On tap at the brewery. Pours hazy yellow. Pineapple, orange, grass, papaya, little bitter herbal stuff. Medium body. Not great.

On tap at the brewery. Pours frosty straw. Grain, lemon, black pepper, light sulfur. Medium body. Fine.

s: anise - brewed coffee - roasted malts a: billowing light brown head - dark brown body t: rich oats - heavy spices - caramelised sugars p: canella - vanilla - licorice o: complex - still deep & bitter - not enough malt/sugars 65 cL bottle - Leuken's Liqours: Dunedin, Florida - 09-June-2019 - US$8,99 - sampled: 12/13 July 2024 (~5 years after purchase)

16 oz can from Total Wine - Daytona. Pours a hazy gold color with a white head and great retention. Lots of streaming bubbles. Good lacing. Dominant orange/ citrus aroma. This has more orange flavor than beer flavor. The orange is so strong that it develops a tart edge. I don't taste any blonde ale characteristics. At least the orange flavor tastes natural, not artificial. Too much of a good thing? Medium body. Lower than average carbonation. Not bitter.

Canned, 473 ml, shared with others. Hazy yellow with medium white head. Hoppy, fruity, sweetish, smooth, no bitterness. Medium bodied.

Tangerine marmalade mostly. Hazy orange pour. Good head. Bitter and slightly tangy end. Balance isn't great. Can.

Pint can - hazy amber - standard american barleywine a la Bigfoot Ale - sticky malt and highly bitter, resinous hop character - bright fruitiness through the middle as a result - it's a pretty decent Bigfoot clone, but it ain't no Bigfoot.

This review was imported from my RateBeer ratings.

16 oz. can, 6.0% ABV, CANNED ON: 07/18/23

AROMA: Sweet with moderate scents of brown sugar, pumpkin, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice. As the beer warms, I am finding that the scent of vanilla is becoming very predominant. And not in a bad way.

APPEARANCE: Pours a clear dark-copper with a whisper-thin, tan head, that dissipates fairly quickly and has almost no lacing. It's a shame that the head wasn't more present because, otherwise, this beer looks great in a clear Pilsner glass.

TASTE: Moderately sweet with the predominant flavors being pumpkin, nutmeg, and clove. After that, there are mild flavors of brown sugar and vanilla, with the vanilla really starting to shine during the finish. It's an odd transition between the flavors. But it's one that I am finding quite pleasing.

MOUTHFEEL: Medium-bodied with a slightly creamy texture and a little above-average carbonation. Not a bad mouthfeel, but if I had my druthers, I would prefer the texture to be a skosh creamier.

OVERALL: I can't say that I've ever had a pumpkin beer that tastes quite like this one. Usually, they fall in one of 2 camps, the pumpkin-pie-in-a-bottle camp, or the squash-in-a-bottle camp. The first, tends to be very sweet and very spiced (i.e. cloves, nutmeg, etc,). The second, tends to try and showcase the flavor of just the pumpkin and then maybe add a touch of sweetness. This beer seems to fall somewhere in the middle of those 2 camps. You get some sweetness with some spice flavor, but you also get a nice amount of pumpkin flavor. And none of the flavors really dominate. Instead, there is a nice balance between all them.

Every year, I try a handful of new pumpkin beers, and in all the years I've tried them, I have only found 2 or 3 that I like enough to put on my "must buy" list (i.e. I make sure to buy them each and every year). But, I have to say, I think I'll be adding this one to the list.

Moderately hazy orange and copper coloured body with a nice, one to two centimetre tall off-white head that caps the beer nicely, but the haze only blocks some of the bubbles rising from the body - all very nice. Aroma of grass, light hay, flowers, oranges and a good deal of honey and caster sugar with some alcohol here too in the nose. Medium to Full-bodied; Very rich malt and sugars come through everything, but some light alpha acid bitterness with honey, fructose, caster sugar and some creamy lactose all noticeable with alcohol here, too. Aftertaste is relatively straight-forward as well with a nice sweetness, some dry, grassy and herbal flavours from the hops, with a soft malt backbone that is very easy-drinking and rich, only showing a mild bitterness at the end. Overall, a very rich, malty and especially sweet beer that is almost cloying level, but the bitterness cuts that to some degree. Nice to sample and not my favourite beer, definitely showing Imperial Status and closer to 8,5 per cent ABV, but a lot of sugars. Nice, but not great. That said, not a bad beer to sample and probably worth the space in my suitcase to bring back home! I sampled this sixteen ounce, pint-sized can, purchased from ABC Fine Wine & Spirits in Estero, Florida (Bonita Springs, Store #074) on 02-May-2022 for US$1,99 (marked down), canned on 11-November-2020 and sampled at my house here in Washington on 097-June-2022.