A merging of spices lingers in the air, uninhibited, but balanced against the malt and fresh pumpkin. Flavors are light and clean, with a pleasant pumpkin aroma permeating the foundation of the beer. This crisp ale shines like an amber-sunset, brilliant and clear with frothy eggshell-white cream laying on the surface. Ro Guenzel, Head Brewer at Left Hand Brewing Company in Longmont, Colorado, teamed up with Old Chicago, The Savory Spice Shop and Guerrilla Farms, to produce 4 Foodies Pumpkin Ale, a Fall Seasonal made with 1,000 pounds of Baby Pam Pie Pumpkins from Lewis Timpson’s Guerrilla Farms in Niwot, roasted by Old Chicago, and spiced with cassia cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, galangal root, Jamaican allspice and cubeb berries from Dan Hayward’s Spice Shop in nearby Boulder. A brewer’s interpretation of the style, as well as their personal philosophy about food, dictates how he or she introduces pumpkin into the beer.
When they are filtered, they display a crystalline body that glimmers like a copper jewel but they may also be unfiltered, adding to the mystery. Pumpkin can be introduced as fresh roasted squash, pumpkin puree, or pumpkin flavoring, while spices may be light-handed or as intense as Mom’s holiday pie. Pumpkin Ales are generally malt forward, with just enough hops to pull back on the sweetness. Aficionados of Dogfish Head beers noticed a distinct difference between “last year’s Punkin Ale” and the one made for 2012, while the three heavy-hitting Imperial Pumpkin Ales – assertively spicy and dripping with heat, were the overall favorites of the evening. A group of six beer-geeks did a blind taste-test and chose UFO as their number one, across the board. For those who had never experienced pumpkin beers, the lighter flavors of Saranac seemed to please their taste buds. Each had a very different opinion of what they expected in a pumpkin beer. It was interesting to observe the response by those tasting these ales. Smashed Pumpkin Ale by Shipyard Brewing Company in Portland, Maine at 9% ABVĭevious Imperial Pumpkin Ale by Fegley’s BrewWorks in Allentown & Bethlehem, Pennsylvania at 9% ABV Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale by Weyerbacher Brewing Company, Easton, Pennsylvania at 8% ABV Punkin Ale by Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, Delaware at 7% ABV UFO Unfiltered Pumpkin Ale by Harpoon Brewery, Boston, Massachusetts at 5.9% ABV Saranac Pumpkin Ale by Matt Brewing, Saranac, New York at 5.4% ABV At the King of Prussia BeerFest Royale, I presented Pumpkin Beers of varying strength and spiciness to those attending the VIP session, whetting their palates with enticing autumn pleasures.
Pumpkin Beers can differ dramatically, one from another, and there is no way to fully appreciate them unless you do a horizontal tasting of your own. I won’t try to talk you down from that ledge, but excuse me while I revel in alcohol and spice. If you are one of the people who would rather jump off a ledge than drink a pumpkin ale, I send you my deepest sympathy. And arrive it does, in the form of Pumpkin Ales that titillate the tongue and sate the spirit. I’m feeling a bit like Linus in the pumpkin patch, waiting for the Great Pumpkin to arrive.
#Harpoon ufo pumpkin ale skin
My skin feels it, too … that sloughing of fresh chill that ruffles loose strands of hair from beneath your hood. Perhaps I was just a bit too close to my neighbor’s Jack-o-lantern, or maybe the wind blustered across the upper fields at just the right angle, but my nose knows when autumn has set in. Did you hear the crunching of the leaves underfoot today? The air was filled with an earthy aroma of fresh hay, mixed with pine needles and pumpkin.
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