Beer Of The Week (Vol XXVIII)

This edition of the Beer of the Week brought to you as always by the fine folks at Glen Lake Wine & Spirits. They can help put the treat back into your tricks.

Ah fall, 'tis the season when a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of...

...pumpkins. Yes, pumpkins. Pumpkins play an integral role in the season from autumnal decorations to Halloween jack-o-lanterns to the pie that often accompanies the Thanksgiving feast. Even Saint Paul's favorite (and to my knowledge only) Halloween howler is an homage to the gourd-like squash:

How do hillbillies celebrate Halloween?

They pump kin.

That one never gets old.

While I admire pumpkins and their place in the season as much as the next redneck, that admiration is limited entirely to their visual appeal. When it comes to eating or drinking, I prefer to steer clear. Pumpkin pie? Nah. Pumpkins seeds? Meh. Any sort of potable that somehow makes use of a pumpkin? Not for me.

So it was with no small degree of trepidation that I approached this week's beer Blue Moon Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale, which is supposedly "made with the flavor of vine-ripened pumpkin." Um...we are still talking beer here, right?

Shorter brown bottle. Orange label with a Van Goghish rendition of a large harvest moon over a field of pumpkins.

Beer Style: Pumpkin Ale

Alcohol by Volume: 5.7%

COLOR (0-2): Clear amber. 2

AROMA (0-2): Mostly malt with faint hints of spice. 1

HEAD (0-2): Off-white color. Good pour. Not much lacing. 1

TASTE (0-5): Again, mostly malt with a little hoppiness. Surprisingly little spice or noticeable pumpkin flavor. Medium to heavy-bodied. 3

AFTERTASTE (0-2): Hollow and lacking in follow through. 1

OVERALL (0-6): Better than I expected. The lack of spice and pumpkin flavor is a good thing. It's also heavier than I would have expected and does go down a little slow. A very average and inoffensive fall offering.

TOTAL SCORE (0-19): 11