6.2% ABV, 27 IBU
Dan: 1 Daniel: 1 Philip: 1 Average: 1
Incredibly cloudy and turbid. We think we may have gotten a bad batch of this one, unfortunately. It looked like a hefeweizen but with small white flakes suspended in the beer. I did not enjoy the smell and I tasted a citrus tinge, which didn't work with the pumpkin. The main flavor we got was Gerber baby food - it tasted like baby food, apricot, pumpkin and citrus. Seeing that other people have rated this beer highly, I hope and suspect we got a bad bomber. I will say that I've really enjoyed other beers by White Rabbit, so don't let our rating ever stop you from buying from this otherwise fine young brewery.
26) New Holland (Holland, MI) - Ichabod
5.5% ABV, 26 IBU
Dan: 2 Daniel: 1.5 Philip: 2 Average: 1.83
Very little flavor - this tasted light and watered down. Essentially, we all felt that this beer was harmless. We didn't get any off flavors, but no flavors stood out either.
25) 21st Amendment (San Francisco, CA) and Elysian (Seattle, WA) collaboration - He Said Baltic Porter
8.2% ABV, unknown IBUDan: 1.5 Daniel: 2 Philip: 2.25 Average: 1.92
We reviewed both beers from the He Said combo package. Interestingly, we found the Baltic Porter to be much worse than the Tripel, which came in at #8 of 27. Although I normally love Baltic Porters, we found this one to be really, really burnt in flavor. The beer was a huge disappointment especially due to it's high cost (a 4 can package is well over $10). We tried several different cans of this beer and they all tasted super high in burnt flavor. Part of that might be from the high ABV, but it lacked the yummy maltiness and smoothness that I normally get in the style. We also rated it as rubbery and not smooth. Fortunately, the Tripel in this series was really tasty.
24) RJ Rockers (Spartanburg, SC) - Gruntled Pumpkin
8.5% ABV, 22 IBUDan: 2 Daniel: 2 Philip: 2 Average: 2
I have to get this out first: we were very gruntled to drink this beer. We found Gruntled Pumpkin to have a real bad off flavor. That bad flavor lingered for about ten seconds after each drink, compounding its unwanted presence. There was a chalkiness to it, and we think it may also have had diacetyl, which contributes a yucky buttery quality to beer. Diacetyl is tasty if it's in a pancake or something; not in a pumpkin beer. The aroma was a bit "oily" and the pumpkin flavor was muted by the high alcohol bite. We found this to be fairly undrinkable. We forgot to rate this beer for pumpkin quality; it was certainly present.
22 (tie)) Brooklyn Brewery (New York, NY) - Post Road Pumpkin Ale
5% ABV, 24 IBUDan: 2 Daniel: 2 Philip: 2.5 Average: 2.17
Excellent aroma. This beer smelled like it would rule. Then we drank it. What torpedoed Post Road was a notable off-flavor. We described that off flavor as "fruit snack" quality. That may be acetaldehyde, but we aren't sure. It really persisted in an otherwise muted beer, bringing out that bad quality. We also noted that we want beers to deliver on their aroma. It's possible the off flavor could be bottle storage, so I wouldn't completely discount this one yet.
22 (tie)) Thirsty Dog (Akron, OH) - Pumpkin Ale
5% ABV, unknown IBUDan: 2 Daniel: 2.5 Philip: 2 Average: 2.17
CINNAMON APPLE SAUCE. I repeat, CINNAMON APPLE SAUCE. That honestly could end the review. This is one of many (Cheshire Cat included) that completely overdid the cinnamon and ruined the beer. I'd describe the flavor as "Heineken apple pumpkin". All the spice character was cinnamon. Overall it was a tastier version of Cheshire Cat, but that's about the only sentence in which I could use a variant of "tasty" while describing this beer.
21) Smuttynose (Hampton, NH) - Pumpkin Ale
6.35% ABV, 35 IBU
Dan: 2 Daniel: 2.25 Philip: 2.5 Average: 2.25
Straightforward pumpkin ale. This was pretty drinkable, and the first of the list that I'd order at a bar. There was some metallic bitterness to it which detracted from the beer's character. We found it spicy at the start, and the bitterness was a bit high for what we would have liked for this ale.
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