a gentle sweetness underneath. Sweet pumpkin flesh rides into the aftertaste and quickly hits the finish, that ends up being slightly spicy - just a little bit. On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a nice sessionable to sipping quality sticking to my tongue appropriately. Spices create enough harshness but gentle enough. Overall, damn nice imperial pumpkin ale that i would love to have again.
748 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Treated as an imperial ale, this was poured into a tulip. The appearance was a ruddy burnt amber to orange color with no head or lace. The aroma starts off semi-sweet pumpkin fleshiness hitting against subtle spices of allspice, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves; well balanced. The flavor leans somewhat spicy with a gentle sweetness underneath. Sweet pumpkin flesh rides into the aftertaste and quickly hits the finish, that ends up being slightly spicy - just a little bit. On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a nice sessionable to sipping quality sticking to my tongue appropriately. Spices create enough harshness but gentle enough. Overall, damn nice imperial pumpkin ale that i would love to have again.
748 characters
3.74/5 rDev -3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
4.35/5 rDev +11.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25
Bottled on 08(Aug)/02/16, opened 04(April)/08/17 after near constant refrigeration. Poured into a snifter, drank after slight warming.
Look: hard poor resulted in a thin bubbly head. The amber color has a slight orange hue to it. Overall, this is exactly how I want a pumpkin ale to look.
Smell: hits you the second you open the bottle. The smell is dominated by a bready, caramel malt and cinnamon, although clove does manage to come through. It's also slightly boozy. I do not smell the nutmeg or cardamom.
Taste: sweet, but it's a pumpkin ale, so what did you expect? Almost all of the flavors actually come through in this beer, which I've never experienced before from a pumpkin ale. Upfront you get the sweetness and the malt, but the cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove settle in, making this a great beer to sip at. I don't personally get the cardamom. What kept me from giving it a higher score on taste is that the cinnamon tastes a little like fake cinnamon. Since the beer was old, I didn't count not tasting the cardamom against it.
Feel: smooth, refreshing, and a very slight bitter tingle.
Overall, smell and taste matter the most to me, so 4.25. This was an excellent purchase. If you've been searching for a good pumpkin ale, buy this beer ASAP.
1,259 characters
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25
Bottled on 08(Aug)/02/16, opened 04(April)/08/17 after near constant refrigeration. Poured into a snifter, drank after slight warming.
Look: hard poor resulted in a thin bubbly head. The amber color has a slight orange hue to it. Overall, this is exactly how I want a pumpkin ale to look.
Smell: hits you the second you open the bottle. The smell is dominated by a bready, caramel malt and cinnamon, although clove does manage to come through. It's also slightly boozy. I do not smell the nutmeg or cardamom.
Taste: sweet, but it's a pumpkin ale, so what did you expect? Almost all of the flavors actually come through in this beer, which I've never experienced before from a pumpkin ale. Upfront you get the sweetness and the malt, but the cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove settle in, making this a great beer to sip at. I don't personally get the cardamom. What kept me from giving it a higher score on taste is that the cinnamon tastes a little like fake cinnamon. Since the beer was old, I didn't count not tasting the cardamom against it.
Feel: smooth, refreshing, and a very slight bitter tingle.
Overall, smell and taste matter the most to me, so 4.25. This was an excellent purchase. If you've been searching for a good pumpkin ale, buy this beer ASAP.
1,259 characters
3.71/5 rDev -4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Dark cinnamon-pumpkin color with a small ring of bubbly head.
Aroma is beautiful. Warm brandy, hot cinnamon, cardamom, clove, pepper, potpourri.
Taste is a little bit of a let down, as the spices are far gone, could be due to age. It's still got some of the cinnamon and potpourri flavors there, along with a lot of club soda.
Feel is hot (boozy), and very carbonated. Leaves a sticky, dry finish.
Overall, I can't knock this one too much. It's pretty tasty even after the spices have fallen off. I'll revisit it again this fall.
537 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Dark cinnamon-pumpkin color with a small ring of bubbly head.
Aroma is beautiful. Warm brandy, hot cinnamon, cardamom, clove, pepper, potpourri.
Taste is a little bit of a let down, as the spices are far gone, could be due to age. It's still got some of the cinnamon and potpourri flavors there, along with a lot of club soda.
Feel is hot (boozy), and very carbonated. Leaves a sticky, dry finish.
Overall, I can't knock this one too much. It's pretty tasty even after the spices have fallen off. I'll revisit it again this fall.
537 characters
2.74/5 rDev -29.6%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.75
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.75
3.78/5 rDev -2.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Imperial Pumpkin Ale from Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
Beer rating:
3.89 out of
5 with
2,744 ratings
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