{"id":202,"date":"2014-09-21T13:48:54","date_gmt":"2014-09-21T17:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/syntap.com\/blog\/?p=202"},"modified":"2014-10-04T12:48:09","modified_gmt":"2014-10-04T16:48:09","slug":"pumpkin-ale-reviews-for-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/syntap.com\/blog\/?p=202","title":{"rendered":"Pumpkin Ale Reviews for 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PumpkinAles<\/p>\n

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It is that time of year again, and I have selected nine<\/del>\u00a0eighteen pumpkin ales for this year’s showdown. \u00a0As with last year<\/a>, the seasonal pumpkin brews are plentiful. \u00a0Following my own advice from last year, I mostly utilized Total Wine and More to buy individual bottles so there is no need to commit to a full pack of what might be a dreaded PINO, the Pumpkin In Name Only brew.<\/p>\n

I will pit these eighteen\u00a0against each other, alongside one of my top two from last year (which I did commit to a pack of this year),\u00a0Harpoon Unfiltered Pumpkin Ale. \u00a0All of them were good in their own right, as with last year the ranking is how good of a pumpkin ale they are.<\/p>\n

Here they are,\u00a0ranked least favorite to favorite. \u00a0More will be added as the Fall progresses (first nine are below, next nine will be integrated into the list soon). \u00a0At the bottom of the review is a list of all 31 varieties reviewed to date, ordered\u00a0best on down.<\/p>\n

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Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin<\/strong><\/p>\n

Given how good last year\u2019s Shipyard product was, I was looking forward to this new variety from them. \u00a0But it wasn\u2019t pumpkin-y, and frankly the taste wasn\u2019t for me at all.<\/p>\n

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Dogfish Head Punkin Ale<\/strong><\/p>\n

I got punked by the PINO.<\/p>\n

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Wood Chuck Hard Cider Pumpkin<\/strong><\/p>\n

They say there is pure pumpkin in it, free of all spices to get pure taste. \u00a0But it is made with red apple cider, and I just can\u2019t detect anything other than typical cider taste. \u00a0PINO.<\/p>\n

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Buffalo Bill\u2019s Brewery America\u2019s Original Pumpkin Ale<\/strong><\/p>\n

No pumpkin flavor or spices detectable. \u00a0A decent ale, but a PINO.<\/p>\n

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Anderson Valley Fall Hornin\u2019 Pumpkin Ale<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tastes a bit like drinking melted dark chocolate, okay for a thick ale but not really a pumpkin ale.<\/p>\n

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Flying Dog Brewery The Fear Imperial Pumpkin Ale<\/strong><\/p>\n

Real dark, real bold, real tasty. \u00a0Not real pumpkin-y.<\/p>\n

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Devil\u2019s Backbone Brewing Company Pumpkin Hunter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Did they catch the pumpkin? \u00a0Maybe they got a piece of it, but not enough got into the bottle to make it a great pumpkin ale. \u00a0I can kind of taste the piece but it is barely in the non-PINO range.<\/p>\n

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Blue Point Pumpkin Ale<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some aromatic and aftertaste spice hints, not a lot though. \u00a0Gets a passing grade but almost a PINO.<\/p>\n

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Starr Hill Boxcarr Pumpkin Porter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oops, accidentally bought a repeat from last year. Same result as last year as well. \u00a0This year they have appeared to add an addition “r” to “Boxcar” if you check out my photo of the bottle above.<\/p>\n

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Traveler Beer Company Jacko Traveler Seasonal Shandy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jacko Traveler is a wheat ale brewed with lemon peel, then some pumpkin added. \u00a0It tasted a bit like mixing ale with hard cider. \u00a0Interesting taste but it is a bit too cider-y (or maybe just lemon-y) for a pumpkin ale.<\/p>\n

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Ithaca Beer Company Country Pumpkin<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nice aroma, mild pumpkin hints.<\/p>\n

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Evolution Craft Jacques All Lantern<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unique taste, unique enough that I’m not sure if it is pumpkin-and-spices based or not. So I’ll rate it a decent non-PINO.<\/p>\n

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RJ Rockers Gruntled Pumpkin Ale<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fruitier than others but a nice taste, seems to focus on that more than the pumpkin pie spices. \u00a0Pretty good.<\/p>\n

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Fordham Spiced Harvest Ale<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brewed with every spice you could want so I was looking forward to this one. \u00a0It doesn’t all come out of the bottle but it is a pretty good brew.<\/p>\n

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Southampton Publick House Pumpkin Ale<\/strong><\/p>\n

Good spices and very likable.<\/p>\n

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Saint Louis Brewery Schlafly Pumpkin Ale<\/strong><\/p>\n

The lady at the Total Wine register said her fiance called this one \u201cnectar of the gods\u201d in very dramatic fashion. \u00a0I was skeptical and saved it for near the end, but it was indeed good. \u00a0Spices throughout, good aroma and taste.<\/p>\n

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Alewerks Pumpkin Ale<\/strong><\/p>\n

Good aroma, hits with every tip of the glass. \u00a0Taste is spicy too, good flavor.<\/p>\n

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Harpoon Unfiltered Pumpkin Ale<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a re-test of last year\u2019s tie for top winner, still good but not the ka-pow I remember from last year so it\u2019s going down a notch.<\/p>\n

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Cortland Beer Company Pumpkin Ale<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fanstastic, ranks up there with last year\u2019s UFO and Shipyard Pumpkinhead. \u00a0All the spices and flavors are there and up front. \u00a0You\u2019ll have to look more local to NY for this one.<\/p>\n

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Full 2013-2014 Pumpkin Ales Review Rankings, 31 Varieties Ordered by Bill’s Preference<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cortland Beer Company Pumpkin Ale<\/p>\n

Harpoon Unfiltered Pumpkin Ale<\/p>\n

Shipyard Pumpkinhead<\/p>\n

Alewerks Pumpkin Ale<\/p>\n

Saint Louis Brewery Schlafly Pumpkin Ale<\/p>\n

Southampton Publick House Pumpkin Ale<\/p>\n

Fordham Spiced Harvest Ale<\/p>\n

RJ Rockers Gruntled Pumpkin Ale<\/p>\n

Evolution Craft Jacques All Lantern<\/p>\n

Ichabod Crandall<\/p>\n

Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat<\/p>\n

Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin<\/p>\n

Saranac Pumpkin Ale<\/p>\n

Ithaca Beer Company Country Pumpkin<\/p>\n

Traveler Beer Company Jacko Traveler Seasonal Shandy<\/p>\n

Wolaver\u2019s Pumpkin Ale<\/p>\n

Blue Moon Harvest Moon Pumpkin<\/p>\n

Starr Hill Boxcar Pumpkin Porter<\/p>\n

Red Hook Pumpkin Porter<\/p>\n

Blue Point Pumpkin Ale<\/p>\n

Long Trail Pumpkin Ale<\/p>\n

Devil\u2019s Backbone Brewing Company Pumpkin Hunter<\/p>\n

Flying Dog Brewery Imperial Pumpkin Ale<\/p>\n

Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale<\/p>\n

New Belgium Pumpkick<\/p>\n

Anderson Valley Fall Hornin\u2019 Pumpkin Ale<\/p>\n

Buffalo Bill\u2019s Brewery America\u2019s Original Pumpkin Ale<\/p>\n

Wood Chuck Hard Cider Pumpkin<\/p>\n

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale<\/p>\n

Post Road Pumpkin Ale<\/p>\n

Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is that time of year again, and I have selected nine\u00a0eighteen pumpkin ales for this year’s showdown. \u00a0As with last year, the seasonal pumpkin brews are plentiful. \u00a0Following my own advice from last year, I mostly utilized Total Wine … Read more »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/syntap.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/syntap.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/syntap.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/syntap.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/syntap.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/syntap.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":245,"href":"https:\/\/syntap.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions\/245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/syntap.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/syntap.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/syntap.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}