Beer Review: Schlafly Pumpkin Ale

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: Eight percent

Appearance: This quite-appealing pumpkin brew poured a very dark, yet reddish copper. The body also glistened some dark and light hues of maroon. This had a lovely color, but one aspect of this beer fell short in my book. There seemed to be a limited amount of carbonation in the body as well as a lack of thickness in the head, which was visible for a matter of seconds before fizzling off and going away for good.

Smell: Sweet and sugary cinnamon dominated the aroma. That was layered with undertones of meaty pumpkin. This is among the closest an aroma of a beer has come to actual pumpkin pie for me. This even beat the buttery scent of Southern Tier's Pumking.

Taste: I got tons of pumpkin flavor on the front. Cinnamon and nutmeg on the way back. Surprisingly, I also picked up what tasted like graham cracker. This certainly puts this beer in my "pie theory" as in graham cracker crust. The pumpkin flavor was just as awesome as it was in the smell. Not quite where you can taste the roof of your mouth and still get the pumpkin, but close enough. Texture of the beer wasn't where I'd hoped it would have been, but the alcohol presence is well hidden with the other wonderful components of this beer.

Overall Rating: 

This was absolutely amazing except for the apparent flatness of the beer's body. Not much carbonation of foamy head. Still, I went into drinking this brew with very high expectations. The word on the street is that this is a strong contender for the best pumpkin ale in the country. It came close to living up to the hype. I've seen photographs of this beer with a much better carbonation level and texture. So, I hope I'm lucky enough to try it again next year. Also, before you ask where I found it read this post from back in August.