Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

Brewed By: Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware

Purchased: 12-oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at Binny's in IL; 2012

Style/ABV: Pumpkin Ale, 7.0%

Who doesn't love pumpkins?

It's almost October, so I think it's safe to say that pumpkin beer season is here. I've already reviewed a few pumpkin beers this Fall, and I have a few coming up...including tonight's beer. I'm just happy that we can all bond over our love for pumpkin beers. Okay, fuck it...who am I kidding. Even the jaded cynic I am, I love pumpkin beers..there's just something special about them. There, I said it. About Dogfish Head:

Dogfish Head is a craft brewery based out of Milton, Delaware. The brewery was founded by Sam Calagione back in 1995.The brewery began as a brewpub (the first in Delaware) called Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats, and was originally located in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The initial brewing setup included three kegs and propane burners. They brewed 12-gallon batches of beer three times a day, five days a week. In 1996 the brewery began bottling their beer, and by 1999 they had distribution to around a dozen different states. In 2002 the company outgrew their Rehoboth location, and moved to Milton, Delaware. More info can be found HERE.

If you roll over to the Punkin Ale page on Dogfish Head's website, you can read about why you should take your pants off drink this beer. The first step in brewing this beer is cutting a hole in the pumpkin. What you do next is entirely up to you, but Sam Calagione and co. use the meat of the pumpkin in this beer. This beer is also brewed with organic brown sugar and spices. The Punkin Ale is, "the Dogfish Head beer," and is a beer that Sam Calagione homebrewed before Dogfish Head became the famous brewery that it is today. The story goes that Sam entered his pumpkin beer in Delaware's Punkin Chunkin's recipe contest, and the beer won first place. Since then, it has become a yearly staple, and the most popular seasonal release from the brewery. Clocking in at a formidable 7.0% ABV and packing 28 IBUs, this beer is described as malty, with notes of pumpkin, caramel, and brown sugar. Suggested food pairings include turkey, roasted duck, lamb, stuffing, dessert dumplings, and sharp cheddar. This is a classic beer, and one of the first pumpkin beers to show up from craft brewers. Let's get this legendary beer into a glass, and see how it holds up.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

 

This beer pours with 2-fingers of thick, foamy head. The head thickens up a bit as it recedes into the beer, and it has a nice off-white, orange-tinted color. The body of the beer is an amber/copper/caramel/brown color in low light. When held to bright light, this is an orange/brown beer, and you can see a nice stream of mid-sized bubbles rising upwards. This beer is transparent and looks to be filtered. There's a centimeter of head sticking around, and some lacing as the head clings to the glass.

The aroma on this is surprisingly subtle and malty. I tip my hat to Dogfish Head for not making this a spice bomb. I'm picking up big caramel malts, brown sugar, molasses, dark bread (almost reminiscent of sourdough or rye bread), and some very subtle hints of cinnamon and pumpkin spice. I'm picking up a little earthy pumpkin and some acorn squash in the aroma as well.

You get a nice follow-through of the aroma on the taste. This beer has a nice malt body, and it rounds everything out with some brown sugar and molasses. Again, this doesn't assault your palate with spices. I'm getting sweet malts, raisins, caramel, brown sugar, hints of honey and molasses, some earthy funk, some lively carbonation and cinnamon, and hints of darker breads. I'm getting some earthy pumpkin pie.

This drinks super smooth for 7% ABV, and has a very satisfying, full palate depth. This is medium-full, and everything ties together with some light carbonation and good spice. Complexity is fairly high as well, especially for the style. Up front you get malts, caramel, bread, burgeoning raisins; the middle is raisins, molasses, brown sugar, cinnamon, hints of pie; the back end is earthy spice, and cinnamon. This finishes dry, with a lingering aftertaste of pumpkin seed and malt. I'm belching pumpkin. There's a little warming in my belly as well.

Rating: Above-Average

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average rating on this. This is a fantastic Autumn beer, and a subtle take on the Pumpkin Ale style! I'm really digging this beer. The malts in this are sublime, with huge caramel, raisin, and molasses profiles. There's an earthy funk tying everything together, and you get some nice bread notes in here that really fill this beer out. Oh, and there is some hints at pumpkin pie in this beer. Really well-made stuff, and a hearty fall beer. I would definitely pair this beer with a turkey dinner or some stuffing. This is also an excellent fall sipper. At around 10-12 bucks for a 4-pack, this is a reasonably priced and subtle Fall beer. I'd say check it out...especially if you prefer your Pumpkin Ales to not be overly-assertive with spices.