I suppose I've put it off long enough. Time to finally get into the pumpkin beers this year. Pumpkin ales are a bit of a point of contention among beer drinkers and I feel like there's no real middle ground either. It seems folks either can't stand them, or can't get enough of them. Mark me down firmly in the second camp. Today's brewery is also a point of some contention among beer geeks. Some criticize Samuel Adams of playing it too safe. If you've been reading this here blog for a while you know that I've taken a bit of a shine to Sam Adams' limited release brews. I quite enjoyed both the Cinder Bock and Norse Legend, you can check out those posts by checking out the Samuel Adams tag here.This one is an imperial pumpkin ale brewed with Samuel Adams two-row pale malt blend, caramel 60, special B, and smoked malt, East Kent Goldings and Fuggle hops, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, and 28 pounds of pumpkin per barrel. Sounds good to me! To the beer!
Fat Jack pours a quite lovely looking deep rich ruby red. Russet brown in there as well with some fiery highlights. It's topped off by a generous layer of bubbly, resilient, off white head.
The first aromas to hit are of rich, slightly toasty, bready malt. Those familiar pumpkin pie spices come out to play here as notes of cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg add to the party. There's also a slight herbal hop note going on as well.
Fat Jack is creamy and smooth. Dark roasty malt flavor comes out swinging first. There's a bit of a nice smoky tang going on in here as well. All of this lovely maltiness makes for quite the full bodied brew. The pumpkin pie spices add some complexity and mingle with a very nice caramel/ molasses sweetness. Fat Jack is fairly high in alcohol, checking in at 8.5% ABV. That booziness though, is expertly hidden. The only hint at the alcohol is the mild buzz that I'm feeling as I enjoy the beer. Fat Jack finishes with a nice strong hop bite.
Samuel Adams hasn't reinvented the pumpkin ale with Fat Jack. They haven't taken the pumpkin ale in any exciting, new, or different directions. What they have done though is make a damn tasty pumpkin beer. (Also, an eminently affordable one!) I don't know about you, but that's plenty good enough for me.
HD
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