Pumpkin Unhinged
Parlay 6 Brewing Company

spiced pumpkin barleywine, a little past its season but i couldnt miss this when we were in this weekend, really epic beer, glad i went for it, maybe my favorite from this visit here, really good base beer, nicely proportioned overall, complex but drinkable too with a genuinely well hidden alcohol strength, tons of flavor but not over flavored, and there is a difference. roasted pumpkin, coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and orange zest in here and it all comes together well. clear from the tap under a just off white half inch of foam with decent retention, nice to see some carbonation activity in a barleywine like this. the nose is warming spices but interesting and unconventional, the coriander is unexpected and a cool wrinkle, the cinnamon makes it cozy, the vanilla isnt overdone, and the roasted pumpkin is accentuated by the orange zest, a nice addition, also some balancing bitterness there, nice with the long cooked malt complexity, toffee and honey notes but not too sweet, and i think the base beer is cool one to be transformed into pumpkin beer. the flavor is killer, such good balance, not too sweet, not exposed on the alcohol, the pumpkin itself is appreciable not just the spices, and its unique with the citrus aspect, even calling up some hops late. the pumpkin is earthy and natural to me, the body is light actually for this sort of thing, and the vanilla is merely an accent. the spices play together well, hit at different moments, and overall this is seriously impressive and different. a great base barleywine at the core, killer layers of flavor worked in, excellent!