Category Archives: tastings

Beer Tasting: Andy’s Pumpkin Ale 1.0

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Before this beer got too far along, I wanted to do a critical tasting of my pumpkin ale. I’ve only got a few bottles left, and have been enjoying these through the winter months. Pumpkin ales (and pumpkin spice anything) are a bit of a trend these days, which has resulted in no shortage of commercial examples that (in my taste opinion) range from mediocre to delicious. Not one to dodge a beer bandwagon, it seemed like a good idea to brew one. As you’ll see below, yes, it was a good idea!

  • Basics
    • Original gravity = 1.060; final gravity = 1.012; abv = 6.3%
  • Aroma
    • A hint of nutmeg and pumpkin (the savory vegetable aroma from freshly cooked pumpkin). Very nicely balanced–not a “spice bomb.”
  • Appearance
    • Thick off-white head with excellent staying power; a creamy appearance and feel to the head. The beer itself is brilliantly clear, with a rich golden hue (the picture really doesn’t do it justice). This is about as beautiful as it gets.
  • Flavor
    • Hard to describe, in a good way. Very lightly malty, with a pleasant but not overwhelming bitterness. I definitely pick up the nutmeg–distinct, but not overpowering–but the cinnamon is much more subtle; basically, just a little zing on the finish.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Perhaps a touch overcarbonated. That aside, the mouthfeel is pretty smooth, just as I’d hope for something with pumpkin.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Absolutely! I might dial back the carbonation just a notch, but otherwise this is pretty much the perfect pumpkin ale. The vegetable, malt, and spices are well balanced, and the body is full enough that it’s not like a lager with spice added. This recipe is going into the yearly rotation. I’ll also note that it has aged very well, and is just as tasty (if not more) after two months.
  • Overall rating
    • 8/10

First Taste of KPA

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Over the past week or two, I’ve been (impatiently) cracking open a bottle or two of the Kamikaze Pale Ale. I don’t think it has fully carbonated yet – after two weeks, it has a nice fizz, but not quite the level of bubbly that I would prefer. My red ale had similar behavior at first, so I think I’m just being impatient. At any rate, I agitated the bottles a bit tonight to see if that will help the carbonation along. Some brewing sites I’ve read recommended this procedure to “rouse” the yeast if it’s not carbonating at the preferred rate. Mostly, I think I just need to wait a little longer.

On first pouring the beer, I get a mild hops scent. The beer is a nice red color (as mentioned in a previous post), and the carbonation (at this writing) is manifested as a light but steady stream of tiny bubbles along the side of the glass. The taste is smooth, with some definite hops flavor, but not overly bitter. The finish is pretty smooth, too. I don’t know if it quite has as much “body” as I’d like on my beers. There is relatively little head, too, but I think this might just be a factor of the present low carbonation.

So what might I do differently next time? I might experiment with steeping another type of malt or two, to add a little extra body (but not too much). Perhaps I just need to crack the pale malt a little finer. I think I’ll also try dry-hopping, to give it a more prominent hops aroma (the aroma is just a little milder at present than I might like). Additionally, I’ll try boiling with a greater water volume – I only did two gallons (modified after one recipe I saw) for the boil this time, but I suspect I’d get slightly better hops utilization if I used 2.5 or 3 gallons. Next time, I’ll also try using dry malt instead.

Despite all these ideas for “next time,” I still think it’s a pretty drinkable beer. I like the smoothness, and it will be even better once that last bit of carbonation settles in.