We start a new series with another AB product Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale. A good place to start with Pumpkin, we’ll be stepping up from here.
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Another year, another list of winners from the Great American Beer Festival. Some stats from this years festival, a total of 432 breweries attended, 2902 beers were in competition, and 225 medals awarded.
Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale
- Of course, one of Jim’s favorite things about Halloween and the fall in general is all the fun and exciting beers that come out.
- Not only do you have beers like Octoberfest beers, which has basically already come out, you have pumpkin beers, that generally come out around now, and then in the coming weeks, just before winter starts, you have some of the barelywines, winter warmers, and porters and stouts. Beers that are great for the winter weather.
- A pumpkin beers can vary quite a bit. Some brewers will add the pumpkin to mash, some will add it to the boil, and some will just put them in as flavoring, either real or artifical. If some of those words don’t make sense, listen to our brewing basics show. The beers also tend to have a lot of the “fall” seasonings as well, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Generally speaking, these are not going to be bitter beers. They will be much more mild, or even sweet. There really isn’t going to be a lot of hop character to these beers.
- Jack’s weighs in at 5.5% ABV and is brewed under the Michelob label.
- This beer first came out a few years ago, and according the the website is made with all malt, pumpkins, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and clove.
- The beer poured amber, almost an orange in color, and has a little bit of that pumpkin pie aroma on the nose, but that tends to dissapate quickly.
- The taste of pumpkin is there, however it is not overpowering by any means. There is a little bit of bitterness with this beer, but the sweetness of the malt is really the main chord here.
- Overall, this isn’t a bad beer, but it isn’t a great beer either. I would have to call this somewhere middle of the road. If its there, give it a try, but if not, you haven’t missed much.
Next Week
Well, if I can find one that I like, we are going to do another pumpkin beer. Possibly one from Southern Tier, possibly one from Brooklyn. It all depends on if the beer Gods are with Jim.
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