Certain images, tastes, sounds and smells are associated with this time of year. Crisp air and crisp apples. Apple cider. Cider doughnuts. Detect a theme here?
And of course pumpkins. Pumpkin muffins. Pumpkin pie. And now that you're lucky enough to be of legal drinking age - Pumpkin Ale.
Personally I think Pumpkin Ale is an over-anticipated sign of the season in that it sounds better in theory than it turns out to be in reality.
And yet every fall season I go right back in. Have to drink those pumpkin brews while they're available! It must be the association with my favorite season, autumn, and its sights, smells, tastes, etc as referenced above.
My experience has been that the best Pumpkin Ales have been those tasted at their point of origin. I recall having one at the Boston Beer Works, a brewpub across the street from Fenway Park, while awaiting a Red Sox-Yankees matchup. Maybe it was the anticipation of the game but I remembered it as being delicious. I also recall having one at a small brewpub in South Orange, New Jersey when visiting our son for parents weekend at Seton Hall University. I remember that brew as very satisfying.
This year though all my exposure to Pumpkin brews has been of the bottled variety, brewed elsewhere, and then delivered either to my door or the local liquor store. Pumpkin Ale definitely loses something in the travel. Or maybe the styles required for bottling as opposed to serving on tap at the brewery are the difference. All I know for sure is that Pumpkin Ale is not one of my favorite fall pleasures.
Recently I have tasted two samples, Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale and McAuslan Brewing's St. Ambroise Citrouille. St. Ambroise is the street in Montreal where McAuslan is located and Citrouille is French for Pumpkin Ale.
Obviously Sam Adams brews are found far and wide and this came from their Fall Harvest collection 12 pack picked up at a local supermarket. McAuslan I had not seen before but it was one of the offerings in this month's Microbrew of the Month club selections that arrived the other day.
I definitely prefer the McAuslan. It has the usual spices that hit your nose as soon as you pour it. It smells like a pumpkin pie. But it is not as sweet as one and so is quite drinkable. But still the combination of pumpkin and spice is just not to my taste. It's good and balanced and not cloying. I can just think of autumnal brews I'd rather be drinking. And I love pumpkin pie!
McAuslan gets 7 mugs out of 10.
Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale is up to its usual standards. It is solid, well crafted, and again not too sweet. It is also very drinkable. However I did not like it as much as the McAuslan version. The spices were more noticeable in both the aroma and the taste. It tasted a little more like a pumpkin pie, which for me means it was a tad too sweet. And while the McAuslan was a pleasing brownish color with a hint of red, the Sam Adams was much darker in the glass. So it wasn't visually as appealing either.
Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale gets 6 mugs out of 10.
Can't wait to drink and report on more of this latest monthly Microbrew of the Month Club selections!
And of course pumpkins. Pumpkin muffins. Pumpkin pie. And now that you're lucky enough to be of legal drinking age - Pumpkin Ale.
Personally I think Pumpkin Ale is an over-anticipated sign of the season in that it sounds better in theory than it turns out to be in reality.
And yet every fall season I go right back in. Have to drink those pumpkin brews while they're available! It must be the association with my favorite season, autumn, and its sights, smells, tastes, etc as referenced above.
My experience has been that the best Pumpkin Ales have been those tasted at their point of origin. I recall having one at the Boston Beer Works, a brewpub across the street from Fenway Park, while awaiting a Red Sox-Yankees matchup. Maybe it was the anticipation of the game but I remembered it as being delicious. I also recall having one at a small brewpub in South Orange, New Jersey when visiting our son for parents weekend at Seton Hall University. I remember that brew as very satisfying.
This year though all my exposure to Pumpkin brews has been of the bottled variety, brewed elsewhere, and then delivered either to my door or the local liquor store. Pumpkin Ale definitely loses something in the travel. Or maybe the styles required for bottling as opposed to serving on tap at the brewery are the difference. All I know for sure is that Pumpkin Ale is not one of my favorite fall pleasures.
Recently I have tasted two samples, Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale and McAuslan Brewing's St. Ambroise Citrouille. St. Ambroise is the street in Montreal where McAuslan is located and Citrouille is French for Pumpkin Ale.
Obviously Sam Adams brews are found far and wide and this came from their Fall Harvest collection 12 pack picked up at a local supermarket. McAuslan I had not seen before but it was one of the offerings in this month's Microbrew of the Month club selections that arrived the other day.
I definitely prefer the McAuslan. It has the usual spices that hit your nose as soon as you pour it. It smells like a pumpkin pie. But it is not as sweet as one and so is quite drinkable. But still the combination of pumpkin and spice is just not to my taste. It's good and balanced and not cloying. I can just think of autumnal brews I'd rather be drinking. And I love pumpkin pie!
McAuslan gets 7 mugs out of 10.
Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale is up to its usual standards. It is solid, well crafted, and again not too sweet. It is also very drinkable. However I did not like it as much as the McAuslan version. The spices were more noticeable in both the aroma and the taste. It tasted a little more like a pumpkin pie, which for me means it was a tad too sweet. And while the McAuslan was a pleasing brownish color with a hint of red, the Sam Adams was much darker in the glass. So it wasn't visually as appealing either.
Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale gets 6 mugs out of 10.
Can't wait to drink and report on more of this latest monthly Microbrew of the Month Club selections!
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