I can't believe tomorrow is already Thanksgiving. In just a couple days I'll be listening to Bing Crosby, watching It's a Wonderful Life, and drinking Christmas ales. But not quite yet. To jump straight into the Christmas season is to give short shrift to Thanksgiving, another of my favorite holidays. And in the spirit of the Thanksgiving season it's time to take a look at what will likely be the last pumpkin ale of the year. Now at most liquor stores and bottle shops the pumpkin ales have already come and gone. But there's a reason why Rogue's is coming a bit late. This beer is brewed entirely using ingredients from Rogue's own farms. Including pumpkins that are harvested when ripe, driven immediately to the brewery in Newport, Oregon, roasted, and tossed into the brew kettle. The Chatoe Rogue line of beers is all brewed along these lines. Using ingredients, hops, malt, and in this case pumpkins from Rogue's farm. So, what kind of a beer do you get from all of these fresh, home-grown ingredients? Only one way to find out. To the beer!
Pumpkin Patch Ale pours a deep russet brown with fiery ruby highlights. It's quite dark but still possessing of a beautiful clarity. It's capped by a couple of fingers of tan head that doesn't leave much of any lacing. I was pretty pleased to see Pumpkin Patch Ale pour this color. So often pumpkin ales are built off of a base thats closer to an amber or a pale ale. I'm excited to see that this one might be closer to a porter.
Pumpkin pie spices lead the way on the aroma. Plenty of rich aromas of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, combine with roasty chocolately notes and a bready sweetness. Makes for a pretty complex and enjoyable nose.
Pumpkin Patch Ale is medium bodied yet very full. A toffee/ molasses malt sweetness leads the way. It lays the base for spicy flavors of ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. A subtle smoky tang and great roasty notes of milk chocolate and coffee add some much appreciated complexity.
If this is to be the final pupkin ale of the season then at least I'm going out with a good one. Pumpkin patch ale is up there with the likes of Samuel Adams' Fat Jack, Dogfish Head's Punkin, and Epic and DC Brau's Fermentation without Representation. I don't think I enjoy it quite as much as I do, Pumking, but that's hardly a knock on it. If pumpkin ales are your thing and you want one more before you get into all of those Christmas Ales and Winter Warmers, you would do well to track down one of these big orange bottles.
HD
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