Schlafly Pumpkin Ale (2011)

Thanks to Karen Scharr for bringing me this bottle on Thursday while I was working at the Brewery. Jen and I tasted it while we carved pumpkins in the front yard Saturday afternoon.

Appearance: Rubied copper colored with a relatively clear hue. Consistently rising carbonation flocculates throughout the beer, yet it doesn't support much of a head at all, only a speckled film resides with a dense bubbly white ring. Dotted wet lacing drip down the sides of the glass upon each taste.
Aroma: Ginger bread with an earthy scent followed by a richly incorporated spicing. Malty sweetness again but also paralleled by a fruity undertone, reminiscent of plums and pears. Some brown sugar along with apple. Clove and cinnamon round out the finishing smell.
Taste: Big nutmeg and clove spicing but still to maintain the essence of pumpkin. Foretaste is sweetened with noticeable brown sugar and earthy pumpkin undertones. Spicing hits midtaste, and rounds out with a ginger bread complexity with tints of cinnamon. Ginger helps finish out the beers flavor with a drying tannin flavor. Aftertaste remains relatively fruity. Still, overall the ginger/nutmeg predominate.
Mouthfeel: Medium carbonation and that goes for body as well. Some tackiness to the lips. The overall important characteristic is the strong drying element of the beer leaving the
Overall Impression: Definitely a beer to be enjoyed, if and only if you are in the mood. It depends whether it is cold (more drying pumpkin spice) or warm (more sweeteness and esters). I've had a couple when I was just really wasn't in the mood. Otherwise, if you're caught at the right pumpkin moment, this can be a really enjoyable beer.


85/100