Fall time = pumpkin beer time!

I love fall.

Always have.

My love probably started back when I was a kid: jumping in piles of leaves, trick-or-treating, and gearing up for the holidays is all pretty great stuff that happens exclusively between September and November.

I still love fall, too, even though I don't jump into too many piles of leaves or trick-or-treat anymore. 

My love lives on now because of my fondness for... you guessed it! Pumpkin beer!

Tons of different breweries make pumpkin beers and, honestly, I've never had a bad one.  A few have stood out to me, though.

This year, the best pumpkin beer I've had was Terrapin's Pumpkin Ale.  Apparently most of the Southeast agreed with me: I wrote John Cochran, Founder and President of Terrapin, to find 6-packs in the Chattanooga area and he said they were sold out already!

TOTALLY sold out! Not just in GA/TN! 

He comforted me though: they'll brew more next year!

Terrapin's version of the pumpkin ale was my favorite because it was so balanced. It was good beer first and good pumpkin beer second.  The pumpkin flavor was infused 100% with the other standard ale flavors, something some flavored beers miss (I'm looking at you Sweetwater Blue!).

But, since I literally am not physically able to get any bottles to review, I'll write about some other solid examples of pumpkin-flavored brews:  Brooklyn Brewery's Post Road Pumpkin Ale and Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale.

First off, let's look at Brooklyn's Post Road:

This is a fall-time classic. Pretty much any store that's not a gas station or a Wal-mart stocks Post Road from September-November.

As they should.

Post Road Pumpkin Ale tastes great, smells great, and drinks easy.  All at once it's a great craft beer and a great session beer.

It starts out bright, fresh, and super crisp. It's floral, biscuity, and spicy right on the front of the tongue and it finishes just as strongly (but not TOO strongly).  Cloves and pumpkin are the most obvious flavors, but cinnamon is there, too, backing up the others.  The smell of the spices really ratchets up the taste, too, as does the dry, clean mouth feel.

As far as comparisons go, I found it similar to a Sam Adams Boston Ale.  Minus the pumpkin part, of course.  In my notes, I also wrote that it brings to mind a lighter IPA type taste.  That's probably a comment on the floral characteristics more than the overall taste, though.

All things considered, this is a classic, standard-bearer pumpkin ale.  I give Post Road Pumpkin Ale a 5/5.

OK, next let's tackle (pun originally unintended) Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale!

I love Dogfish Head. Founder Sam Calagione makes awesome beers. He's even got his own beer show on the Discovery Channel! (It's called Brew Masters and it's on Sunday nights at 10:00.)

They make a great spring seasonal (Aprihop) and a interesting (if not tasty) throwback beer (throw WAY back... like 3,000 years back!) called Midas Touch (it's brewed from a 2,700 year old recipe found in King Midas' tomb).  Their Pale Ales are genre-definers, too.

Anyway, Dogfish Head's version of the pumpkin ale is bigger and heartier than Brooklyn's Post Road.  It packs a 7% ABV percentage and has a much more robust, malty flavor. I get a grittier, earthy taste, too, with a rounder, less direct taste profile.

If you tend to like Brown Ales and maltier beers, then you'll probably love this one.  Me, I like brown ales a lot, so naturally, I liked this beer a lot.

It doesn't quite measure up to the Post Road in a few areas, though: it isn't as pumpkiny (is that a word? Spellcheck doesn't think so. Alas.) as the Post Road, which detracts points. The aftertaste is also a little lackluster -it kind of sags, without hanging around for very long. These are minor gripes, though.

Ultimately, Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale is a delicious take on the pumpkin ale. It does fall short of Brooklyn's Post Road Pumpkin Ale, but that's not to say it isn't great. It's just different. I give it a 4/5.