Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau
Nov. 1, 2012
Two bombers of Southern Tier’s Pumking
have been staring me down every time I’ve opened the fridge for the past two
months. It has been tough to hold off,
but the time has come. Emily and I went
for a nice hike up to the summit of Mt. Sanitas just outside of Boulder today. We’re also hosting a small beer tasting
tomorrow night and the other bottle will be cracked for that. Plus, it’s Halloween and the weather here is
just right. There were too many factors
in play tonight not to drink this beer.
It had to happen.
The Pumking does not have anything to do with either of the projects
I am currently working on here at 20 Beers in 20 Nights, and it
isn’t even time for one of our halftime breaks from said projects. That said, I am
guessing that this is the only time this year that I’ll have the chance to review
this delicious brew, and it is one of my all-time favorite beers, not just
pumpkin beers, but beers in general. I had
to share this with you all. Some of you
who are familiar may completely understand (and some may think I’m nuts to give
this beer so much credit) and for some of you I hope this will turn you onto a
great beer from an excellent brewery.
With that, onto my review of the Southern Tier Pumking:
Location: Home
Cost: Gift
ABV: 8.6%
IBUs: Low
Brewery Location:
Lakewood, New York
Style: Pumpkin
Ale
Average Beer Advocate Rating: A-/4.03 –
Excellent
My Beer Advocate
Rating: A+/4.88 – World Class
Current Number
of Reviews on Beer Advocate: 1,483
Brewery
Description: Southern
Tier Pumking
Bottled:
August/September 2012
APPEARANCE: (3.5 out
of 5) Very unassuming and somewhere between orange and straw yellow is the
color of this beer, although it leans towards orange. A thin head quickly leaves the scene with
only a few wispy hints of its stay.
There is a little haze and some slow moving bubbles trickling up the
side of the glass. There will be no
lacing here.
SMELL: (5 out of 5) Perfect. This smells like pumpkin pie, period. Cinnamon is this first smell that jumps out,
but by no means does it dominate.
Pumpkin itself, allspice, vanilla, clove and a dose of banana bread all
make their cases to the nose before the first sip. I almost don’t want to taste it, this beer is just
so great to smell, if I could I would just keep this around the house all fall
as an air freshener. It truly is
amazing.
TASTE: (5 out of 5) This
is a rare case of a beer tasting almost exactly the way it smells. So, again, this is what every pumpkin beer should
strive for. No gimmicks, no
fuss, no deviation from the plan to brew a pumpkin beer, just pumpkin pie in a
bottle with some carbonation and booze.
Some who have reviewed this beer in the past have mentioned that there
is not all that much pumpkin flavor, and that the pumpkin pie spices totally
dominate. And while I agree that the pie
spices are certainly strong, the pumpkin is still noticeably doing its thing in
this brew. Clove, vanilla, nutmeg, allspice,
cinnamon and banana bread also all dance around the palate during each sip of this
masterpiece.
After the beer warms up, some woody flavors creep in and the
pumpkin becomes more pronounced. Also,
at no point is there even the faintest hint that this is an 8.6%er.
MOUTHFEEL: (4.5 out
of 5) Normally I would want a beer that tastes like this to have a bigger body,
but the medium (maybe medium rare) body combined with a medium sweetness makes this a highly
drinkable pumpkin beer. The sweet is not
over the top and is complimented nicely with a light carbonation that makes the
Pumking smooth and creamy.
OVERALL: (5 out of 5)
Pumking is clearly the king of pumpkin beers and easily the best pumpkin brew I
have ever had. Avery’s Rumpkin could
possibly claim that title, but I think it is only fair to classify the Rumpkin
as a barrel-aged pumpkin, not just a pumpkin.
I wish that I didn’t have travel, trade and barter to scrape together a
bottle or two of this stuff once in a while.
It is the best in class.
