Dogfish Head Punkin Ale – Notice they didnt use the word “pumpkin”
Whew its been a while. Sorry for the long delay, but big changes are on the way to the site that will make it more fun for more than just me. Plus, it’ll be easier to access from your smart phone. If you aren’t following the twitter feed (@Frostygoodness), make sure you do that too. When I’m feeling lazy, I sometimes post speed reviews on twitter. But enough about all that. Review time!
I have a dream. The dream, is that someday I will be able to pour a “pumpkin beer” that actually tastes like pumpkin. In the good “pie” way, not the “some kid kicked in my jack-o-lantern and now its rotting on my porch” variety. Sure, plenty of breweries release fall ales claiming to be pumpkin-y. Without having tried them, you would think that they would be so funky and flavorful that no honest beer drinker could take it. But you’d be wrong. You see, the problem is that no one seems to be able to brew a pumpkin beer that actually tastes ENOUGH like pumpkin. An ale is an ale, but when it claims to be themed, and it tastes like … well, an ale … it just sort of leaves you wanting. Like getting raisins when you trick or treat.
Dogfish Head makes some funky and flavorful stuff, so I had real hopes here. Unfortunately they fell prey to the same old song. Or rather, I should say a similar song. Its not completely ale-boring, tasting nicely of nutmeg & spice. And overall, I found it to be quite a tasty beer. But they seemed to miss the one ingredient that made the theme worthwhile. The pumpkin. Like with so many brewers before it, the elusive flavor just didn’t make it in the mash. Again. Sigh. Perhaps there is a reason they called in “punkin”. As in, “everyone we sell this to, we’re punkin”.
First up was a crazy little number from the folks at Dogfish Head called Midas Touch. I had seen this beer in the aisle before, but never thought to actually pick it up. Why? I’ll let the description on the bottle tell you: “Handcrafted Ancient Ale with barley, honey, white muscat grapes, and saffron.” Yeah that. The brewers claim it is the oldest known beer(?) recipe. All I can say, is that there is a reason that our ancestors stopped making it. Ew. Frankly, I just couldn’t get over the taste. Somewhere between grape juice, beer, and gross. This one got the abominal one swish sinker from both SwillJockey and I. I suppose on a different day I could have had the whole thing, but at this point I was still sober. The ladies liked it for some reason, but then, there is no accounting for taste. They married us after all.
Ivana Goodbeer 1:50 pm on August 30, 2009 Permalink
I think, if you are expecting a robust ‘beer’ taste, then it would seem nasty. But if you were expecting something along the lines of a beer flavored wine cooler, then you wouldn’t be disappointed. I’d drink it again… perhaps with a fish dinner.