Pumpkin IPA
Smoky Mountain Brewery & Restaurant

Average pumpkin ale, with not much aroma.

Served on draft at Copper Cellar in Knoxville TN. A solid pumpkin beer. Great flavor with the body to match. Aroma is pure pumpkin goodness and the flavor is there as well. Bordering on overpowering but right in my wheelhouse. Perhaps a touch heavy on ginger, but ginger is good for digestion, so no issues there. Pleasantly surprised.

 

As autumn weather rolls in, so do the plethora of Pumpkin Ales; turning our attention away from the summertime flavor of hops and toward the spicy gourde-flavored beers. But now, we don't have to decide between hops and pie. Smoky Mountain brewery puts them both in one!

Upon the pour, the beer does little to separate from Pale Ales. Its sturdy amber color may carry a slight tinge of orange to mimic that of pumpkin, but also offers up golden and copper highlights as well. It creamy, bone-white head proudly sits atop the beer and trickles with lace as the beer fades.

Its aromas are bright and sweet with caramel malts and a with a light biscuit undertow. Complementing citrus notes are accompanied by earthy grass, wood and floral ones. A long search for "pumpkin" character reveals a mild starch note with praline.

To taste, the ale starts off with a pure malt flavor that's lead with caramel sweetness but is also bready, crusty and starchy for that traditional shortbread character. And then the middle palate invites that medley of citrusy grapefruit and orange peels with fragrant grassy elements, light wood spice and a broadly bitter finish. Caught somewhere between Pale Ale and IPA, both English and American inspirations reign true. But the pumpkin character once again gets overshadowed by the classic "beer" attributes.

Effortless on the palate, the beer's early sweetness and embedded carbonation gives the ale a well-rounded creamy texture with a pep of butter, spice and praline. But as the ale finishes, it falls semi-dry, crisp, clean and minty-warm.

Although the pumpkin character of this IPA is a stretch, its balance is impeccable and masterful. Even though it seems somewhat of an English IPA in its sensibility and even-keel stature.