Brewed By: Shipyard Brewing Company in Portland, Maine
Purchased: Single 12oz bottle from a six-pack bought at Friar Tucks in Urbana, IL; 2012
Style/ABV: Spice/Herb/Vegetable (Pumpkin Ale), 4.7% or 5.1%?
I don't know much about Maine, except they have lobsters, lighthouses, and the Maineish folks that immigrated from Maineland in Europe. They are also home to Shipyard Brewing.
Shipyard Brewing's story started back in 1992, in the seacoast village of Kennenbunkport Harbor. Entrepreneur Fred Forsley and master brewer Alan Pugsley started Federal Jack's Restaurant & Brew Pub, which became the birthplace of Shipyard ales. Around the time that Federal Jack's was getting started, the American craft beer industry was starting to grow, and within two years the demand for the beer was greater than the capacity at the pub. So Fred and Alan opened the Shipyard Brewing Company in Portland in 1994, and by 1996 it was the fasted growing craft brewery in the country. Shipyard is currently the 15th largest microbrewery in the United States, and the third largest in New England after the Boston Beer Company and Harpoon Brewery. These guys crank out a ridiculous amount of beer, and they also make soda.
With that said, tonight's beer is fully embracing the Fall season, as well as hitting that pumpkin beer niche. And according to the beer store, it is pumpkin beer season. It's early September, and pumpkin beer everywhere. That includes Pumking (which I'm happy to report is less cloying than last year....review will be coming), which seems to be more readily available than previous years.
The Pumpkinhead Ale seems to be one of the older Pumpkin Ales available on the market (first brewed August 2002). Actually, it's unclear to me if this beer is actually brewed with pumpkin, so is this really a Pumpkin Ale? This beer is brewed with Top-Fermenting English yeast, Hallertau and Willamette hops, and Pale, Wheat, and Munich malts. It's available from September to October, and is described as having hints of pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg flavors. RateBeer and BeerAdvocate are pegging this at 5.1% ABV, Shipyard's website is saying 4.7%, and the bottle says nothing. Thanks a lot, Maineish bottle label person.
This beer pours with a nice golden/yellow, transparent, and carbonated body. There were two fingers of head that rapidly dissolved. The head was fizzy, effervescent, and reminded me of the carbonation you get when you pour a 7up or Sprite into a glass. When held to bright light, this beer is still golden/yellow, and is clearly transparent. There's a lot of carbonation popping at the surface of this beer, and I'm getting a nice, constant stream of medium-sized bubbles. I'm guessing this is carbonated.
You get a ton of spice on the aroma, along with a hint of malt base, and the whole thing is rather spritzy. I'm picking up cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and pumpkin spice. It's powerful, but it is also constrained and mild at the same time. I'm not sure how that works out. I'm getting hints of pie crust, probably from the malts and the spice working together.
The taste is light, thin, and even watery. You do get a thin malt base of wheat, and I'm getting some honey on the back end (oddly enough? right?). Up front is a ton of soda-like carbonation, followed by a bunch of thin spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin spice, allspice. I'm still getting some honey on the back end, with maybe a hint of wheat. The hops are well hidden, and maybe pop up towards mid palate. This is ridiculously easy to drink.
Unfortunately, I'm not getting a lot of pumpkin, pumpkin pie, or pie crust in the mix. This drinks like many fruity wheat beers do: like a soda. There's a lot of carbonation, it's thin and watery, and refreshing. This is super light, features aggressive, soda-like carbonation, has low complexity, and okay palate depth. It's basically pumpkin spice soda.
This is a strong Below-Average beer. And I kind of want to go a bit higher, because I think this beer has a purpose...which is to be an easy-drinking, pumpkin spice beer. On the other hand, this should probably come in 40s. And I don't even know if I could drink a 40 of this stuff without getting tired of the spice. I guess what I'm saying is...there are a lot of Pumpkin Ales out there, and this one works as a light beer. A light Pumpkin Ale? This beer is seasonal, and would pair well with pumpkin desserts. You could even crack one of these open come Thanksgiving or Christmas. Check it out if you can snag it for under 9.00 a 6-pack, otherwise play the field.
I don't know much about Maine, except they have lobsters, lighthouses, and the Maineish folks that immigrated from Maineland in Europe. They are also home to Shipyard Brewing.
 |
| Get off my lighthouse! |
Shipyard Brewing's story started back in 1992, in the seacoast village of Kennenbunkport Harbor. Entrepreneur Fred Forsley and master brewer Alan Pugsley started Federal Jack's Restaurant & Brew Pub, which became the birthplace of Shipyard ales. Around the time that Federal Jack's was getting started, the American craft beer industry was starting to grow, and within two years the demand for the beer was greater than the capacity at the pub. So Fred and Alan opened the Shipyard Brewing Company in Portland in 1994, and by 1996 it was the fasted growing craft brewery in the country. Shipyard is currently the 15th largest microbrewery in the United States, and the third largest in New England after the Boston Beer Company and Harpoon Brewery. These guys crank out a ridiculous amount of beer, and they also make soda.
With that said, tonight's beer is fully embracing the Fall season, as well as hitting that pumpkin beer niche. And according to the beer store, it is pumpkin beer season. It's early September, and pumpkin beer everywhere. That includes Pumking (which I'm happy to report is less cloying than last year....review will be coming), which seems to be more readily available than previous years.
The Pumpkinhead Ale seems to be one of the older Pumpkin Ales available on the market (first brewed August 2002). Actually, it's unclear to me if this beer is actually brewed with pumpkin, so is this really a Pumpkin Ale? This beer is brewed with Top-Fermenting English yeast, Hallertau and Willamette hops, and Pale, Wheat, and Munich malts. It's available from September to October, and is described as having hints of pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg flavors. RateBeer and BeerAdvocate are pegging this at 5.1% ABV, Shipyard's website is saying 4.7%, and the bottle says nothing. Thanks a lot, Maineish bottle label person.
 |
| Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale |
This beer pours with a nice golden/yellow, transparent, and carbonated body. There were two fingers of head that rapidly dissolved. The head was fizzy, effervescent, and reminded me of the carbonation you get when you pour a 7up or Sprite into a glass. When held to bright light, this beer is still golden/yellow, and is clearly transparent. There's a lot of carbonation popping at the surface of this beer, and I'm getting a nice, constant stream of medium-sized bubbles. I'm guessing this is carbonated.
You get a ton of spice on the aroma, along with a hint of malt base, and the whole thing is rather spritzy. I'm picking up cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and pumpkin spice. It's powerful, but it is also constrained and mild at the same time. I'm not sure how that works out. I'm getting hints of pie crust, probably from the malts and the spice working together.
The taste is light, thin, and even watery. You do get a thin malt base of wheat, and I'm getting some honey on the back end (oddly enough? right?). Up front is a ton of soda-like carbonation, followed by a bunch of thin spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin spice, allspice. I'm still getting some honey on the back end, with maybe a hint of wheat. The hops are well hidden, and maybe pop up towards mid palate. This is ridiculously easy to drink.
Unfortunately, I'm not getting a lot of pumpkin, pumpkin pie, or pie crust in the mix. This drinks like many fruity wheat beers do: like a soda. There's a lot of carbonation, it's thin and watery, and refreshing. This is super light, features aggressive, soda-like carbonation, has low complexity, and okay palate depth. It's basically pumpkin spice soda.
Rating: Below-Average
This is a strong Below-Average beer. And I kind of want to go a bit higher, because I think this beer has a purpose...which is to be an easy-drinking, pumpkin spice beer. On the other hand, this should probably come in 40s. And I don't even know if I could drink a 40 of this stuff without getting tired of the spice. I guess what I'm saying is...there are a lot of Pumpkin Ales out there, and this one works as a light beer. A light Pumpkin Ale? This beer is seasonal, and would pair well with pumpkin desserts. You could even crack one of these open come Thanksgiving or Christmas. Check it out if you can snag it for under 9.00 a 6-pack, otherwise play the field.
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