Quick Riffs: A Plethora of Pumpkin Products (and some others)

Halloween is long past – but the candy hangover lingers. I gathered an assortment of pumpkin, spice and Oktoberfest style beers and dutifully noted my sentiments in this hear tasting notebook. Before Thanksgiving lands on us, let’s give some of these seasonal beers a quick go, shall we?

I provided some notes for Dogfish Head Punkin Ale in this earlier post.

And I posted some comments about Wasatch Beer’s Pumpkin Ale here shortly after my visit to Utah.

Here’s a mixed six to round out the fall drinking season; which is not to say I’m done with the spiced and pumpkin seasonals.

Flying Dog Dogtoberfest Marzen
Sampled October 15, 2008
I was expecting more from this outfit. Dogtoberfest smells a bit grainy in the glass. The smell has a mild alcohol bite to it. The taste is slightly chemical and slightly dry at the finish. Dogtoberfest has a thin mouth feel and presents a brown-orange color. Not the best marzen I’ve had.

Left Hand Brewing Oktoberfest Marzen Lager
Sampled October 15, 2008
Distinctly sour grass smell in the bottle but indescribable smell once poured, this one has a mild alcohol bite in the taste and tastes faintly of nuts – perhaps almonds. This one was better than Dogtoberfest, but not outstanding in my book.

Dundee Oktoberfest Marzen Style Lager
Sampled October 15, 2008
The ubiquitous grassy, slightly sour smell in the bottle, with a slight caramel smell in the glass, this one presents a nice head with medium beading. The taste is of sweet candy with a quick finish. This Oktoberfest is probably the best compared to the Flying Dog and Left Hand offering.

Widmer Brothers Okto Oktoberfest Munich Style Ale
Sampled October 16, 2008
This one gives off a cereal, slightly sour smell in the bottle and slightly malty smell in the glass. Appearance is brown with a tan head. Taste is sweet and malty with a slightly dry finish. There’s a vague hint of nuts and sweetness that grows as the beer warms in the glass.

Michelob Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale
Sampled on October 19, 2008
This mass-produced poser is faintly grassy smelling in the bottle and faintly sweet-spicy smelling in the glass. Jack’s pours a bronze/amber color with a decent enough head that disappeared quickly. There is no pumpkin and very little spice in the taste that I can discern but it was a touch chemical tasting to me.

Kennebunkport Pumpkin Ale
Sampled on November 1, 2008
Slight spice smell in the bottle with a very, very subtle taste. Thin mouth feel and week head with an appearance reminiscent of apple juice. Probably not a beer I’ll be seeking out next fall I have to say.

Gee, for a "quick riff" this turned into one long-winded rant. I'm thinking I'll step away from the sampling for a bit. Perhaps I need to dig through this slush pile for some of the old obscure rambling stuff. Hmmm.