Blue Moon Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale
Rating: 4 out of 10
The Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale is the fall seasonal from Blue Moon Brewing Company, makers of Blue Moon, which isn't half bad for a mass market craft beer (it's brewed by Molson Coors, though you won't find Coors anywhere on the bottle - just a reference to Golden, CO). This one came in a 12 oz bottle (I got a six-pack) and it's 5.6% ABV. I served it up in a regular pint glass with a beer temperature of 46 F.
I was unsure what to expect with this one. Past experience with "fruited" beers weren't always great - (see Sam Adams Cherry Wheat). But you may be saying "well pumpkin isn't a fruit, it's a vegetable!" and I would admit I've got very little experience with vegetable-based beers, but pumpkin is actually a fruit, though we generally regard it as a vegetable. That aside, I approached with trepidation, not knowing what the future would hold.
I was actually surprised. We've said it before, the fruit should enhance the beer, not overwhelm it and this one hits that mark. The pour produced a 1 1/2" average sized frothy off-white head that laced a good amount and dissipated slowly. The beer itself has a little bit of carbonation and the clarity was normal with an amber/orange color.
It's got a good malt aroma and a nice subtle flavor. I was able to pull out notes of caramel, roasted malts, some florals, alcohol, brown sugar, clove, nutmeg, spices and a vegetable smell I presumed to be pumpkin. The initial flavor is lightly sweet. The pumpkin is really done well (meaning it's subtle) and there's enough other things going on that you don't overfocus on it - though the other notes are not nearly as discernible in the taste as they were in the smell. I was also surprised to pick up a touch of alcohol in the taste, given it's relatively average gravity.
The finish is average in duration and a little hoppy - sweet but sharp. It's actually pretty smooth considering. The body laced really well in the glass (impressive!) and the mouthfeel was somewhat watery. On a malt to hop scale I'd put it slightly favoring the malt side, but the balance overall was good, though not too complex (not as complex as the aroma led me to believe it would be).
It's a very unique taste for a beer, quite unlike anything else I've tried (I've shied away from any other beer with pumpkin in it after my wife tried one with her friends once and said it was the most rotten swill she'd every consumed). I liked it but probably wouldn't want a second one. It passes the drinkability test, fails the repeatability test, passes the memorable test and the unique taste gives it a bit of an unexpected wow factor. Final say is worth a try, but share the six-pack with some friends and have it as a good change-of-pace, one-time session beer. I've got to think as pumpkin beers go, I can't imagine one being better.
By John on
March 11, 2008 @ 10 PM with 0 Comments
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