Imperial Pumpkin Ale
Weyerbacher Brewing Co.

3.82/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
by chitoryu12 from Florida

Look: Opaque brown. One finger of off-white head with short retention.

Smell: Pumpkin, mild baking spices.

Taste: Identical to the smell. Predominately pumpkin flavor with very mild pie spice. Virtually no bitterness, but a balancing earthy flavor.

Mouthfeel: Creamy, with moderate carbonation.

Overall: One of the few pumpkin beers I’ve had to legitimately taste of pumpkin flesh. Just needs a bit more spice.

Dec 20, 2021

4.05/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
by lastmango from Pennsylvania

Poured a copper brown with a thin white film of a head. Nose of malt cloves and cinnamon. Pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice notes with the spices lingering on the finish. Alcohol is detectable. This is one of the better tasting pumpkin beers. Moderate body, moderate carbonation with fine bubbles and some slight stickiness. Although I am not a big pumpkin beer fan, I like this a lot and would buy it again.

Nov 05, 2021

3.79/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
by ThrewRedButter from Massachusetts

Look – Dark amber red in color with a a hazy body and two fingers of frothy white head

Aroma – Super malty aroma with an interesting minty/herbaceous quality. A lot of nutmeg here as well with a good amount of cinnamon too.

Taste – Pumpkin was a little lacking in the aroma, but it is definitely present here. I can’t help but pick up some dark fruits too. Spices are taking a backseat to the pumpkin, but not by a whole lot. The heavy malt character is also helping to subdue the cinnamon and nutmeg from the aroma.

Mouthfeel – At 8% there is no alcohol flavor, but as opposed to some of the other pumpkin beers that were imperials, this one actually feels like a big bastard of a beer. The body is full and just pulls back from crossing over into feeling too thick or syrupy. Also of note is how dry this one feels after each sip.

Overall – Appropriately named, “Imperial Pumpkin Ale” is not one to tackle lightly. A malty bastard with a dry finish, this is one still delivers enough pumpkin and spices to keep it in check.

Sep 18, 2021

3.94/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
by nick_perry from North Carolina

trong spice aromas. Flavor features strong cardamom and nutmeg notes with a little bit of pumpkin. Strong carbonation. A little boozy.

Sep 11, 2021

4.14/5  rDev +6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
by oldmankoch from Tennessee

Excellent for the style. I'd like to taste just a tiny bit more pumpkin but otherwise wonderful flavors of their listed spices. Not overly sweet either which to me is a plus! This stands out as I don't pick up any graham cracker which I know other breweries try to introduce to get the full pie effect (so to speak). Enjoyed directly after pumking and this beer wins out verses to two. Hope to try against Schlafly and Cigar's Good Gourd to see who comes out on top this year.

Aug 16, 2021

4.51/5  rDev +15.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75
by StoutElk_92 from Massachusetts

12 oz. bottle - 2017 vintage

Pours cloudy hazy opaque maroon red brown with some sediment, and a dissipating off-white foam head. Smells pretty good, a little sweet and malty, lightly fruity, pumpkiny and a little vegetal, with considerable spices, strong cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves, toasted bread, dark caramel, molasses, sweet toffee, some honey, biscuit, a hint of vanilla, fresh gourdy pumpkin, mild dried fruits like apricot, fig, dates, and some earthy herbal slight vegetal hops. Taste follows mostly strong on the autumn spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and clove blended in harmony over some sweet toasted malts, dark caramel, molasses, toffee, honey, biscuit, toasted bread, mild vanilla, dried fruits, apricot, fig, dates, fresh pumpkin, and earthy herbal hops. Feels lighter medium bodied, slightly creamy with moderate carbonation. Overall a really nice imperial pumpkin ale.

Nov 01, 2020

4.31/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
by JohnniEMc from Pennsylvania

Perennially among the best of its kind, let's see how the 2020 version turned out. A pour from a 12 oz. bottle into a clear pint glass begins the review. There are plenty of spices in the air, most notably nutmeg and clove. The beer is a bright and somewhat translucent copper. Nicely carbonated, the lack of a head and lacing is a mild surprise. No matter, there is a nice malt and starch backbone to carry the sharp pumpkin pie spices. This 8% ABV brew slides down very smoothly, even with abundant alcohol and spice doses. Another good year for Imperial Pumpkin Ale at Weyerbacher.

Oct 23, 2020

4.1/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
by Roguer from Connecticut

Good head production and retention. Perfectly clear dark copper body.

Moderate pumpkin spice on the nose, along with mild pumpkin and a solid malt foundation. Brown sugar, allspice, nutmeg, and caramel.

Fairly sweet on the palate, but not cloying. The pumpkin spice is noticeable, but it doesn't go overboard. Modest pumpkin flavor. Thick malt base, really letting everything come together quite well.

Smooth but a touch syrupy.

Oct 11, 2020

3.97/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
by hopsputin from New Jersey

A: rich dark cherry, brown, and mahogany color with a hint of ruby red. 1 finger tan head. Looks more orange when you hold it up to the light. Really nice looking

S: loads of spice in the aroma. Squash and pumpkin followed by clove, coriander and nutmeg. Sweet caramel, and light cinnamon. More of that sweet squashy and malty notes at the end. Very pleasant smelling - smells like fall

T: as expected it is quite heavy on the spice. Clove and cardamom are what I pick up right away. Spicy cinnamon and some coriander powder. Behind that is the pumpkin/squash flavor with some really rich caramel malts. A touch of alcohol at the end

M: heavy mouthfeel with low-medium carbonation

O: if you like your pumpkin ales more on the pumpkin pie side, you’ll like this. Spicy, but not over done and the pumpkin and malts still work nicely here

Oct 02, 2020

4.44/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
by Wi_brew_bud from Connecticut

Look is perfect amber color that excellently reminds you of fall

Smell is spicy but also welcoming with very strong notes of pumpkin and spice

The taste is mildly sweet with a great balance of spice personally wish it had a smidgen more of a sweet not but it’s very very good

The feel is wholesome heavy yet still crisp and refreshing i almost gave it a 5 but I wish it had just a bit more bite on the carbonation

Overall This beer really does its job and brings out the flavor of fall I love it. This type of beer is a dime a dozen but very few can actually capture the real essence of fall and this beer definitely captured Fall Bravo awesome awesome beer!!!

Sep 22, 2020

3.76/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
by PathofChaos from Maryland

Appearance:
A deep, earthy orange that’s almost brown, yet crystal clear despite its darker hue. An angry, roiling froth the color of orange-tinged cream threatens to scale the rim of the glass... Then fizzles out faster than dollar store sparklers.

Bouquet:
An ample dusting of woodsy, baking spices over semi-sweet pumpkin pie. You must search deeply to detect the pureed pumpkin and pie crust beneath the downy coat of spice.

Feel:
That furious head didn’t disappear, it dug eagerly into the body where it continues to churn. A festive spiciness lingers for an impressive duration but its hotly contested by a repugnant depth charge of carbonation.

Taste:
A powerful conglomerate of spices lords over the palate. Nutmeg, clove and especially cardamom are so staggeringly ubiquitous that the flavor actually has some heat! While this vivid profile is certainly engaging, it all but eliminates the pumpkin… hiding meek and impoverished beneath the unending rule of this ale’s heedless baking spices.

Overall:
If you want to enjoy intense yet palatable holiday spices, this beer is guaranteed to please. But if you were looking to douse your taste buds in festive pumpkin flavor, look elsewhere.

Sep 09, 2020

3.95/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
by Amendm from Florida

A strong pour from a 12-oz. can yields a finger of creamy light beige foam with short retention and a few small spots of lace. Hazy translucent brown-orange color.

Pumpkin spice and cooked pumpkin greet the nose with sweet malt and rising dough.

On the border of semi-sweet and neutral with low bitterness and moderate spice.
Malt forward from a blend of pale and caramel malts with lightly toasted wheat, this is balanced by pumpkin. A quick, clean finish with a light aftertaste of peppery spice.

Average body, below average carbonation*. Outstanding balance between sweet/spice and malt/pumpkin. If I did not know the ABV was 8% I'd call this beer session-able.

* It went a little flat at the end, I recommend a moderate pour shooting for a 1/2 finger.

Oct 17, 2019

3.8/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
by Steve_Studnuts from Pennsylvania

It's, you know, deep golden orange or whatever. If you're on this website you know what a pumpkin ale looks like and don't need me to explain it to you. Ditto with the scent. There's gourd, there's cinnamon and there's nutmeg. There's a biscuity malt backbone. It smells like pumpkin pie, yo. You like pumpkin pie, right? Sure you do; you're no commie. Unless you are. In which case, hey, no judgment from me. Democracy is better in theory than execution. But this isn't about governments. This is about Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale, which isn't bad. It's good! I'd drink it again! In fact, I'm pretty sure I will! I bought 4 of them and I'm not sharing! Suck it, grandma!

Oct 06, 2019

4.06/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
by EnderFett11 from Virginia

Poured fairly quickly from a 12 oz can, which created a very large amount of frothy white head that faded quickly. Deep brownish orange color, quite clear. Smells mostly of pumpkin and cinnamon. Taste is fairly spice heavy, with pumpkin coming through first, then prominent cinnamon with a big of nutmeg flavor. As it warms, the pumpkin becomes more intense with the spices staying similar at the back end. Pretty solid imperial pumpkin ale, but better cold and not my preference over Twisted Gourd.

Sep 25, 2019