Beer Review: Wolaver's (Organic) Pumpkin Ale

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 5.35 percent

Appearance: This pumpkin ale pumpkin ale poured  a vivid copper color that boasted orange and gold hues on the outskirts of the body. Certainly one of the best-looking pumpkin ales I've seen in 2013. It has a sense of thickness and haze. Decent appearance of strength. The head was foamy, bubbly and white. It had the thickness of about an index finger, but faded back to the usually layer of foam that crowns most brews. I'd prefer a bit more carbonation than hat I noticed.

Smell: This was a little spice forward. These spices tended to drown out any pumpkin in the aroma.That said, there was plenty of cinnamon and clove as well as some biscuit malt.

Taste: Much like the aroma, the taste of this was extremely spice-forward on the front portions of my tongue. There was cinnamon, clove and a surprising dose of nutmeg. Mid-way back came some pumpkin that complimented the spices quite well. A little bit of carbonation provided for a seltzer-like texture that I always enjoy in beer. There was also an above average hop bitterness on the finish that worked great with the other aspects of the flavor. The spices struck back a bit in the lingering after taste.

Overall Rating: 

This was an up-and-down experience. Still, I'm glad I invested in a case of it. It's not overpowering and reminds me of the fall season. It really didn't remind me of pumpkin pie, but not every pumpkin ale is going to. Lovely color, texture was there and the pumpkin flavor came through in the taste. The spices bothered me just a little, but this is still a quality brew.

Monday Rant: The Hilarity of Pumpkin Season

I went into this past weekend's beer shopping adventure with my mind set on two cases of pumpkin beer. The two aforementioned cases were Wolaver's Organic Pumpkin Ale and the ellusive Dogfish Punkin Ale. Going in I knew very well that the Punkin supply this year was extremely limited. Even the distributor I visited announced via Facebook that it had only received about 10 percent of what they ordered. I know that most distributors receive only a portion of what they actually put in for with seasonal brews, but 10 percent seemed very low to me.

I arrived to find that the Dogfish Punkin was pretty much gone. There were two cases of Southern Tier Pumking adorned with a Sharpie-written sign saying :Limit of 2 per-customer." I cruised around the seasonal beer section twice to find that the cases of Pumking were gone upon the completion of the second lap.

The Wolaver's supply was plentiful and I snagged one for myself to take home. Still, the hilarity of this beer season always amuses me. Luckily, I can laugh at the quick disappearance of the Pumking cases and the Punkin stock since I still have bottles of both from last year.

I haven't been able to try this year's versions of either, but I've heard a few rumors in the thicket that Pumking has finally taken a step backwards. We'll see, though.

Hope everyone saved a 2012 Pumking from last year it makes this year's look like a hobo
— OffTheTriBoro (@OffTheTriBoro) September 1, 2013