Bourbon Pumpkin Dubbel
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

On tap @ Iron Hill Lancaster during their Great Pumpkin Harvest Party on 10/20/11. Served in a footed Pils glass. ABV listed as 7.4%.

Pours a deep looking hazed rose in the glass, with a thin sudsy head of slightly off-white looking foam. This retains with some thin looking edging, which leaves back some light spotty lace that just dots the sides of the glass. The aroma smells of bourbon, ripe fruit, sweet sugars, pumpkin spices, and then some more peppery aspects of the yeast as well. The bourbon and then the fruity and bubblegum flavors from the yeast here really work nicely together. With the spices thrown in, this has a bit of an eggnog character going on with it. Very interesting!

The taste is bourbon up front, which spreads out into the mouth and gathers around a core of vanilla, brown sugar, and some soft ripe fruit. Thos pumpkin spices are scattered throughout the profile and mostly seem to want to hang with those bourbon flavors the most. Yeast mostly controls the finish on this with a dry ending here of spicy pepper accents and some lingering fruit. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and creamy feeling up front before laying more of crispness down on the tongue after each sip. Some more slickness kicks in across the back and this generally drinks pretty good considering the style and that it’s barrel-aged.

This was pretty good but was ultimately probably my least favorite of the special pumpkin varietals that I had on this night. It was definitely interesting (and was a nice example of how just the spices can really give that Pumpkin Ale quality to a beer) but the bourbon just held this back a little too much for me in spots. I’m still really glad that I got to try this creation though, as it was quite unique!

Served on-tap at Iron Hill Lancaster during their Great Pumpkin Harvest Party. Poured into a 12 ounce glass.

A: Medium brown murky body with absolutely no head on it. Even with some vigorous swirls I couldn't get any head to form. Naturally, no lace or retention either. For being bourbon barrel aged I can't fault it too much as the barrel tends to kill some visuals, but it's still not very attractive.

S: Bourbon notes come to the front of the aroma, along with a very subtle but noticeable Belgian yeast quality. Caramel and toasted malts blend with pumpkin spices of cinnamon and allspice to create a very expected flavor of a pumpkin-style beer with a twist. The Dubbel nature of the beer is very intriguing and adds a nice layer of complexity to the aromas.

T: Bourbon is again the initial flavor, followed by massive amounts of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. A nice spicy yeast comes in mid-palate along with some silky pumpkin flesh flavors. It's spiced very well and strikes an incredible balance in delivering all aspects of the flavor profile. Delicious.

M: Bubblier than the other bourbon barrel aged pumpkin beer of the night, medium-bodied without feeling watery or thin. There's also a nice silkiness on the palate, finishes somewhat warm in the throat but clean on the mouth.

This was honestly my favorite beer of all we sampled. There was enough bourbon and spice character, toss in some Belgian yeast with a Dubbel base and it makes for a seriously complex and delicious beer. Quality stuff right here.