As Halloween grows closer and the markets are filled with produce, I decided its time to review a pumpkin spice beer. I had a hard time deciding which one to drink, however, so I just bought four; These are Harvest Moon, Ichabod Pumpkin Ale, Imperial Pumpkin Ale and Devious Imperial Pumpkin.
Molson Coors Brewing Company has gained significant popularity over the last 15 years by brewing a beer with decent taste for a change. This beer is currently marketed as Blue Moon, although it has gone by other names over the years, and is a light wheat beer similar in character to a Belgian witbeer. As the Blue Moon brand gained popularity Molson Coors has expanded the lineup offered by the brand, which now includes a Pumpkin-flavored ale known as Harvest Moon, which is relatively strong at 5.7% ABV. New Holland Brewing Company is located in Holland, Michigan which was founded in 1996 by Jason Spaulding and Brett VanderKamp. NHBC operates a 50 barrel brew house, and has been adding some spice to the stereotypically bland Midwest by providing award winning craft brews. Ichabod Pumpkin Ale has a quite respectable 5.2% ABV, and has both cinnamon and nutmeg spices added to this brew. Weyerbacher is a small microbrewery located in Easton, PA. The brewery was founded in 1995 by Dan and Sue Weirbeck, and in 2005 purchased Victory Brewing Company’s 25 barrel brew system, and since then has continued to upgrade their brewhouse and equipment. Their beer is named Imperial Pumpkin Ale, and packs a hefty punch at 8.0% ABV. Weyerbacher adds cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and clove to their beer. Fegley’s Brewworks is another small brewery located in Bethlehem, PA. Devious Imperial Pumpkin is brewed with real pumpkin and spiced with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and allspice, and sports the strongest alcohol content of any of the beers reviewed at 9.0% ABV.
All these beers poured clear, although Imperial Pumpkin was definitely the most turbid of the four, and were fairly close in color, ranging from a deep copper in the Harvest Moon to a brown in the Devious Pumpkin Ale. Devious also had a big, even textured tan head while the others had much thinner white heads, although all four dissipated fairly quickly. Ichabod had good lacing and Imperial Pumpkin had some as well, but Devious had surprising little. Harvest Moon did not have any lacing, but I didn’t really expect any from this beer, anyway, since this is a perennially problem in many mass-produced beers. Ichabod was the clear winner in the smell category with a nice, lightly spiced aroma with hints of sweetness. Harvest moon smelled much rougher, but not very bad at all. Imperial Pumpkin had a much stronger spicy aroma which was, unfortunately, overshadowed by a bubblegum scent. Devious was distinctly different than the others, almost vegetative in nature, and I found it to be quite disenchanting. The Harvest Moon and Ichabod both had moderate body and carbonation, with Harvest having a slightly astringent quality. Imperial Pumpkin and Devious both had a much fuller body, but this was offset with a higher carbonation in both beers with Imperial Pumpkin having an almost effervescent quality. Harvest Moon tasted like a slightly sweeter Blue Moon, although it had a bit more of a bitter finish , and I really didn’t taste much fruit. Ichabod Pumpkin Ale was also bitter towards the end, but had a much drier finish than Harvest Moon. Imperial Pumpkin was a little bit sweeter overall, which helped to offset the bitter finish, and was overall much smoother and more balanced than any of the other three. Devious was also smooth, and was significantly malt forward, but the vegetative smell just put me off this beer.
Overall, I did not really enjoy any of these beers; I may just not like spiced ales in general, but I recall having tried Imperial Pumpkin and Harvest Moon before and I remember them being significantly better. Its possible that these bottles had sat on the shelf for a while, but they shouldn’t have been able to since its only mid October and these are fall seasonals. In my opinion, Weyerbacher’s Imperial Pumpkin Ale was the best balance and most refined of any of these beers, being ruined only by the bubblegum character, so I would suggest giving that one a try; hopefully I got a bad bottle.
Harvest Moon/Ichabod Pumpkin/Imperial Pumpkin/Devious
Price: $5.50
Size: 12/12/12/22 oz
ABV: 5.7/5.2/8.0/9.0%
Look: 3/3/3/3.5 out of 5
Smell: 2.5/3/2.5/2 out of 5
Taste: 3/3/3.5/3
Mouthfeel: 4/3.5/4/4
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