Beer Review: Saint Arnold's Pumpkinator (2012)

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 10 percent

Appearance: Saint Arnold's Pumpkinator pours an extremely black color. Its color is very reminiscent of something such as coal or motor oil. In fact, I'd say this beer is darker than those two things. It appears really thick, almost like something chocolaty you can chew on. On the first pour of this bottle, the head was thin and weak. It has an off-white/beige color. On the second pour of the bottle it was a lot thicker and had better retention.

Smell: I openly admit that my sense of smell isn't the world's greatest (I wasn't ever able to pick up the smelly kid in grade school). Sometimes I struggle to pick up some aromas if they aren't strong. I'll tell you that I could pick up a strong scent of nutmeg when this beer was poured. I also picked up a decent amount of cinnamon and chocolate, which added a darker sense to this.

Taste: The nutmeg and cinnamon dominate the flavor on the front. There is also a strong hint of pumpkin on the finish after each gulp. I was reminded of the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal some of us had as kids. When you get some of the chocolate/roasted notes as well, on the front, it's kind of like you had your Cinnamon Toast Crunch with some chocolate milk.

Overall Rating: 

Truly an excellent beer. I was thrilled with the strong aroma/taste of nutmeg and pumpkin. Also loved that this was a dark stout. This was sent to me via @BeerSamplers in the Texas area and is part of the local Brotherhood of Brew. He highly recommended this beer. I'm thankful he did. In case you didn't know, check out the bottom of this beer's cap!

I actually forgot he was the patron saint of brewers before trying this.