Silencing Buffalo Bill

Happy Labor Day Weekend readers!

We're on the hunt, stacking up this year's pumpkin beer selection for who reigns supreme in 2012! So far I've tasted two that I would consider misses, one more so than the other. It's time to introduce you to the 'more so' of the bunch.

I give you Buffalo Bill's Brewery. I've never had one of their beers because, to be honest, every time I have seen one of their selections in the store I have been unimpressed with their bottle art (with the exception of Alimony Ale; that's pretty sick looking). I'll be damned if I let any pumpkin beer I can get skip by just because of 'meh' box art.

It look's pretty solid, right? Not sure if it's just the lighting but the beer itself was much lighter than this picture suggests. It had a nice foamy head, and only a hint of spice or pumpkin aroma. So far, they've lost me on the scent and the look of the bottle. Two strikes before I've tasted it isn't a good sign, though in the glass was more uplifting.

The taste is what we care about, but that's where it missed the most. Yes, there is good spicing. Too much spicing for a pumpkin beer in my opinion. More of a pumpkin beer with Oktoberfest flavors. But where's the pumpkin? Somewhere in this batch there was a pumpkin I imagine but it didn't make it into my bottle. Think of pumpkin zest rather than any real sold pumpkin. This beer, though easy to drink, lacks anything to separate it from your normal fall brew offering. This deserves nothing more than a Flanders PINTRS rating. I'm happy to say it looks like Beer Advocate and it's readers tend to agree with my assessment. Our search continues, and so far we haven't found a positive step this fall yet!

Punk'n Punk'd

Wow so it's been awhile! I've been drinking plenty of homebrew, but just haven't taken the jump to reviewing my own stuff consistently yet. Time to get back on track!

It's pumpkin season...well, pumpkin season is on it's way. What does that mean? Well, it USUALLY means pumpkin beer in another month or so. But, pumpkin beer has already flooded my local liquor stores! It's my favorite variety of beer on the market. So, obviously I grabbed one of each of those that were available and set myself on the quest to find that elusive answer: which beer is the BEST pumpkin beer of 2012!

Punk'n from Uinta (who we've spoken highly of before) is a solid effort at pumpkin beer. Note I say effort, not success. Unfortunately I don't have the picture after its pour thanks to a phone backup but it looked solid out of the bottle. It had a nice dark orange, brass color with a small head. I could be imagining things, but even the foam had a nice tint.

The flavoring is where I have an issue. Granted, I'm looking for a big, bold pumpkin beer. A beer that stands on the shoulders on other pumpkins and squishes gourds for fun. This is not that. The aroma was little different than a sweet Oktoberfest brew. There was a decent spicing and a good mix of sweetness. Subtle but not amazing.

Small head. Im probably making it up, thought there was a orangey hue to the foam. Aroma wasnt pumpkin as much as it was caramel or spiced. Color of amber hue, clear and crisp. Crispy,slightly spicy, sweetness, hint of pumpkin. Subtle but not amazing. Beer Advocate rated this organic pumpkin beer (it does get props for it's organic nature) a 75 and I fully agree. This pumpkin beer won't be particularly memorable among the many fall options, and for that it gets a US PINTRS rating. Till next time!