The Third Annual Pumpkin Beer Tasting

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Although we are Cigar and Whiskey, we pride ourselves on trying a world of delicious things in the world of smoke and drink. So it was three years ago that we decided that we’d try some pumpkin beers and let everyone know what we thought. Last year we tried even MORE pumpkin beers, then promptly got too drunk and forgot to write down everything (this shall henceforth be referred to as “the lost year”). However, this year we decided we wouldn’t be doing this project justice if we didn’t taste ALL of the pumpkin beers we could find in the central Texas area!

We also decided to base this round on data more than remembering specific taste, because frankly its hard to keep great notes when you’re 40+ beers deep. So, we gave all of our tasters scorecards (there were eleven tasters total) and had them rate each beer on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being “not fit for human consumption” and 5 being “give me the rest of the bomber”. We then combined and averaged the scores to bring you our official ratings for this year!

We’ll include in the list below the name, brewery, and style of the beers in addition to the average rating. If you’ve got any questions or opinions on the beers themselves then sound off in the comments and we’ll do our best to try to remember them…(seriously, next year we’re going to include a better notes section because relying on memory for specific tasting notes is, shall we say, impossible).

Anyway, without further ado, here’s the list!

Name Brewery Type Score
Black’O’Lantern Wasatch Stout 4.27
20 Pounds of Pumpkin Samuel Adams Ale 3.82
Pumpkin Ale Whole Hog Ale 3.82
Pumpkin Ale Upslope Ale 3.82
Pumpkinator St. Arnold Imperial Stout 3.73
Pumpkick New Belgium Ale 3.45
Imperial Pumpkin Smash Crown Valley Stout 3.45
Krunkin Pumpkin Karbach Ale 3.27
Nightmare on 1st Street Off Label Imperial Ale 3.00
Leinenkugel Harvest Patch Shandy Leinenkugel Shandy 2.86
Harvest Pumpkin Ale Blue Moon Ale 2.82
Imperial Pumpkin Harpoon Imperial Stout 2.82
Pumpkinhead Shipyard Ale 2.64
Pumking Southern Tier Imperial Ale 2.64
Imperial Pumpkin Porter 26 Epic Imperial Porter 2.55
Pumpkin Massacre Infamous Porter 2.55
Pumpkin Seasonal Wasatch Ale 2.45
Punk’n Uinta Ale 2.45
Funkier Pumpkin Boulevard Brewing Company Spiced Sour Ale 2.45
Headless Gentleman Imperial Bourbon Porter Strangeland Brewery 2.45
Pumpkin Spice Latte Buffalo Bayou Ale 2.45
Imperial Pumpkin Porter 15 Epic Imperial Porter 2.36
Wick For Brains Nebraska Ale 2.32
Pumpkin Spice Latte Breckenridge Brewery Stout 2.27
Punkin Ale Dogfish Head Brown Ale 2.27
Sleepy Hollow Five Stones Ale 2.27
Pumpkin Patch Rogue Ale 2.27
Funk’N’Patch Uinta Ale 2.18
Punkel Lakewood Brewing Company Dunkel 2.09
Smashed Pumpkin Shipyard Ale 2.09
Pumpkin Ale Kennebunkport Ale 2.00
Pumpkin UFO Harpoon Unfiltered Ale 2.00
Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat Shock Top 2.00
Fall Hornin’ Anderson Valley Ale 1.73
La Parcela Jolly Pumpkins Sour Ale 1.55
Rumpkin Avery Brewing Ale Aged in Rum Barrels 1.45
Post Road Pumpkin Ale Brooklyn Ale 1.36
Hooligan North Peak Ale 1.27
Pump(KY)n Avery Brewing Porter Aged in Bourbon Barrels 1.18
Pumpkin Lambicus Timmermans Lambic 0.91
Pinchy Jeek Barl Anderson Valley Bourbon Barrel Pumpkin Ale 0.91
Warlock Imperial Stout Southern Tier 0.91
Pumpkin Latte Martin House Stout 0.73

We’d also like to give a special shout out to WhichCraft Beer Store in Austin Texas for helping us curate our selection this year and offering us a few hard to find selections they were aging. Thanks guys!

 

Tatuaje The Kreuger Halloween Series #9

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I am an enormous fan of horror. I am so, so glad that there is a cigar maker out there who is as well, allowing me to combine two of my great passions. This year I was particularly excited, because the Kruger is inspired by perhaps my favorite classic slasher, Freddy Kruger from the Nightmare on Elm Street series. In the past, I have been impressed by the quality of these cigars (because it would be incredibly easy to make them purely as a gimmick and still get sales). I’d have to see if the streak continued.

To start, this vitola is really unique. It’s a box-pressed torpedo that has length similar to that of a Churchill. I have not done any additional research to confirm this, but my theory is that it is supposed to be reminiscent of one of Freddy’s finger-knives. I’ll choose to believe this, because it’s just too cool to think otherwise. The wrapper is slightly rough and mottled, with a slightly slanted cap. It gives off a smell of damp earth and pepper even before the light.

The first third was frankly kind of shocking (in a good way). There were rapid transitions and pops of flavor that made every puff a unique experience. I got pink peppercorn, maple syrup, and little bits of crystalline sugar flavors. There was also a slightly tannin quality to the taste as it lingered. This was overlaid over a bright cedar flavor with a touch of brassiness. This absolutely commanded attention and made it a really interactive smoke.

The second third really saw the cedar deepen. I also got a sweet hay flavor. The pepper took a backseat at this point but the strength of the cigar also gradually ramped up. A rich fruit taste also appeared, something like apple or apricot.

The final third brought really deep leather flavors, a resurgence of black pepper, and some more maple sweetness. The flavors remained fairly constant during this third, but the strength was definitely up there.

This cigar was incredibly fun to smoke. I made the comment as I got into the final third that this length was perfect because I fell in love with it and still had plenty to go. Freddy Kreuger may be a horrifying nightmare, but his cigar is an absolute dream to smoke. They’re out now, so pick one up while you can!