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BC Pumpkin Ales Tasted

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 | Beer | 1 Comment

Last week I posted about some of the pumpkin ales recently released by our esteemed BC brewers.  I’m pleased to say that I’ve now had the chance to try most of them.  Erik and I enjoyed a pumpkin feast and pumpkin ale tasting this past weekend.  Below are my rankings and impressions of the four beers we tasted side by side.  It should be noted that we were drinking full glasses of each beer, which may have affected the quality of our tasting notes.

1. Swans Pumpkin Ale – This was my favorite pumpkin ale.  I found it pleasantly sweet and nicely balanced with spice.  Tasting note: “Tastes like pumpkin pie in a good way.”
2. Central City Red Racer Pumpkin Ale – This was the most drinkable of the bunch, meaning that you could easily drink a few of these.  The pumpkin ale taste was not overwhelming and there was no detectable spice. Tasting note: “Reminds me of their pale ale with added pumpkin.”
3. Phillips Crooked Tooth Pumpkin Ale – I found this one good, but not great.  It had more pumpkin flavor that the Granville Island version and also reminded me of pumpkin pie, but not in as pleasant a way as the Swans version.  Tasting note: “Tastes like turkey dinner in a glass.”
4. Granville Island Pumpkin Ale – The most underwhelming of the bunch with very little pumpkin taste, but plenty of spice.  We guessed they may have used a Belgian yeast because it had that funky aroma.  Erik  wondered whether the bottle we had might have oxidized a little bit.  Tasting note: “Tastes Belgiany.”

It should be noted that all of the above beers were reddish brown in color, none deviating very far from the other.  It should also be noted that the Howe Sound Pumpkineater I tried at the Alibi Room would likely rank high on this list, but I was unable to procure any for this tasting session.

Swans was my favorite pumpkin ale of the season

For those of you who might be interested in knowing what we ate at our pumpkin feast, Rachel made pumpkin soup, roasted vegetables including pumpkin, pumpkin gnocchi, and a baked pumpkin pastry dessert.  I wish I’d taken a picture of the spread because it looked as wonderful as it tasted.  I don’t think I’d eaten roasted pumpkin before, but if I had then I forgot that it tastes very much like roasted sweet potatoes or yams.  Why don’t we eat roasted pumpkin more often?

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: bc, central city red racer pumpkin ale, granville island pumpkin ale, howe sound pumpkineater imperial pumpkin ale, phillips crooked tooth pumpkin ale, pumpkin ale, pumpkin gnocchi, pumpkin soup, roasted pumpkin, swans pumpkin ale

Pumpkin Ale Season in BC

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 | Beer | 1 Comment

It is almost Halloween, which most significantly means that it’s pumpkin ale season again.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with pumpkin ales they are generally similar to amber ales, but are brewed with pumpkin added in some form.  Many pumpkin ales also include the spices one would commonly find in pumpkin pie such as ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and allspice.  In fact, I’d say most people find that pumpkin ales taste like pumpkin pie.  It’s a taste that some don’t enjoy, but I for one am a bigger fan of pumpkin pie in a glass than on a plate.

Our BC brewers aren’t letting us down this year and are offering some tasty pumpkin ales.  I’ve managed to collect the following four:

• Central City Red Racer Pumpkin Ale
• Phillips Crooked Tooth Pumpkin Ale
• Swans Pumpkin Ale
• Granville Island Brewing Pumpkin Ale

It seems that pumpkin ales are getting rather popular in BC because most of the above proved rather hard to find.  Staking out Brewery Creek proved most effective, but I had to use the BC Liquor Store product finder to track down the Granville Island offering.  I haven’t had any of the pumpkin ales I’ve procured just yet because I plan to compare them all side by side come Halloween, but I’ll be sure to post my findings.

There are a few other pumpkin ales out and about.  Howe Sound released a small amount of their Pumpkineater Imperial Ale in bottles, but it sold out fast.  However, I did notice it on tap at the Alibi Room earlier in the week.  Steamworks also has their version of pumpkin ale on tap at their brewpub.  Even if you don’t think you’ll like pumpkin ale, scare yourself this Halloween and give it a try.

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: alibi room, brewery creek liquor store, cenrtral city, crooked tooth, Granville Island Brewing, howe sound brewing, phillips brewing, pumpkin ale, pumpkineater imperial ale, red racer, steamworks, swans