From left to right: Puyallup River Chocolate-Vanilla-Pumpkin Milk Stout; Puyallup River Gourdy Wow! Spiced Pumpkin Saison Regal; Puyallup River Black Pumpkin Saison; Puyallup River Imperial Pumpkin Cream.
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I stopped by the Puyallup River Alehouse for a Chicago-style hot dog and a flight of pumpkin ales. Puyallup River has twenty-four taps, eight to twelve of which they reserve for their own beers. Tonight, I enjoyed four different Puyallup River Brewing ales, each of which includes pumpkin as an ingredient. Tasting notes follow.
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Imperial Pumpkin Cream, a Pumpkin Cream Ale by Puyallup River Brewing.
5 ounce taster glass on tap.
8.5% alcohol by volume.
The body is clear, clear, light yellow with a bright white head.
The nose is cream, vanilla, and pumpkin.
The tongue is pumpkin and spices (ginger? sage? nutmeg?) and vanilla cream.
The mouthfeel is warm and creamy, lightly sweet from the cream. This is really good.
This was my favorite of the evening. The pumpkin and the cream worked well together; it wasn't quite like a pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream, but it was close.
I recommend it if you like cream ales or vanilla.
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Black Pumpkin Saison, a Pumpkin Saison Ale by Puyallup River Brewing.
5 ounce taster glass on tap.
5.75% alcohol by volume.
The body is black with a hint of red aura and an ivory/off-white head.
The nose is shoe polish and Magic Marker.
The tongue is Magic Marker, dark chocolate, pumpkin flesh, funky yeast, and sage.
This is drier than I expected and bitter from the marker flavor.
It's a bit strange, but drinkable. I liked it, but both the Cream and the Gourdy were better and more satisfying ales for me.
I recommend it if you like to sniff Magic Markers, which I do.
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Chocolate-Vanilla-Pumpkin Milk Stout, a Pumpkin Milk Stout Ale by Puyallup River Brewing.
5 ounce taster glass on tap.
7.0% alcohol by volume.
The body is black with a tan head.
The nose is coffee and dark chocolate, like chocolate-covered espresso beans, with a bit of cardboard cereal box in the background.
The tongue is bitter dark chocolate, coffee, milk, a hint of vanilla beans, and a very faint hint of pumpkin as it finishes.
This is not as sweet as I thought it would be, since it's a milk stout. Instead, it is rather dry and bitter, but good. It's a bit light on the pumpkin for my tastes, but it's a solid milk stout.
This was my least favorite ale of the night, but that is mostly due to the relative strength of the other ales in the flight.
I recommend it if you like milk stouts.
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Gourdy Wow! Spiced Pumpkin Saison Regal, a Pumpkin Saison Ale by Puyallup River Brewing.
5 ounce taster glass on tap.
9.0% alcohol by volume.
The body is a hazy blood red with an off-white head.
The nose is medicinal, herbal, saison yeast, cloves, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie.
The tongue is pumpkin pie spices, some pumpkin, saison herbs (sage and the like), a bit of medicine, and pomegranate and/or berries.
The mouthfeel is medium, a bit weighty, with a long, spicy finish.
This is pumpkin pie, saison-style. It's also my second favorite ale of the flight.
I recommend it if you like the idea of pumpkin pie and a saison/farmhouse ale meeting.
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All in all, this was a great flight. It was interesting to see what Eric Akeson of Puyallup River does with pumpkin in his beers. I know that he makes some spectacular saisons and farmhouse ales. It seems that he also makes some great pumpkin beers.
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