Jack's Pumpkin Ale Tasting Notes

A month ago or so, the local Budweiser distributor presented us with Pumpkin Ale to sell at Oktoberfest. I have had other pumpkin beer, and was excited to see that the distributor was finally branching out beyond Bud and Bud Light. At the bar supervisors' meeting, a few people asked, "What the hell is that doing here?" One supervisor even said that if he were in charge he wouldn't have allowed it.

Well, here's a big "Nyah!" to them. We sold 8 1/16 bbl kegs (about 5 gallons each) over Oktoberfest weekend. There's more to our Oktoberfest than Budweiser and Miller.

Since the cups were opaque, I can't comment too much on the color. It appeared to be an amber colored beer. It had a tan colored head. It smelled of ginger. It was a sweet beer with not as much evidence of the ginger in the flavor. The pumpkin spices made the beer really shine. I have to admit, though, that I couldn't drink more than a bottle or two at a time. It's not a session beer, but would be very nice to sip after Thanksgiving dinner while watching football.