The seasonal pumpkin beers are flowing fast and furiously around the Cemetery as we count down the final week until Halloween. It's the rocket fuel that propels me through the remaining builds for this year's yard haunt. Today, I'm sipping on some New Belgium Pumpkick. And like all pumpkin beers this season, it must face the dreaded Drunken Jackos rating scale!
When I first heard about New Belgium's seasonal beer, I made sure to keep an eye out, as I really wanted to try it. New Belgium's beers have only been available in this area since February, and Pumpkick, like all of the New Belgium beers, have been flying off the shelves.
Upon pouring the Pumpkick, I noticed a subtle, sweet, spicy aroma as the medium copper-brown beer filled the glass. With the first taste, I noticed the spicy, pumpkin flavor, but was pleasantly surprised by an aftertaste of this beer's special ingredient: cranberry. What a nice surprise! It had a tart, sweet aftertaste that really sets it apart from any of the other pumpkin beers that I have reviewed this year. Honestly, while drinking this beer, the flavors reminded me of Thanksgiving dinner! The balance of the spicy pumpkin followed by the sweet cranberry make this one of the favorite beers of everyone in the Cemetery, and I hope to score a few more bottles before the season ends.
The only downside is that after two beers, the cranberry became a bit overpowering. But honestly, that is a very minor ding. The subtle aroma coupled with the spicy pumpkin flavor and that wonderful finish of cranberry earns New Belgium Pumpkick 4.5 out of 5 Drunken Jackos. This really is a nice change of pace to all of the other pumpkin beers on the market right now. This one will definitely be in the Cemetery cooler on Halloween night!!
1 comments:
Oh, I'm quite fond of New Belgium's beers.
I will have to give this a go if I can find it.
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