Mike served his spiced version of the tainted brew to thirsty parents on Halloween from a giant pumpkin with a spigot. Take THAT disemboweled pumpkin!
I finally had a chance to visit Mike at his Wandering Eye Brewery for an official tasting of the beer. Let's just say I was suitably impressed with the results, especially considering how many things went wrong with our process that could have resulted in a terrible beer!
First I had a taste of the un-carbonated and un-spiced ale my from my half of the batch. Remarkably after as much pumpkin slurry as we had in the wort, this sample is crystal clear! A deep orange in color to nearly brown. In the aroma I noted an earthy or peaty smell with a hint of maple syrup. The flavor was sweet without being cloying and had a lot of real pumpkin flavor. I sensed a subtle maple flavor at the end of the taste. I was very excited about the blank canvas I now had to work with!
Mike next poured me a sample from his kegged and spiced version for a comparison. Here is my official review along the same lines as the other pumpkin beers I have been blogging over the past two months.
Mike's Harvest Moon Imperial Pumpkin Ale:
Aroma: I get strong nutmeg and ginger in the initial whiff of this beer. A more restrained cinnamon comes out with swirling, mixing with a bit of apple ester to give a spiced apple cider aroma. No hop aroma noted. Some sweet malt and very subtle maple is also gleaned from this sample.
Appearance: Very deep orange to nearly brown in color. There is a slight haze which is most likely chill haze based on the crystal clear room temperature version I sampled prior. Not any hazier than the other commercial pumpkin ales I've tried. This sample had very little head when poured, but I could rouse some fine white head with swirling.
Flavor: Somewhat sweet and very malty up front, but not cloying in the least. Some melanoidins giving a toasty flavor. I can pick up distinct ginger, allspice and nutmeg in the flavors. This ends somewhat dry with a slight astringency that is tempered by the maltiness. Slight alcohol warming as it goes down, but pleasant not distracting. Medium mouthfeel. I do pick up true pumpkin flavor in this beer, lurking in the background behind the spices. No hop flavors.
Overall: A remarkably balanced beer, especially given its troubled past. A high alcohol beer, this has a pleasantly malty mouthfeel and warming finish suitable to the cold nights in Minnesota's November. A bit more carbonation would be welcomed, and is easily fixed by putting it on more CO2. Mike did a great job with the spicing, (making a tincture of spices in vodka) and it really enhances the pumpkin flavor rather than overwhelming it. This is in my top tier of pumpkin beers that I have tried this season! 4.25 out of 5 (down from 4.5 due to low carbonation.)
Next up is my version:
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Eric's Pumpacolypse Brau: I picked up my half of the batch from Wandering Eye Brewery and took it home very carefully! Tasting the un-spiced base beer was very interesting--I could really pick out the pumpkin flavor, as well as a hint of the dark maple syrup that had gone into the fermenter. I made a tincture of Penzey's spices including cinnamon, allspice, clove, powdered ginger and nutmeg, soaking them in some cheap vodka that I usually use to fill my airlocks. After 24 hours in the booze, I ran the whole mix through a coffee filter and into another sanitized jar. I then slowly added this to the kegged (but not carbonated) beer, tasting as I went. When the flavors seemed right I finished kegging the beer and put it on gas to carbonate. The result was right where I wanted it, but I had reserved some of the tincture in case the flavors faded once it was carbonated. Based on my likes and dislikes from all the commercial examples I've tried, I went for a minimal approach.
Aroma: A subtle mix of nutmeg, clove and cinnamon. Sweet malt and pumpkin flesh is strong after the initial zap of spices. A hint of maple syrup and caramel.
Appearance: Just a tiny haze in this deep orange colored beer. Carbonation was a bit light, but brought out a fine white head with swirling.
Flavor: Similar to Mike's version (obviously) in malt forward notes. I do pick up the maple flavor, but on the back of the tongue. The spicing is mild, but I can pick up nutmeg, clove and some ginger off the bat, with cinnamon trailing behind. Medium bodied with some pleasant alcohol warming effect. A mild astringency at the finish, but balanced well with the maltiness. Carbonation is still not completely where I want it, but still higher than Mike's version.
Overall: Similar to Mike's version, but spices are a tad less prominent. I really like this beer and managed (to my wife's chagrin) get through most of the keg at my birthday party. 4.5/5
I am very impressed with the way this beer turned out, in the face of its troubled past! I would love to do this one again next year, with some changes in process. First off, cut down the pumpkin a bit--just too much in there. Increase the rice hulls to a ludicrous amount. Cut the recipe from a 12 gallon to a 10 gallon to leave more room for additional rice hulls, water, etc. This batch really overwhelmed the capacity of Mike's system the way we did it.
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