(post) Pre-vacation Pumpkins!

yep..more beers before vacation!  I only had to be up to pack the last minute things and get to the airport for 11am..so why not have a few big boy bottles before I leave!?  Only I pulled a rookie mistake and I didn't keep the pics!  So sadly it'll be stock photography again...  I found a bottle of Shipyard Pugsley's Signature Series - Smashed Pumpkin 2010 vintage... inadvertently cellared for a year!  HOORAY!

 At 9.0% ABV and 28 IBUs this is Pumpkinhead on HGH!  A year later..  slightly darker pour than the original.. huge pumpkin nose with a decent malt backbone, faint spices.  Much more subdued in this sense than it's little brother.  Hints of clove, vanilla..not much more.  The taste was a bit more mellowed than when fresh, less alcohol, less sweet malts.  However, the pumpkin taste pokes through more with the age..much more fresh pumpkin taste than most pumpkin beers in general, very nice!   Tough to really review this one cause I have the taste of a non-aged one in my mind the whole time..but basically take a Pumpkinhead, beef up the pumpkin, beef up the alcohol, add more spice, but not making it dominate the taste and kick in a healthy malt backbone...hella good!

Another Heavy Seas - Mutiny Fleet   the Great Pumpkin - Imperial Pumpkin Ale.  8.0% ABV and around 25 IBUs.  I was crazy excited about the last one by Heavy Seas, but severely let down.  Not sure to be excited or have low expectations for the Great Pumpkin.  Great burnt orange pour with a lovely head.. another one with a huge pumpkin nose.. a little clove, some ginger, hearty toasted cracker malts.  Another with the traditional pumpkin pie nose, but doesn't smell like an artificial pumpkin pie.  Lower IBUs, but a nice little hop bite to the taste.  Smooth and a bit creamy, more pronounced malt bill than in the nose.  Caramel, molasses, gingerbread with some vanilla and cinnamon/clove.  As with the nose, good amount of real pumpkin taste and a nice lingering sweetness to the finish.  Must have been a bad bottle or just bad beer for the Imperial Oktoberfest, cause this was a damn good Imperial Pumpkin by Heavy Seas!

Finally Wachusett - Imperial Pumpkin.  A brand new pumpkin entry for 2011!  8.0 ABV and 32 IBUs  (mine didn't have the brown sugar/cinnamon rim though!)  Another rich burnt orange pour.. typical of the imperials it gives off a huge aroma of pumpkin with the usual spice but a nice malt aroma similar to a stout, heavier molasses, caramel minus the chocolates and dark roasted malts.  A great mix of fresh pumpkin with the artificial pumpkin pie tastes blend with just the right subtle spice taste that doesn't come across as canned pumpkin pie.  More caramel malts with some toffee and a sweetness from probably Belgian candied sugar.  Just enough hints of the alcohol in the finish to give it a nice bite.  Sublte, but rich in flavor and a decent level of carbonation make this a great freshman showing for Wachusett into this category!