Beer
Review:
Dogfish Head Punkin Ale
Milton, Delaware, USA
By: George
Zhen
October 1, 2005
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(Note:
As per our Mission Statement, there are a few caveats
regarding the beers we can review when there are no
native beers available, We could not find any beers
to represent Norway at our local supplier, so we have
instead reviewed a beer from a country we have previously
visited.)
(Bergen, Norway) - As American
regional/micro breweries go, it's hard to find a bigger
success story than Dogfish
Head. There celebrated line of interesting ales
has grown in such leaps and bounds that it is now getting
hard for this Milton, Delaware brewery to keep up with
demand. So when this reviewer saw a 4-pack of the seasonal
Punkin Ale gracing the shelves of his local supplier,
there was no choice but to put in a order for a whole
case, taste un-tasted.
The skinny on Punkin Ale
is that it is a Fall seasonal that incorporates pumpkins
and molasses to arrive at a unique flavor all it's own.
It's an easy package to spot on the shelves, as it comes
in the brightest possible orange packaging. A bit pricey
to be sure, but as you will see it is worth it in every
respect.
Dogfish Head Punkin Ale
(that's no typo, it's spelled PUNKin) pours with a modest
head that doesn't crest like a champ, but the trace
resonance slips down the sides of the glass in a good
fashion. Being made with pumpkins influences the color
strongly with hues of orangeish brown. I imagine it
on the Thanksgiving tablesetting fitting in quite well
with the cornucopia and turkey (sorry, and American
thing). As far as beers go, its color is a unique feature
shared by no other.
Take a whiff and the aroma
will have you awaiting the feast! It's a strange thing
to experience in a beer, but it's not altogether unpleasant
- just strange. The taste is a fruity mix punctuated
by the sweetness of molasses. The hops are switched
out for the fruit, so the drink is smooth and sweet.
Complexities still make their way through, much like
the DFH Spring seasonal, Aprihop,
where the full experience takes a very long time to
run its course.
DFH Punk comes in at 7%
ABV, not as strong as some of their other offerings,
but a manageable amount with a balanced kick. A 4-pack
will do most more than fine with no real hangover the
speak of. Do keep in mind that the base of this drink
is fruit, which can lead to some GI distress in sensitive
stomachs.
Amazingly, it isn't too,
well, pumpkiny I'm no fan of pumpkins unless Billy
Corgan is involved, so I had no real expectations
of enjoying this beer. I did. In fact, I think I've
had more DFH Punkin Ale in the past month than anything
else. I've blasted through a case already, and I'm sure
I'll have some more - if I can find it.
I read somewhere that one
of the reasons that the Pilgrims stopped in Plymouth
Rock was that they were running short of beer. If they
had known that a few hundred miles south they could
have grabbed some Dogfish Head Punkin Ale, they may
have stuck it out until they got to Delaware. Unfortunately,
it seems that like the Pilgrims, DFH is running out
of beer, too...
Beer
Tasting Scorecard
Dogfish
Head
Punkin Ale |
Attribute |
Score
(0-5) |
Head |
3 |
Color |
5 |
Taste |
5 |
Flavor |
4 |
Effect |
5 |
Overall Score |
4.4 |
For more information
on Dogfish Head Punkin Ale, visit their website
at www.dogfish.com
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