Pumpkin Ale - O'Fallon Brewery

Thorpe429

Illinois

1.35/5  rDev -62.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 1 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1 | overall: 1

Poured into a pint glass. Bottle picked up from Siciliano's.

Pours a light apricot color with quite a bit of hazy. Thin, single-finger white head that falls down and has just a ring around the edges. No lacing. Some of the galaxy swirl going on top. Nose opens up as a BUTTER BOMB. Whoa there, why does this happen so often? Why are so many pumpkin beers shoddily made? Some very mild spice in the background, but damnit is that nose disgusting.

Taste is buttered pumpkin pie and not quite as bad as the nose as there is a slight sweetness that, when combined with a tad bit of pumpkin, actually reminds me a bit of candy corn. On the other hand, this might ruin candy corn for me. The feel is quite bad and creamy. I can't stomach much of this. Drainpour and...F.

Serving type: bottle

11-12-2010 02:41:18 | More by Thorpe429

1fastz28

Illinois

1.9/5  rDev -47.5%
look: 4 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5

This beer pours like any other beer and looks like any other beer but unfortunately thats where it ends. It has a bad smell, but i don't like pumpkins so ultimately this beer review may not be fair. The smell of pumpkin and spice is over whelming, and not good. Taste is not as overpowering as the smell, and if i hold my nose and drink it isn't nearly as bad. Overall i really dont like it at all, it stinks, but to be fair to o'falllon i dont like fruit/vegetable beers.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2010 02:49:03 | More by 1fastz28

terrabyte

Wisconsin

2.1/5  rDev -42%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

This pours a clear, orange/brown color with a small off-white, foamy head.

Smells like nutmeg.

Tastes like nutmeg. It seems like this is a cheap way to spice a beer to almost taste like pumpkin. Usually when I drink pumpkin beers I'm pleased when they really taste like pumpkin or pumpkin bread. Or disappointed when they just taste like allspice. But this is the first time I've nailed it as just plain nutmeg (or bad powdered spice). This is a thin illusion easily shattered.

I don't know what goes into making pumpkin beer, but this tastes like it was flavored AFTER the brewing process with just some powdered spice.

This was a really bad, boring beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2006 20:50:20 | More by terrabyte

Winter

Wisconsin

2.13/5  rDev -41.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Pours amber orange in color with a decent head that retreated to a thin surface covering. Light aroma of nutmeg and cinnamon. Thin mouthfeel. This is a lackluster pumpkin ale. It has a vegetable, not even pumpkin, taste to it. Flavors are dominated with cinnamon and nutmeg. Too much nutmeg throws off the balance. Actually, there is no balance. Cinnamon sweetens this otherwise sleepy beer. Not much else going on here. Weak!

Serving type: bottle

09-13-2005 01:50:04 | More by Winter

EgadBananas

Louisiana

2.13/5  rDev -41.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Nice light orange in color with a pleasant, bubbly head. It looked rather nice...

Next to nothing on the aroma. Deep breaths brought up faint spice.

Initially I'm hit with this odd note of lemon zest. It was almost tart, ruining the rest of the notes. Not that the rest of it was anything to write home about: Slight spice notes with a predominant bread character.

Feel was a little more redeeming; smooth and creamy, upper-light body.

Too off to make this easy to put away.

Serving type: bottle

10-10-2010 13:55:49 | More by EgadBananas

ALESwhatCURESya

Wisconsin

2.15/5  rDev -40.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

First pumpkin ale of the fall season. I look forward to fall on the beer calendar for so many reasons, one being pumpkin ales. This one, however, better not be a sign of whats to come this year. This beer is BORING! The appearance is a clear golden, with a rusty body. The aroma is decent, but there is just not enough of it. When I am having a pumkin ale, I want the spices to come out and punch me in the face. This one is very timid with nutmeg being the biggest producer of smell. The taste is very thin and lacks any luster. Small hints of vanilla and cloves find their way through, but it is incredibly unappealing. Thankfully, I only bought two bottles of this. In my honest opinion, this is exactly what I would expect from AB or Miller if they brewed a pumpkin. Blahhh, this is boring!

Serving type: bottle

09-05-2005 21:43:42 | More by ALESwhatCURESya

Zadok

Kansas

2.2/5  rDev -39.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Almost has a bloody marry appearance. No head or lacing to speak of.

Not a whole lot of nose, a slight bit of spice.

Wow, a bunch of nothing going on. I'll admit this is my first pumpkin beer and hopefully they get better than this.

Very bland mouthfeel, low carbonation.

Without having ever had a pumpkin beer it's hard to compare, but I would have to say this is either flat or just flat out bad. Bad may be a bit strong, it's not like Bud Light or anything.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2008 00:58:07 | More by Zadok

AmitC

Indiana

2.4/5  rDev -33.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Hazy light brown color. Pumpkin flavor abound.

Least spicy of all the pumpkin ales i have had so far. Which makes it bland and to me tasteless.

I should not be slamming a beer. But this one is not something i would recommend to people with my kind of taste buds.

A few of the other folks though liked it may be because they found the beers with spices too strong for them.

More like a blunt lager with a bit of pumpkin. I don't know whether that is good or bad.

Very less carbonation. Easy to drink.

Note - Pumpkin Ales are not for me. And definitely not those that lack spices. So it is a bit negatively biased review.

Serving type: bottle

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2012 03:53:37 | More by AmitC

semibaked

Kentucky

2.58/5  rDev -28.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Poured into a pint glass

A - Pours a very cloudy pumpkin pie color (go figure?), with about a finger of white foam.

S - Good whiff of pumpkin pie and spices, smells a bit artificial of good nontheless.

T - Tastes like liquid pumpkin pie but the pumpkin pie you buy out of the freezer section of the grocery store for like $2.99 a pie. Has a off putting sour/acidic taste to it too.

M - Thin body nothing better that Bud Light.

D - Ya couldn't get the whole bottle down, just screams cheaply made to me.

Serving type: bottle

02-28-2010 01:42:46 | More by semibaked

hotstuff

Indiana

2.68/5  rDev -26%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Fort Wayne PubCrawl: Yes, thanks Silphium for bringing this bottle to our event. It poured a small sized white head with fine-small sized bubbles that mostly diminished. The body was cloudy and carbonated with an orange hue. The nose in my opinion consisted of clove, nutmeg, pumpkin, and cinnamon with a light spicy and mildly sweet flavoring to it. This beer had a bubbly, tingly, smooth, watery and thin texture to it and it was light bodied. The lacing was very sparse on the sides of my glass. Not a bad beer, but I just can't quite seem to get into pumpkin ales so far.

Serving type: bottle

10-26-2003 23:15:41 | More by hotstuff

OWSLEY069

Pennsylvania

2.68/5  rDev -26%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Pours a hazy orange-ish/ copper color with a light tan head. IN the aroma, nutmeg, clove, and big cinnamon. In the taste, kind of bland nutmeg and a dry cinnamon. A spice bite and a medium mouthfeel, with a dry nutmeg/ spice aftertaste. Great nose, yet light in flavor, quite dry and big spices.

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2008 13:33:40 | More by OWSLEY069

rhoadsrage

Illinois

2.7/5  rDev -25.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

(Served in an American pint glass)

A- This beer has a warm orangish-brown body with a faint hazy hint. The bubbly cream colored head that fades quickly. There is a big carbonation of tiny bubbles that race through the body.

S- The light smell of brown malt has a slight yeast and cooked squash hint but it is pretty faint.

T- The light brown malt has a faint cardboard note with hints of dry spice . The hint of nutmeg was muted with a hint of other pumpkin spices but they are very soft. The finish is a dry spice note also.

M- This beer has a medium-full mouthfeel.

D- This beer doesn't have any overpowering pumpkin spice flavors infact it has very faint spice flavors. The flavor is pretty boring and bland with not much malt flavor or other characters.

Serving type: bottle

10-15-2006 03:35:57 | More by rhoadsrage

winomark

Missouri

2.73/5  rDev -24.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Amber/orange tones with a tiny head that dissapates quickly.

Aroma: Hint of pumpkin pie spice nose, but quite mild.

Taste: Nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon all over the front of the palate, with some pumpkin rounding out the finish. Tastes like pumpkin pie minus the sugar.

Mouthfeel: A little too much carbonation takes away from the rish spiciness of the beer.

Drinkability: My first pumpkin beer ever, and quite interesting. Liquid pumpkin pie. Not too sure on this one, but it could grow on me.

Serving type: bottle

10-11-2003 14:29:17 | More by winomark

shadow1961

Minnesota

2.78/5  rDev -23.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

O'Fallon Brewery's Pumpkin Ale pours a couple fingers of foam over a cloudy
amber brew. There's not a lot of carbonation, and the nose is apple and something
like mulling spices. So far, so good- I never thought pumpkin was particularly
appetizing. The flavor is pumpkin pie spice and something like the unloveable
squash, with a tiny bit of herbal hop in the finish. Mouthfeel is a bit thin, but not
bad for a lighter ale. If you like this sort of thing, I guess this is okay. I'm just not
taken with this particular seasonal style. It might actually be better as a soup
base or the liquid ingredient in beer can turkey. It had to be tried though. Meh.

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2007 07:28:13 | More by shadow1961

ihscout426

Missouri

2.8/5  rDev -22.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

First off I need to state that this is not my style and I do not choose to drink fruit based beers. With that said this beer is just not balanced.

The color was inviting, but the smell was immediatley cinnamon and spice. The taste was immediate hot cinnamon like red hots of schnapps. The cinnamon overpowered any malt or hops. If there was pumpkin it too was buried in cinnamon. I am a guy who loves cinnamon and use it every chance I get when cooking and baking, but the beer had no balance. I will try it again and would encourage others who enjoy fruit based beers to give it a try. Hopefully the spices can be tamed down and the beer can shine through, much like there other styles do so well.

Serving type: bottle

06-20-2007 15:57:00 | More by ihscout426

supercolter

Minnesota

2.83/5  rDev -21.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

This beer is ok but I don't think the style is one that attracts me very much.
Something about the yeast and alcohol mixed with this fruit just made me a little sick.
Taste was ok at first and quickly lost its luster.
Mouthfeel was the strong point of this brew. Good medium body.
Drinkability tapered off quickly.

Serving type: bottle

09-03-2007 02:29:09 | More by supercolter

BeerBelcher

Ohio

2.85/5  rDev -21.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Bottle obtained from Breeze-Thru Liquor in Milwaukee.

Appeareance was an orange-ish, hazy beer with a light-colored head with decent staying power. There was a large amount of sediment in the bottle.

Odor was not very appealing. It was a taste of spices (the usual suspects when talking about pumpkin pie or pumpkin beer) layered atop something vaguely unpleasant.

Taste was spice atop a sour taste. Actually, pretty pleasant. I enjoyed the sour-spice relationship more, the more I drank, although I didn't especially want another one. A large amount of sediment was also left in the bottom of my glass.

Serving type: bottle

10-29-2006 00:39:23 | More by BeerBelcher

peabody

Kentucky

2.85/5  rDev -21.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

pours out Ice tea amber. Very clear and lots of bubbles but no head to speak of.
Smell is a sour mixture of sugars caramel and spice.
I get a bubblegum flavor in the background. Sweet but not spicey at all. Caramel and some strange spice I can't put my finger on.
Mouthfeel is subtle and not a lot going on otherwise.
Not a bad beer, just a 'could be better' beer.

Serving type: bottle

11-12-2006 23:50:28 | More by peabody

Khazadum

Illinois

2.85/5  rDev -21.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Big thanks to Bill (?) on sending me this in a trade not too long ago. Decided I would spend my Saturday ticking off beers that are long overdue from my fridge. Had this previously and remember enjoying it, hope that wasn't a fluke... Poured into my Hopleaf pint glass.

A- Frothy toothpaste like head with random dispersion of not quite white, bubbles. Average amount of time to dissipate left me with a thicker than normal skin and a solid collar that has bubbles reminiscent of cooking pancakes.

Body the color of orange peel revealed tons of carbonation. Many bubbles, no streams, all dancing their way up in various sizes.

S- Ketchup.. no joke. The intial note was sweet and confusing, but definitely similar to ketchup. Further investigation revealed the classic odor of pumpkin and the barest hints of nutmeg.

T- The opening is ketchup! What the hell? I thought it might be the glass, so I took some swigs from the bottle and it definitely is ketchup flavors to begin with. It flows forward to reveal the pumpkin flavor. This slowly ebbs away giving a finish that could be of earthy, meaty, squashes mixed with nutmeg. Unfortunately it is too faint to truly enjoy.

M- Thin, over carbonated to distracting proportions, and not much lingering capabilities. This definitely falls on the watery side of beer. For a low alcohol beer, the ethanol definitely perks up to tingle in an unwelcomed manner.

D- Never again. It just is too mediocre to really want again. I can think of half a dozen other pumpkin beers I'd like to have in its place and that is just off the top of my head. Too many errors and things need fixing that I addressed above.

Serving type: bottle

10-16-2010 14:57:53 | More by Khazadum

MorningBeer

Iowa

2.88/5  rDev -20.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pumpkin ales are quickly becoming a favorite of mine. Unfortunately, I'm unable to find many locally to try. I read some reviews of O'Fallon's Pumpkin Beer and was nervous to invest, but I did. And it is a disappointing experience

A: Pours a nice copper-pumpkin orange. A little hazy. A slight creamy head, a little more color than the white foamy heads I've seen on other pumpkin ales I've tried. Overall nice.

S: Weak. Immediately, there is a hint of canned pumpkin (the stuff most pies are made of). Then, the pumpkin scent dissipates and I'm left with an overwhelming bready tone. No real sense of spices here.

T: Like the smell, a strong sense of canned pumpkin aftertaste that quickly turns to a weak alcohol/pumpkin meshing. Not much spice. Maybe a hint of peach in the background.

M: Airy. Empty. Not much here for the style.

D: Drinkable if one can tolerate the taste.

Serving type: bottle

08-31-2010 19:23:17 | More by MorningBeer

StlHopHead77

Illinois

2.9/5  rDev -19.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A-Pours a slightly,hazy burnt amber with a quickly dissipating one-finger,off-white crown that left decent soapy lacing.

S-Caramel,light spice,some Hefeweizen-like scents of ripe banana and clove.

T-Typical amber ale with some sweet caramel flavors and dull spice but no real pumpkin to speak of.

M-Thin and slightly sweet mouthfeel with an overall impression of underachievement.

D-Go into this one planning on drinking an amber ale and you'll be fine but from a pumpkin ale standpoint it falls short.

Serving type: bottle

11-22-2010 12:48:20 | More by StlHopHead77

xav33

Michigan

2.93/5  rDev -19.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

O'Fallon Pumpkin Ale
12 oz bottle
Recent bottling, slurped 08/06
Medium pour in a stein.

Poured clear hayish copper with a fizzy quickly diminishing 1/2 inch head.

Smelt of light pumpkin and spices.

Tasted of light sweet pumpkin pie upfront, with a lightly bready malt kick and a short finish. Mouthfeel was light, fizzy, watery and slightly astringent.

Overall, this pumpkin beer doesnt try to impress with taste or complexity. Its more of a good introduction to the style if anything.

Serving type: bottle

08-30-2006 18:34:53 | More by xav33

Goliath

Illinois

2.93/5  rDev -19.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Pours a hazy amber color with a large inch and a half slightly yellowed head. Good retention but no real lacing.

Aroma is ok, but certainly weaker than many pumpkin beers. I get some pale malt, a little sweetness, a bit of cinnamon too. I'm not getting much of the nutmeg or cloves, which is kind of disappointing. No real pumpkin smell either.

Taste is ok. Most definitely not anywhere near the best pumpkin I've ever had. Not much of a pumpkin taste, a pale bready malt dominates. A touch of cinnamon comes through, but again no nutmeg or cloves really. Really leaves me wanting.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a nice carbonation tingle.

Drinkability is low to moderate. Flavor is unimpressive. Really not quite what it should be. Beer is sessionable, but consuming more than one would seem to be a horrible idea. Not my favorite O'Fallon brew.

Serving type: bottle

08-20-2008 02:27:53 | More by Goliath

Cheers

Kansas

2.93/5  rDev -19.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

a= orangish amber, cloudy, little head retention, some lacing

s= malty biscuit aroma, some pumpkin/spice aroma is present but plays second fiddle to the malt

t= some hops come through, but the primary flavor here is malt and pumpkin. Not many spices are present like in other Pumpkin Ales.

m= average mouthfeel,

d= an average pumpkin ale that does not contain a lot of cinnamon/nutmeg flavors.

Serving type: bottle

09-13-2009 19:39:19 | More by Cheers

rosen551

Minnesota

2.93/5  rDev -19.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

I actually found this decent, but I'm not really a big fan of pumpkin beers so I appreciated it being more mellow.

I served from a bottle into a regular pint glass. Appearance was coppery, maybe a little hazy. Light scent of pumpkin - taste is not overwhelmingly pumpkin, which I appreciated. This beer is definitely not as spicy as other pumpkin beers on the market.
Not too much carbonation - overall a decent choice if you're looking for a fall inspired drink.

Serving type: bottle

11-11-2012 00:37:09 | More by rosen551