Pumpkin Passion

Okay, the ranking are probably really obvious but here we go:

4th Place– The Shipyard Brewing Company’s Pumpkinhead Ale, which tastes as much like pumpkin as it probably tastes like head, gets 2 out of 10 ranking.

3rd Place– The Coors Brewing Company’s Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale, it was kinda okay but very chemicalish tasting, gets a 4 out of 10 ranking.

2nd Place– The Sea Dog Brewing Company’s Pumpkin Ale gets a 5 out of 10 ranking.

1st Place– Buffalo Bill’s Brewery’s Pumpkin Ale gets a 7.5 out of 10 ranking to make it the first place winner!!!

For additional pictures of the contestants go here.

Name: Pumpkin Ale
Brand: Buffalo Bill’s Brewery
Purchased At: Cost Plus-but I’ve seen it lots of other places
Price: $5.99, give or take a dollar

This is the first pumpkin ale I have ever tasted. It’s been almost 3 years since I saw it in a Liquor Barn, grabbed it and then nearly skipped with urgent glee towards the registers. This seems to be the Pumpkin Ale that most people are familiar with if they also have a passion for pumpkins. It’s the standard, and in my book, all others are mere copycats.

There’s a pumpkin smell and an actual pumpkin TASTE in nearly every mouthful. It’s kind of astonishing because this is the darkest and strongest tasting ale out of all. If they could just take the pumpkin flavor and put it in a lighter ale this would be AMAZING.

When I started this Ale Off, I really thought that several of these other brands would win praise over the Buffalo Bill’s ale. In comparison, this is the BEST pumpkin ale out there but I still think that someone else could do better, maybe next pumpkin-eattin’ season . . . .

Name: Pumpkin Ale
Brand: The Sea Dog Brewing Company
Purchased At: Trader Joe’s
Price: $5.99, give or take a dollar

What happened to Sea Dog? I use to see several different types of Sea Dog Ales at Traders Joes but they don’t seem to carry it at all any more. Does this mean no Sea Dog Pumpkin Ale next year? If so, I’m not all that upset.

The taste of this ale is just weak and flat. When I first opened the bottle I caught a whiff of pumpkin spice but the taste just wasn’t there. Not being a beer person, I enjoyed that it didn’t much taste like beer. It wasn’t bitter and there wasn’t any aftertaste. I’d say that it tasted more like beer-flavored soda that was left out overnight. You could probably drink an entire six-pack and still be able to follow the dialogue of an episode of “Gilmore Girls.”

It’s still going to rank pretty high on the Pumpkin Ale Off, primarily because it’s not gross but not because it’s particularly good.