Kabocha Theatre
Casita Brewing Company

 

Poured into a tall tulip, the appearance was a burnt hazy orange color with a quickly dissipating finger’s worth of white foamy to bubbly/fizzy head. The aroma starts with a harsh sour citrus rind and then subtle sour to sweet to light spicy pumpkin flesh. Sour green apple insists as it warms. The flavor leans sour first but opens up into a sly sweet pumpkin. Green apple and citrus come in for a lot of sour. Sour green apple rubbing my tastebuds harshly but a crisp quick aftertaste and finish. On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a nice sessionability about it. Carbonation seems alright for what it is. Overall, sour pumpkin ale, that’s how I see it with some non-pumpkin spice and extra citrus flavors.

 

 

 

375 mL bottle. Hazy orange body. Big white head. Smells of lemon and stone fruit acidity. Tastes of lemon. Stone fruit and sweet maltiness. Sharp green apple sourness in the back end. Medium body. Well carbonated. I get no pumpkin, but it’s pretty good.

 

 

 

 

 

From a 375ml bottle, dated 10/11/16. Served at refrigerator-temperature, in a tulip.

Pours a thoroughly-hazed pale pumpkin colour with two-plus fingers of whipped froth. The head stays with us for a minute or so before settling back to a heavy ring of foam.

The nose is sharp, tart and salty. Myself, I didn't know that something could smell salty, but there you go. It's probably the seaweed and minerals but I'm going to call it 'salty.' There is a distinct mineral tang.

Taste is... Really good. I'm at a total loss to tease out any individual tastes, partly due to having been a smoker for forty years, but mostly because the beer itself is just like that. It's moderately tart-but-not-sour, with an understated Belgian yeastiness, a vanilla-like richness and a strong mineral character. There is no discernible pumpkin, either, which, frankly, is a relief.

The feel is smooth, medium-bodied and well carbonated. If there's any evidence of the pumpkin, it's in the mouthfeel, where it imparts a sticky, creamy thickness.

Overall, if all pumpkin ales were like this, I might like pumpkin ales. At the same time, while I'm not a huge fan of sours, here the tartness happily takes a backseat to the mineral tang and saltiness, lightens and provides contrast to whatever vegetal quality the pumpkin and seaweed might impart. It might be fair to ask why, if I don't like either pumpkin ales or sours, I even bought this but, screw you, it's a free country. At any rate, it was delicious and I liked it.

 

 

Pours a 1/2 inch head that dissipates to a pronounced ring in a few minutes. Very unique nose of nori (sushi seaweed!) and fragrant spice, NOT the usual pumpkin spice! . Wonderful taste follows nose with added sourness. Very interesting! very nice mouth feel. Besides the Japanese pumpkin, all other adjuncts are of Japanese origin, as well as I can research, mostly rice seasoning. Will definitely procure more of this.

1-23-2017 Revisit:
Feel rating up .25.