Devious Imperial Pumpkin - Bethlehem Brew Works

justintcoons

Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Pours a crystal clear dark amber/orange with 1 finger of head that dissipates quickly. Moderate carbonation and some pretty good lacing slides down the side of the glass.

N: Nutmeg, pumpkin pie, cinnamon, pie crust and maybe some caramel apple.

T: Caramel, pie crust and nutmeg upfront. This is followed by candy sugar, cinnamon, hints of pumpkin and very subtle notes of citrus. Finishes with lingering spices, some burnt sugar and a little booze.

M: Medium bodied, smooth and dry.

O: There's a lot of spices up front but I feel like it helps to hide the 9% abv. The caramel and pie crust flavors underneath it all are very nice. There's only a hint of actual pumpkin flavor and the beer could benefit from having a little more. Overall it's very tasty and dare I say somewhat juicy.

Serving type: bottle

07-31-2011 01:34:47 | More by justintcoons

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

3.88/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I picked this up as part of a mix-a-six from Al's of Hampden, enjoyed chilled from a tumbler shared with octopus87.

The color is firey golden red with a good level of clarity with a crust of tan cream with tight bead and lace that sticks lazily. The smell is dominated by pie spices - lots of clove right off with a hint of nutmeg nuttiness and slight bitter citrus tinge with nutty malt and subtle brown sugar scent. The feel is moderately spiced in texture which is good considering I expected spice overload judging by the scent with good carbonation level which is moderate and mild creamy feel with a light bitterness and moderate amount of sweetness with semi-dry finish.

This Imperial Pumpkin has a nice blend of pumpkin pie spices with plenty of clove and cinnamon giving a woody earthy element and adding to the layer of caramel malt body underneath with some slightly slick sweet and smooth yeast accents. The alcohol comes into the taste late, but it is still there but the spice distracts for the most part and it doesn't seem hot or really apparent until the last taste. I enjoy this beer for what it is - a pretty decent pumpkin ale, not strong flavored even though the spices are assertive and the alcohol is not hot and malt stays away from cloying so I generally enjoyed this. A good strong pumpkin ale.

Serving type: bottle

07-25-2011 20:39:46 | More by Slatetank

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

4.22/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Devious is a really good fall brew. Grabbed a bottle as soon as I could to try this one. The normal pumpkin ale I tried on tap at the brew works and wasn't overly thrilled with it. This brew dropped a bomb on the other pumpkin ale. This one poured out as a deep copper color with a thick white head on top. This beer has a nice lacing on it. The smell of the beer is full of spices and pumpkin aromas. The taste is loaded with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and pumpkin. Had a light vanilla flavor in the aftertaste too. The mouthfeel had a hefty bite to it. Overall the beer is a good one, really enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

07-20-2011 01:15:56 | More by Knapp85

ewitkows

Pennsylvania

3.88/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

It's fall outside.. tis the season for pumpkinfestive brews! My fear was that this would be an overly sweet beer with an artifical pumpkin flavor.. only because so many other pumpkin beers seem to try to add a flavor to a beer.. this wasnt the case.

I live about an hour away from Allentown, PA where this beer is brewed, so it was easy to find in a local store. I purchased a 1Pt, 9.4 oz bottle for about 9 bucks, and I would say that a beer, at this size.. for the alcohol content.. its worth the price (note, when I drink beer, I have a 50-50 rule, 50% towards taste, 50% towards making me feel all happy inside).

First, it's a PUMPKIN ale, so dont add any fruit to it (unless you prefer an orange pumpkin ale ;) It pours with an orange, hazy, murky color, with a medium head. If you close your eyes and dip your nose into the glass, you will invariably pickup notes of pumpkin.

The initial taste is light, with a medium-low amount of carbonation. What's worthy of note with this beer is that its a beer with Pumpkin, not the opposite. Its certainly not sweetend.. or sweet for that matter, and not overdone, just brewed with the flavors you would hope for with a Pumpkin Ale.

The aftertaste is slightly on the bitter side, but for a beer with this particular amount of alcohol content, its finishes rather nicely.

Overall, I enjoyed this beer, but I wouldnt go out of my way to purchase it again. Its not that I didnt like it.. but rather I just didnt fall in love with it. However, for 8-9 bucks a bottle, for 9% alcohol, and for a seasonal beer in mid-october, it was a nice treat. I would recommend this beer to a friend.. but I wouldnt buy a 12 pack of it.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2010 03:34:43 | More by ewitkows

tbrown4

Maryland

3.8/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Second time with this brew, first from the bottle. Surprisingly there doesn't appear too much of a negative difference.

The base seems to be a nice brown ale, roasted and sweet. Spice aroma and flavors are ok. There is definitely some depth to the flavor here, but not quite enough for the heft of this beer. Obvious alcohol flavors linger.

I split a 25.4 oz. bottle with a friend into two large tulip pours. We should have done smaller snifter pours.

Serving type: bottle

10-23-2010 05:02:01 | More by tbrown4

bbeane

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A- Poured into a snifter... starts with a weak head sitting on top of a cloudy mahogony colored beer

S- Very aromatic. Mostly spices... nutmeg and cinnamon. Obviously some pumpkin aroma with a well pronounced alcohol smell

T- Very nice. Mild pumpkin flavor with spices... mostly nutmeg. Bit boozy
M- Medium body with light carbonation

D- I like it. It's not ridiculously pumpkiny but has a nice flavor. Bit expensive, but gotta expect it with the high abv

CHEERS!!

Serving type: bottle

10-23-2010 01:50:11 | More by bbeane

drabmuh

Maryland

3.43/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

One of the bottles shared at a recent pumpkin tasting, at least pumpkin beers come around once a year.

Beer is orange and slightly hazy with an offwhite head.

Spicy aroma but there is definitely some pumpkin in there, its average smelling.

Beer is kind of sweet and mild, heavily carbonated in the palate but the flavors are muted. Mouthfeel mediocre and overall, even for a pumpkin beer, its quite average.

Serving type: bottle

10-21-2010 20:43:32 | More by drabmuh

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.18/5  rDev -16.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Picked this up at Capone's a month or so ago. Shared at our big pumpkin tasting.

Pours a slightly-pale and hazed orange color with a really nice, lasting off white head. Nose is pretty plain, with a bit of spicing and hints of pumpkin in the background. The taste also brings on a bit of pale malt. Really quite plain in general. Feel is light with fairly high levels of carbonation for the style. This goes down pretty easily for its strength, but there's nothing too memorable about it.

Serving type: bottle

10-18-2010 11:48:01 | More by Thorpe429

Gavage

New Jersey

3.33/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Appearance: pours a clear reddish orange color with a wispy head that disappears immediately.

Smell: nutmeg, cinnamon, and a bit of earthiness creates an aroma that is not as pleasant as one would like.

Taste: caramel, nutmeg, cinnamon, alcohol, and a moderate bitterness creates a decent flavored pumpkin ale.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied. Lightly crisp to start, smooth and a touch dry at the finish. Alcohol and spices linger a while after swallowing.

Drinkability: this is a slow drinking beer, and the bomber bottle is a bit much for a single session.

Serving type: bottle

10-10-2010 20:40:53 | More by Gavage

mattgreger

Pennsylvania

3.7/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Very good pumpkin beer by Brew Works.

Pours with a dark caramel color, with a small bubbly head that fades very quickly.

Strong and solid aroma of pumpkin pie and spices. Strong aroma of nutmeg. Not overbearing, but definitly strong

Taste is very good. Taste just like it smells. Nice crisp pumpkin flavor with some spices that give it a nice little bite.

Mouthful is decent, carbonination might be a little heavy on this bottle, but still goes down pretty well

Overall, I enjoyed this beer. As expected, this beer does have a higher alcohol %, so it does affect the total drinkablity of the beer. Great beer to enjoy with friends during fall season, but would be hard to have more then a few of these brews.

Serving type: bottle

10-06-2010 00:41:36 | More by mattgreger

mymrnngjckt

Pennsylvania

2.33/5  rDev -38.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Poured from a 750ml cork and caged bottle into my Mikkeller chalice. Pours a golden brown color. The smell is kind of blah. Heavy on the pumpkin pie spice with no smell of roasted pumpkin. The taste is similar to the smell; not much going on when it comes to pumpkin taste but a dominant alcohol taste is present. The mouthfeel is dominated by the alcohol and none of the minimal pumpkin taste is present at all. I wouldn't reach for this one again. There are much better pumpkin beer avaialable.

Serving type: bottle

09-26-2010 23:59:44 | More by mymrnngjckt