Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale

My latest excursion into all things that are Pumpkin. I have tried one from Shipyard ale, and another from Dogfish Head in the last week or so. However I had never had either of those, this time the choice was one of my seasonal favorites.
The Brewery: Buffalo Bill's is a brewery and restaurant located about 20 minutes south east of San Francisco in the town of Hayward. They are also one of the oldest brewpubs in America having started waaaaay back in 1983. The brewers are Goeff Harries and John Carbone and they have created some pretty unique beers including Orange Cream Ale, Blue Christmas (made with Blueberries), and of course the Pumpkin Ale.
The Beer: The last few seasons I have picked this up at my local Spec's or tried it at the local Flying Saucer and have always enjoyed it. This will be the first time drinking it as a "Taster" (whatever that means). The beer pours a nice amber brown in the glass with a foamy head that disappointingly dissipates completely with minimal lacing. Ahh but the nose was fabulous, with Pumpkin being the king and the spices taking back seat. On the mouth there is still that overwhelming pumpkin flavor and at first the spices didn't seem to be there. However as I continued to sip the nutmeg, and cinnamon finally started to come out introducing themselves in a wonderful way. To me this was less pumpkin pieish than the other two and more Pumpkin with some spices. The beer weighed in at 4.9%, and while not heavy, the richness of the pumpkin flavor would keep me from drinking more than 1 or 2 in a sitting. This is a pretty nice little beer. And although most didn't like it here is what the folks over at BA had to say.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My husband & I tried this one this past weekend and it we weren't so thrilled with it. Disappointed for my first pumpkin ale. Stop by check out his review let us know what you think thanks.
http://thejoereview.com/category/beer/