I’m still trying to get back into the swing of things at work after a long Christmas weekend. Fortunately, I received a ton of awesome new beers as gifts from my dad and sister. My sister went to Phoenix a couple weeks ago on her goal of attending an NFL game at every stadium in the country. This was one of the beers she brought back for me. It says it was canned on 10/10/16.

Location: Poured into a large goblet shaped glass at my home in Bloomington, IL

Numbers: 5.1% ABV, 120 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It’s nearly black in color, with some dark ruby highlights visible when held up to the light. It had a decent tan head, which fell to a ring around the edge of the glass in under a minute. It has a lightly roasty aroma with some hints of cinnamon mixed in.

Taste & Feel: The body is light, and the mouthfeel is mostly watery, with some carbonation crispness and a bit of an oily texture. There’s a little bit of nut brown light roast maltiness. The flavors fade a bit in the middle and come back a bit stronger in the finish. The finish is dry and lightly roasty with brown maltiness and some light spiciness. The aftertaste is mostly the brown maltiness.

Food Pairing: I think this would pair nicely with Chinese food, such as Mongolian beef or beef and mushrooms. The brown maltiness would complement the sauces and the light spices add a more complex depth of flavor to the food.

Overall Impression: Readers know I’m a fan of pumpkin beers and have had many of them. I prefer a pumpkin beer that tastes like a slice of pie in a glass. The pumpkin pie spices in this beer were very light, and there was almost no vegital pumpkin flavor I usually get from beers that use real pumpkin. The oily texture was a bit odd as well. Overall, it was a decent light Porter, but the pumpkin part of it was pretty weak.

My Rating: