Like the name of this next beer, I'm going to keep this review short and to the point.
This is a backlogged review from last night for O'Fallon Brewery's Pumpkin Beer (5.5% abv).
Everything about this beer screams pumpkin. To me, when I think pumpkin beer, I come to associate that very closely with O'Fallon's. The label makes it unmistakable, it has a giant jack-o-lantern on it. It's just called "Pumpkin Beer." It's written in huge white letters on a dark label.
The beer itself is the color of pumpkin pie. It's a cloudy ginger orange with very little head.
It smells exactly like pumpkin pie. You get everything in the nose, from pumpkin to spice, down to the smell of freshly baked crust.
The taste opens up a lot if you let this guy sit and warm for a few minutes. I know the aroma is tempting, but just wait a second. The pumpkin taste goes from diluted and overwhelmed by really basic malt flavors to a really prominent flavor component. General spiciness, most notably a solid backbone of cloves, ginger, and cinnamon. As I mentioned before, some beers get a bit of sweetness when you combine baking spice with sugary malts. This is one that does for me, but it's not too much. But again, from a beer that smells identical to pumpkin pie, it tastes exactly what you'd expect from that aroma.
Mouthfeel is actually one of the highlights for me. It has really solid carbonation that makes this more refreshing than some of the heavier pumpkin beers on the market right now. While it might be a little sweet to drink with all your dinnertime fall favorites, something saltier, like a pulled pork on a pretzel bun, would probably pair perfectly with this beer.
I feel like that is really what this beer has going for it. It's not experimental in any way, nor is it the most shining example of a perfect pumpkin beer. But I don't think anyone could try it and say "wow, that wasn't what I expected at all." It looks like it smells and it smells how it tastes. And that is 100% pumpkin beer.
