The Cambridge Brewing Company is once again bottling The Great Pumpkin Ale. Since this is the first time in twenty-two years that we’re getting a chance to taste a bottled version of the punkin’-brew, this is a huge deal for all microbrew enthusiast. Well, that’s what CBC’s implying, anyways:

Beer brewed with pumpkins has been around since the days of colonial New England, when brewers often had to supplement the traditional barley and hops with other ingredients that were more readily available. CBC, the first New England craft brewery to produce pumpkin ale, revived the style in the Boston area in 1990 and continues to brew this beer according to Phil “Brewdaddy” Bannatyne’s original recipe! Other craft breweries have followed suit since then, and pumpkin beer has developed a huge following across the country and beyond.

If I’m not mistaken, it seems as though CBC is trying to claim responsibility for the all of the drunkards stumbling their way through pumpkin patches after taking killer rips from orange-colored hogsheads. So since that they’re offering Great Pumpkin Ale in bottles once again, I figured I’d see how the supposed originator stacks up against the successors.

Great Pumpkin Ale pours as a translucent orange with a slight haze to it. Imagine, if you will, looking through an orange gelatin mold. With a thing pale ring of foam at the top, this is real purdy-lookin’ ale.

In terms of scent, the seasonal doesn’t exactly excite. Sure, I can detect some spicy notes in the midst of a floral aroma, and there’s a bit of citrus popping out. But the fact of the matter is that this ale doesn’t have a real wow-factor when it comes to the `ole olfactor.

Okay, one last thing to do – time to drank.

Great Pumpkin Ale has a real crisp, clean finish to it. And it’s nice to have a light pumpkin brew, as they’re exceedingly flavorful but way too heavy to really throw back. Texture-wise, this is a great drink to bring to a party, something that the revelers can keep crackin’ open and enjoying throughout the nite.

Unfortunately, this is far from the most flavorful pumpkin ale that I’ve had. Great Pumpkin Ale tastes like a standard light beer that happens to have some additional ingredients added right before decanting. The flavor isn’t bad, but it just doesn’t have a whole lot of substance to it. After putting down a pint, I’m still not sure that I can identify any wholly recognizable strains to attribute to the ale.

I can’t say, “It’s like pumpkin-juice with cinnamon,” or “It’s basically pumpkin-pie in liquid-form,” or “It’s like a potable stroll through a pumpkin patch.”

Great Pumpkin Ale just kind of is a seasonal. I guess. Eh.

So, I will say that Great Pumpkin Ale by Cambridge Brewing Company is a good pumpkin ale.

As such, the grade: B-