Pumpkincrusha
Short's Brewing Company

Canned on 7-27-22. 12oz can poured into a tulip.

Pours a glowing auburn with some haze; fluffy light khaki head that falls leaving solid retention and lacing.

The aromas have subtle pumpkin spice notes, especially cinnamon. Some toast. Some caramel. Some veggies. Malts are there.

The flavors follow the nose. More cinnamon along with some nutmeg. More caramel along with some cocoa and vanilla. Mild hints of graham crackers in the mix. More toast. Some grains. It's slightly earthy with a subtle bitterness. Subtle sweetness. Malts do their thing. Finishes clean. Alcohol basically goes unnoticed.

Mouthfeel is nice. It's on the lighter side of medium-bodied with active carbonation. It's sharp, fluffy, and smooth.

This is a decent pumpkin ale. It's straightforward and not too flashy, but it's well crafted. I like it.

Appearance - The beer was copper in color with visible carbonation and a white head.

Smell - Light notes of cinnamon and clove came through in the nose.

Taste - At the front, notes of lights, cinnamon, and clove, made an appearance. There was some actual taste of pumpkin in the beer. The cinnamon lingered, becoming a bit funky at the finish.

Mouthfeel - The carbonation was strong, seeming to sweep away any traces sweetness.

Overall - The beer was very mild for the style and rather disappointing.

 

 

I like pumpkin beer. I should like this beer. I do not like this beer. There's an initial sweetness that's pleasant enough. Then it reaches the back of your mouth and holy Headless Horseman does it get sour fast. Like, I'm making a face involuntarily with each swallow" kind of sour. I swear to Bob this is my first beer of the evening. I didn't first gargle with Pumpking.

Perhaps I'm having an off palate day.

Great fall beer. Perfect for a night of crisp weather. Slightly thin feel and flavor. Looks and smells like pumpkin pie. I would recommend this beer as a good example of the pumpkin beer style.

Brief Review:

O: Didn't get a chance to review this last year when it was first canned. No shortage of great pumpkin beers in Michigan, and this one is newer to the group. Not my favorite to be honest. It's got the spices/pie feel of Screamin' Pumpkin and it's a little more balanced than that, which I like. But it's still a little messy and flat compared to the better, simpler pumpkin beers in Ichabod or Pumpkin Tart.

Recommendation: Not the best pumpkin beer in Michigan, but a decent offering and something you can go to in a pinch as Halloween nears.

 

12 oz can from Michigan packaged in lays July 2023.

This is the best limited ABV pumpkin beer I've had, and one of the best pumpkin beers ever. The spicing is strong enough to be readily detected but no stronger. Both the aroma and the flavor carry a strong note of caramel malts.

August 2023 Passion Project Release - 6 pack
12 oz. can dated 072823 (7/28/23) - 6.5% ABV / 15 IBU
Brewed and canned in Elk Rapids, MI
Poured into a Bell's branded nonic pint glass

Look - Pours a soapy and fizzy, slightly tan-colored head that dies down pretty quickly. Cloudy, light to dark reddish-brown appearance with a good amount of streaming bubbles.
Smell - You get a lot of the pumpkin in the scent, but also a fair amount of the spices. Nothing seems to dominate.
Taste - The spices are actually stronger in the taste and the pumpkin hangs out in the background. The spice flavors seem to be mostly nutmeg, ginger, clove, and maybe a slight cinnamon. No bitterness or alcohol taste.
Feel - Medium bodied with a crisp mouthfeel and finishes with minimal dryness.
Overall - This is more of a spice beer than a pumpkin beer, but it's still good, and drinks easy.

 

Dark copper colored with with a trace of beige covering a a fifth of the top. The aroma is of pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, and allspice. I’m tasting cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. The mouth is busy with spices and moderately carbonated.

 

I poured a 12 oz. can of Short's Pumpkincrusha into a pint glass. I felt a bit of a 'wow' factor at the look of this brew... a gorgeously deep brown-orange body, hazy with real pumpkin mash, topped by a 2-inch off-white head. The head dissipated quickly, as pumpkin heads are wont to do, yet enough carbonization was in the beer to supply minimal lacing while drinking. The smell is of honest pumpkin, vanilla, caramel and cinnamon leading other holiday spices. It has a clean, natural taste... nothing overwhelming, but no chemical concoctions or false sugars detected, either. The taste as pure as it's smell, and while it doesn't crack my top 5 pumpkins, it's close enough. I would rather have one of these over 90% of the pumpkin quagmire out there. Nicely done, Short's Brewing Company!

Big brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg on the nose. Taste follows suit with some fresh baked pumpkin pie addition. Overall, not too sweet but very spicy and good complexity. Excellent.

 

 

Served on tap at the pub. Light amber in color with swirls of foam. Nice spiced donut aromas, just a touch of herbal hops. Flavor treads the line between pumpkin and pie spice flavors; more warm spice than anything, with some malt sweetness and a touch of pumpkin

It is obviously a pumpkin flavored beer with a lot of bite to it. Semi sweet and very enjoyable, but a bit too pumpkiny for me.