Pumpkin Porter (Pilot Series)
Alaskan Brewing Co.

Rated 1/17/2020. Sampled my wife's beer because I 'm not into the pumpkin spice flavor. Surprisingly this beer is better than I expected as it has a nice flavor profile, less spice than I expected and a solid body with more of a vegetable taste than spice.

 

Had this one sitting in my fridge for a good 2 or 3 years now...got tired of looking at it so here we go.

An oily looking beer with little head or carbonation, this dark brown ale gives off wafts of milky sweet residuals, under a bready, grassy overtone. Smooth and a little chocolaty on the palate, as sweet pumpkin notes roll in mid-sip, but this is more porter than pumpkin. A little vegetal toward the finish, which is quick and a bit flat.

Decent porter - the pumpkin and sugar accent the beers base flavors, but otherwise a drinkable but unremarkable brew. Could've used a bit more carbonation as well.

 

 

Poured into an English pint glass, the appearance was a nice dark brown close to black color with a finger's worth of eggshell white foamy head that slid off at a mild pace. Some stringy lace ran here and there.
The aroma started with the roasted malts, dark chocolate nibs, coffee bean roastiness, and some milk chocolate sweetness. And then the pumpkin spices and sweetness came in just for a balance.
The flavor was moderately sweet and then roasty through the blend of the prior mentioned aromatics. Light pumpkin spice entered at the end. Mild roasty to dark chocolate-like aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was almost medium bodied with a fine sessionability about it. Carbonation felt good. ABV felt on par. Finish was mainly roasty with a light pumpkin sweetness.
Overall, it's more porter than pumpkin ale in my opinion, and well worthy of coming back to.

L: Deep mahogany, tan head, some lacing
S: roasted malts and a bit of pumpkin
T: kinda off, I don't think this one works, the pumpking comes out tasting fake, and it's not balanced
F: medium body, decent mouthfeel
O: not crazy about this one

Reviewed as a pumpkin ale (as a pumpkin porter this is exactly that, and well done; a pumpkin porter). This is from Fall 2014 so it has almost 2 years of aging on it at appropriate temperatures.
Pours dark with a small head, some lacing. Aroma is pumpkin spice with a few roasted malts. Taste is fantastic with pumpkin spice on top of a well done porter. They blend together really well - I like to think the aging shines through here. Mouth feel is pretty much spot on for a pumpkin porter - my preference is heavier mouthfeel but this is not a stout. Overall a really great pumpkin beer that I am glad to have aged. I think that melded the characteristics of it wonderfully. Alaskan knows how to make a myriad of fine beers and this is one of them.

 

This one pours a dark brownish-black, with a small head, and not much in the way of lacing.

Smells like pumpkin, honeyed yams, clove, cinnamon, and chocolate.

I am drinking this massively out of season, in May, but it still tastes alright nonetheless. It's fairly dry for a pumpkin beer, with a well integrated spice character, a nice roastiness, and a dry pumpkin flesh character. There's a little bit of yam and honey too, and cocoa powder.

I wish that this was a bit thicker bodied, though. It's fairly creamy, with a normal level of carbonation.

This is pretty solid stuff, nothing amazing but definitely drinkable.