Harvest Time Pumpkin Ale - Big Boss Brewing

ncvbc

North Carolina

3.8/5  rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours an bright orange with brownish hues and a nice creamy head with solid retention. Smell is heavily spiced with some pumpkin in the background. Pumpkin pie. Yummy. Good spice and hop flavors with a light bready background soaked in caramel. Very easily drinkable pumpkin beer, as I'm not a fan of many. Not too over the top with pumpkin flavor and the somewhat heavy spice character was a plus for me. Good beer.

Serving type: on-tap

11-15-2008 18:15:56 | More by ncvbc

brentk56

North Carolina

3.85/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: Arrives at the bar with a cloudy apricot color and a very modest head that quickly becomes a ringlet without leaving much lace behind

Smell: Pumpkin aroma with hints of various spices, including allspice and cinnamon

Taste: Pumpkin pie right up front, with underlying flavors of pumpkin and pie spices; after the swallow, it is more of the same, with the pumpkin vegetal flavor becoming more pronounced

Mouthfeel: Thick, almost too thick, with low carbonation

Drinkability: A very nice pumpkin, with both vegetable and spice flavors

Serving type: on-tap

10-09-2008 00:17:17 | More by brentk56

wagenvolks

Texas

4.33/5  rDev +12.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On-tap at Raleigh Times in Raleigh, NC. [AKA "Harvest Time Pumpkin Ale"]

Presented with a 22 oz. pour of a gorgeous, bright orange-bodied ale, sporting an attractive inch of light khaki head on top. Probably the best head retention I've encountered for a Pumpkin Ale, and lacing to boot. The aroma met the style requirements with ease, sending notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and a good deal of pumpkin squash to the olfaction.

The flavor was unassertive, yet at the same time let you know exactly the style the brewers were after. Notes of soft pumkpin pulp gave way to a creamy, vanilla flavor ("whipped cream", as my friend described it), and a beautifully balanced backbone of biscuity malt and spice that included cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and (of course) pumpkin. Mouthfeel was light and nicely carbonated, with a lingering finish of creamy vanilla and gingerbread malts. All in all, an exceptional brew that finally resurrected Big Boss in my mind after a slew of seemingly lack-luster attempts (Black Diamond, Bell Wringer Double Wit, etc..). Get at this one if you can.

Serving type: on-tap

10-03-2008 07:20:13 | More by wagenvolks

blackie

Virginia

4.1/5  rDev +6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

a: Great looking creamy head, khaki in color with great retention. The ale is a gorgeous deep amber-orange in color, somewhat hazy.

s: A great blend of spices upfront...typical pumpkin spices with nutmeg seemingly dominant. Cinnamon and I think ginger are also in the mix. Good malt support with a medium sweetness level and light toastiness, and a considerable aroma of meaty pumpkin. Lightly hopped it seems, and earthy in a sitting on the floor of a turning forest kinda way. Sweet potato casserole, with burnt marshmallows and all. Very nice, and quite close to perfect.

m: Carbonation level around medium, very smooth as are most Big Boss beers. Body seems to be around medium or medium-full and cleans up quickly after the swallow.

t: Spicy at first, with the caramel amber malts and pumpkin quickly making themselves known...never taking over, but balancing out very well. Moderate sweetness of concentrated grain sugars leave a sticky coating on my lips after a few glasses. Creamy pumpkin pie. Lightly hopped with a long lingering finish.

d: three with ease, but the spice does wear after a bit

Great pumpkin ale as always from this brewery. I remember it being a bit more clear and well rounded/balanced in the past, but who knows.

Would love to see some bottles, or even a limited hand bottling.

9-29-09: Just changing some scores around, both appearance and mouthfeel dropped from 4.5 to 4

Serving type: on-tap

10-05-2007 20:47:46 | More by blackie