Pumpkin Beer Tasting

I decided to have my own little beer tasting this fall. I chose five seasonal beers, and here are my conclusions:

Beer #1: Ichabod by The New Holland Brewing Company of Holland, Michigan. Ale made with pumpkin.They advertise this as “fall in a glass, with the essence of everything from Halloween to gingerbread to Thanksgiving and pumpkin pie”, and I really think that sums it up nicely. I think this would be an excellent beer to accompany any of those items, or just to spend a nice fall day with. It would compliment all autumn traditions. However, while it admirably captured the essence of the season, there was nary a hint of pumpkin in this beer.

Beer #2: Pumpkinhead Ale by The Shipyard of Portland, Maine. Malt beverage with pumpkin spice added.Immediately upon opening this beer, I was smelling pumpkin – the beer was definitely spiced up, but the taste sensation was definitely pumpkin, followed by a liquid pie aftertaste. As the goal of this tasting was to rate pumpkin beers, I have a strong feeling that Pumpkinhead will be hard to beat.

Beer #3: Pumpkin Ale from Buffalo Bill's Brewery of Portland, Oregon. (actually, the labeling is misleading - it is made in Hayward, California and licensed to the Portland Brewing Company - which makes me feel better about this particular review) An amber style ale, originally brewed by George Washington, brewed with fresh roasted pumpkins, malted barley. Cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg are added.
I was predisposed to root for the hometown favorite, but sadly, I felt that this beer was lacking in substance. It seemed thin, watery and albeit “spiced”, it captured none of the fall essence nor the pumpkin taste I am searching for. So very sad for the PDX offering (see above) I'm glad Washington got out of the brewing thing...not his strong suit in my opinion.

Beer #4: Pumpkin Lager Beer from Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukie, Wisconsin. Beer brewed with pumpkin and spices. My first impression of this one was that it was very peppery and certainly spicy, but again, the pumpkin essence was lacking. This beer was quite average, with nothing to really recommend it.

Beer #5: Pumpkin Ale from Sea Dog Brewing Company of Portland, Maine. Ale with pumpkin flavor added. Well, so they say, anyway. This was the oddest tasting of the beer selections, and, again, it felt quite thin and insubstantial. I was not impressed.

The clear winner for pumpkin flavored beer was PUMPKINHEAD ALE, but for an all-around taste of fall, ICHABOD is my choice.