Imperial Pumpkin Porter
Alaskan Brewing Co.

 

 

22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, best before 12/23/2018. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and rocky light khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of huge pumpkin, skin/seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, gingerbread, cardamom, peppercorn, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread dough/crust, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, molasses, licorice, dark fruit, wood smoke, char, herbal, grass, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of pumpkin, spices, dark/bready/roast/smoked malt, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop notes; with big strength. Taste of huge pumpkin, skin/seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, gingerbread, cardamom, peppercorn, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread dough/crust, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, molasses, licorice, dark fruit, wood smoke, char, herbal, grass, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light herbal, grassy, roast, char bitterness; and cinnamon, pepper, clove spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of pumpkin, skin/seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, gingerbread, cardamom, peppercorn, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread dough/crust, toasted biscuit, dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, molasses, licorice, dark fruit, wood smoke, char, herbal, grass, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of pumpkin, spices, dark/bready/roast/smoked malt, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; with an awesome roast/hop bitter/sweet and spiciness balance; with no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering hop/char bitterness and spiciness. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy/bready, and lightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Mildly increasing warmth of 8.5% after the finish. Overall this is an awesome pumpkin/spiced imperial porter! All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of pumpkin, spices, dark/bready/roast/smoked malt, and light-moderate fruity yeast/earthy hop flavors; very smooth and easy to drink for the ABV, with the mellowly bitter/spicy/drying finish. Tons of actual pumpkin fruit presence; awesome balance of rich malts and spices; with restrained fruity yeast and earthy hop balance. A really enjoyable offering, and impressive style example.

Dark brown with a ruby tinge, and a light beige foam.

Smells of brown sugar and pumpkin spices. Hints of Belgian yeasts.

Tastes of dark, charred ash, rust, pumpkin spices and a hint of vanilla. Slightly sweet, but also bitter.

Thick, syrupy body with little carbonation.

Got in Redding, CA where I am drinking it Nov 24th, 2018. A little lacking in consistency.

 

Black in color with minimal penetration to light. There's a fingernail of beige around the the vast majority of the rim. The aroma is of pumpkin pie spice, along with an intense amount of cinnamon and nutmeg. I'm tasting cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and pumpkin pie spice. The mouth is heavily spiced and lightly sticky.

 

Fresh bomber into a tulip

Nice long last head, Black as night, big pumpkin pie spices, roasty, chocolate, nice smoke from the malt. Nice full body. Extremely dry.

 

Pours a black color. 1/4 inch head of a tan color. Slight retention and poor lacing. Smells of strong spices, pumpkin, spicy hops, slight roasted malt, sweet malt, alcohol, and slight esters. Mouth feel is smooth and clean, with a low carbonation level. There is a slight bitterness noticeable. Tastes of spicy hops, roasted malt, spices, sweet malt, alcohol, esters, and a hint of pumpkin. Overall, a hodgepodge; a mixture of a dubble, bock, and a pumpkin. Weak appearance, interesting aroma, blend is all over, and the body is as well.

 

Had when in the pilot series, but I found this to not be as rich. Yes this also is simpler in the taste, tons of pumpkin and spices, but the body is thinner, and there is more smoke to this that distracts. Otherwise pretty much the same beer

 

Alaskan Imperial Pumpkin Porter, 8.5% ABV. Pours black with a ting of suds. Nose is squash/pumpkin and spice,taste follows, though the nose is better than the taste. Moderate bitter close. A bit over-carbonated so had a bit of carbonation burn. Overall excellent.

In my pint glass the beer is black with a small tan head. There is good retention and a bit of lace (a really little bit).
Roasted malt aroma. A lot of spice. A hint of pumpkin.
Chocolate taste. Faint pumpkin. Cinnamon and nutmeg. A lot of spice.
Nice enough. I think I would dial back on the spice.

Appearance - The beer pours a dark brown color with hints of red shinine through. There is a tiny off white head upon pouring, which fades very fast to leave a light level of lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell - The aroma of the brew is heaviest of spice of nutmeg, some cinnamon, and allspice. Along with these smells comes aromas of a decently strong sweetness of caramel and a decent roasted malt smell mixed with a little bit of pumpkin.
Taste - The taste begins with a very sweet roasted malt taste with tons of caramel and molassas as well as a huge showing of pumpkin pie spice. As the taste advances the spice grows even more stronge, all while more sweet tastes come to the tongue. Overall there is only a light pumpkin taste, which while super light upfront, does get a bit stronger as the taste moves on. In the end one is left with a very sweet and malty, moderately roasty, very spiced, but weak in pumpkin taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel - The body of the beer is moderate in thickness and carbonation. It's OK overall, but nothing exceptional.
Overall - Too much roast and spice and not enough pumpkin. I want more pumpkin in a pumpkin fronted brew...

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass with a quarter finger dark khaki head that dissipates to patches with light lacing. Aroma of dark, mildly toasted malt, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spices, particularly clove. Flavor is dark toasted malt with a little char, sweet pumpkin, cinnamon, allspice, light cocoa. Finishes with somewhat astringent spiciness and residual sweet pumpkin. Medium bodied with light creaminess. The spices are fit for a pumpkin pie, but are more assertive than the malt or pumpkin flavors. The mellow malt tastes good, but I wanted a little more stout body to support the pumpkin. I'm a fan of Alaskan stouts (some, like their Perserverance Stout and Smoked Porters are among my favorite beers), but this stout is a little tame. I guess that lets the pumpkin show through a little more, but I wanted a little more depth. Good, but does not knock the Elysian Dark O' the Moon off it's pedestal.

 

Best by December 23rd 2018, 8.5%abv.

Looks almost black, some red highlights, foam is short lived, decent lacing before the foam fades away.

Nutmeg, other pumpkin spices smell but still retains aromas of the Porter with dark chocolate and roasted malt.

The pumpkin flavours more assertive than the smell. Chocolate and roast not THAT far behind, which pleases me. No doubting why it's called an Imperial Pumpkin Porter; alcohol is noticeable but not intrusive.

Good mouthfeel, good drinkability. I can see myself buying more. Under $9 for the 22 ounce bottle. Not cheap but reasonable in my mind.