Today's blog post is one of two Pumpkin Showdowns, where I take two pumpkin beers and review them side by side. Next week I'll post another one, and then on Halloween I will review the best pumpkin beer on Earth.
So today's showdown is between Heavy Seas' Greater Pumpkin and Shipyard's Pumpkinhead.
Heavy Seas Beer is brewed by Clipper City Brewing Company out of Baltimore, Maryland. Many of you may have tried Heavy Seas' more famous beer, the Loose Cannon. The beer bros at D'Vines in Tivoli Square filled up my growler, as seen above. Sorry I don't have an actual photo of the retail beer itself. Shipyard Brewing Co. is based in Portland, Maine and manufactures a wide range of beers. Shipyard's Pumpkinhead is available in cans and bottles for relatively cheap.
In left corner, at 9.00% ABV....Heavy Seas.
The Greater Pumpkin Ale is a 9.00% ABV pumpkin ale aged in bourbon barrels.
As you can see, the color is light amber, rather clear, with a frothy white head and lots of lacing.
Nose is spicy and sharp. So far, so good!
The flavor itself was very pleasing - lots of pumpkin, deliciously smooth but also a bit dark. The 9% ABV brings out a lot of warm alcohol flavors which is a little distracting to the beer. The finish is of pumpkin, apples, and sugar. Not bad.
I have 64 ounces of this to power through. But, if my first glass is any indication, that should not be a problem. The beer is strong, delicious, and although it has a somewhat-distracting alcohol flavor, it's still damn good beer. I haven't seen this anywhere in bottles, only on draft, but definitely try it out if you see it.
And in the right corner, at 4.7% ABV...Shipyard!
I've had Shipyard before. While it was my first time trying the Heavy Seas, I've had the Pumpkinhead a handful of times over the past few years. It's a little under half the alcohol content of Heavy Seas...Shipyard weighs in at 4.7% ABV, which is light for this kind of beer.
It's really spicy upfront, lots of allspice, ginger, and pumpkin flavors. Initial taste feels like a liquid pumpkin pie. The consistency is rather light, highly carbonated, and spicy. The mouthfeel is warm and delicious. There's a very wet, pumpkin-y finish and aftertaste.
So I'm torn about the Pumpkinhead. Sure, it's tasty, but the problem is, this beer doesn't have the strong, powerful flavors that it needs to really do pumpkin beer justice. It's too watery and light and thin for me, despite being pretty tasty. I'd drink this beer, and wouldn't turn it down, but it's not my favorite. It is, however, relatively inexpensive and is readily available a lot of places, so if you're looking to bring this along to a houseparty or something, you shouldn't have a problem finding it.
And the winner is...
Heavy Seas. The heaviness and spiciness of this beer really did it for me. In my opinion, the real reason some pumpkin beers are so good is because they have a strong, full taste. I've tried probably 10 or so pumpkin variants, and some do a better job than others at delivering that taste. When you're working with flavored beers, you've got to get the taste right. Too little and your beer doesn't hit the mark. Too much and it becomes undrinkable. I think out of the two, Heavy Seas is the winner. There are better pumpkin beers out there than either of them, but Heavy Seas was a good solid performer. It had the spiciness and the heaviness that pumpkin flavors deserve.
Stay tuned for part 2, coming next week!
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