Country Pumpkin - Ithaca Beer Company

BeerLover99

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +14.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A: shiny orange/amber hue, trace head,

S: lovely all-spice, pumpkin, ginger, citrus jam

T: all-spice, pumpkin, malt, ginger, marmalade, mild grassy finish

M: med body, solid carbonation/smooth mouth

O: WOW! Very nice surprise from my wife. Enjoy Ithaca
and love trying pumpkin brews. This is one of my favorites now.
pumpkin beer fans will love it.

VERY GOOD, TRY SOME!

Serving type: bottle

09-18-2012 16:07:39 | More by BeerLover99

asabreed

New York

4/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Growler with the first taste poured into a traditional pint glass. Sampled earlier at the Ithaca Ale House also.

Appearance: A nice copper and slightly hazy orange color to the body of the brew, with a decent off-white head that does fade a bit quickly, probably due to the transport and the wash-out of the growler before the fill. Hopefully the haze is due to some of the pumpkin and spices -- I'm glad to see that it's not too clear.

Smell: A nice balance of malt and hops initially, with the spices coming through as it warms, especially the cinnamon and nutmeg. And there's some nice pepper and vanilla going on too. A good balance of aromas all around.

Taste: A little hoppier than I'd originally anticipated, with a nice sense of sweetness from the malt, balanced by the nice combination of spices, especially the cinnamon and nutmeg, and you do taste some of that pumpkin puree and it doesn't seem at all fake. Nice lingering slightly hoppy finish with spices that go on for a while.

Mouthfeel: Nicely medium-bodied with carbonation that could be maybe a little more charged, but it works well, and is more than adequate and keeps the flavors in check.

Drinkabiltiy. Not so surprisingly, a very good one from Ithaca. I hope this becomes a fall staple. Not very expensive, and a lot of flavor that could easily turn into a session brew. Seems like this is going fast -- not sure how much they made, but get it while you can.

Serving type: growler

09-30-2012 00:59:14 | More by asabreed

dogfishandi

New York

3.4/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

12oz bottle at fridge temp poured into a snifter. Best Before DEC 2012.

pours out a burnt orange color with a bit of haziness to it. slightly less than one fingers worth of off white head that quickly faded to a thin foam ring and then eventually nothing.

pretty typical pumpkin ale aroma, nothing really impressive hear. some cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg as well as some actual pumpkin. some light alcohol esters as it warms. not much else.

pretty much the same as the aroma, typical spices with a bit of actual pumpkin.

carbonation is a little too aggresive. light to medium in body. the only thing this really has going for it is drinkability, my glass was empty before i knew it.

a little too average to be worth buying again, glad i got this as a single. tastes like every other pumpkin ale out there. i expected more from ithaca.

Serving type: bottle

12-04-2012 23:05:36 | More by dogfishandi

TheBrewo

Michigan

3.63/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

We pour a brew of glowing pumpkin orange. It holds a two finger head of creamy tannish bubbles that stick to the glass, leaving sticky, cakey lacing. Retention is nice. There is no haze or sediment noted, and carbonation appears light. The aroma is bright with smooth vanilla cream and warming pumpkin spice. The malts are pale and lightly toasted, holding up against a hearty baker’s yeast, and very faint but fresh citric hop. The pumpkin is sweet and serious, and really steals the show. With warmth it smells more and more like a fresh baked pumpkin pie. Our first impression is that the flavoring is lighter than hoped for, but still carries the pumpkin spice nicely. As we sip, the taste opens with souring, pale malts, a light toasty yeast, and fresh spice of pumpkin, nutmeg, and bittering clovey phenol. The middle moves the pumpkin spice forward, enhancing the depth of the malts, with sweeter notes of salty caramel, and dried grassiness. That nice fresh creamy sweetness comes next, pulling to the finish, with freshly grated ginger, black pepper, drying nutmeg, allspice, and fresh pumpkin flesh. The aftertaste breathes of souring grain, mineral, light booze, metals, dried pale malts, chalk, and more of that pumpkin spice. The body is medium, and the carbonation is medium, but robustly prickly. The mouth is cooled and coated initially, with a final dryness to the palate and down the tongue. There is decent slurp, smack, and pop, but little cream to the lips. It is quenching and refreshing, without being overbearing. The abv is appropriate, and the beer drinks easily.

Overall, what we enjoyed most about this brew was the nose. There was such nice favoring throughout, with a full aromatic profile. The pumpkin was authentic, yet sweet, smooth, and creamy, while the spice was warming and invigorating. The entire thing, however, through the flavoring as well as the nose, was a bit subdued. We found ourselves wishing that things were more robust on both fronts, which was really our only complaint.

Serving type: bottle

11-06-2012 01:36:28 | More by TheBrewo

schoolboy

Ohio

4.43/5  rDev +19.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This is one of the best pumpkins. Without being over the top, this is a well done pumpkin. The aroma is first rate - pumpkin and spice, very nice. The taste is almost a disappointment after such great aroma, a tough act to follow, but it works weak.

The beer looks great in a glass but the head is a little weak. The taste quickly dies down, leaving a void. It also leaves a bit of a bitter boozy aftertaste.

The burps are pretty good, not so much pumpkin pie as jackolantern. This is one to buy when you want a real pumpkin treat.

Serving type: bottle

09-14-2012 23:31:48 | More by schoolboy

ThePorterSorter

New York

3.63/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

The beer pours a clear, rich looking medium amber with a razor thin blanketing of off-white head. The nose is sweet, but not cloying, and blends together aromas of nutmeg, banana, and clove. It's not over the top, but still has the spice characteristics I like in a pumpkin ale. The taste disappoints...frankly, it tastes like a watered down amber with almost none of the spice coming through...and this beer is essentially at its peak 'bottle freshness.' A thin, watery mouthfeel is not what I prefer for this style of beer, although it's refreshing to have a pumpkin beer with a semi-dry, spicy clove finish. Cold versus room temp there is no improvement.
Honestly, I will probably avoid this beer in the future, although it's hard to poo-poo a well-intentioned effort by Ithaca.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2012 01:21:00 | More by ThePorterSorter

JerzDevl2000

New Jersey

3.3/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Picked this up in Totowa, not expecting much from a style that rarely impresses me. Sure enough, that turned out to be the case with this. While this was not a bad beer, no flavor in particular stood out too much and there wasn't anything memorable about this. This wasn't too spicy or full of the namesake flavor but at the same time, there was just enough here to make this enjoyable and easy to quaff down.

This had a slightly dark pumpkin hue to it with a bit of head and hardly any lacing. The carbonation wasn't there either but that was more than made up for by the alcohol, which was a bit too strong for my taste. I thought this would have some spice but aside from a bit of cinnamon, there was just pumpkin here. No clove, nutmeg, or vanilla and had the body been a bit more full, that would have been alright. There was just something missing from this and this came too close to being a "no-frills" beer.

That allowed the alcohol to stand out more than it should have. This felt like it was around 8-9% but this was not made to be an Imperial-style beer. Those who like Pumpkin Ales will not be disappointed here but so many others available on the shelf, this should probably be passed over unless there aren't any other options to choose from.

Serving type: bottle

10-11-2012 21:28:02 | More by JerzDevl2000

SLeffler27

New York

3.78/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Fills a tulip glass with a hazed, rustic orange and a slight, short lived, off white crown that leaves modest lacing.

One can faintly detect pumpkin and pie spices alongside caramel malt.

Sweet pumpkin pie is light but distinct. Nutmeg is the more prominent spice, while the finish is a touch astringent and lingering. After warming the pumpkin steps up and improves the flavor substantially.

Aggressive carbonation scours the medium bodied, woolly textured beer from the palate. Alcohol is greater than expected.

This is another pumpkin beer, with nothing special to distinguish it. Allow this one to warm and it does improve.

None of the beers produced under this style, by any brewer, particular impress me. I may have reached my limit for the year. Yet hope still holds out that someone will make an impressive pumpkin beer next year.

Serving type: bottle

12-28-2012 12:24:58 | More by SLeffler27

Goblinmunkey7

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Bright burnt orange. Head it tiny, bright-white, and drops to a tiny collar almost instantly. Moderate carbonation. So pretty. A little less burnt than I like to see, but still comes close to perfect.

Smell: Big hits of pumpkin pie spice. The usual suspects are there, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, a touch of clove and vanilla. Cinnamon is more pronounced. Canned pumpkin sweetness coupled with some intense malt sweetness. Smells like a pie. Some toasted edges as well. There's some crust. Sharply spicy. Some minor hints of real pumpkin when it warms, but the spices jump as well.

Taste: Fresh pumpkin flesh up front drops quickly and gives way to the spice compliment. Big hits of cinnamon. Nutmeg and clove pick up some of the slack. Hints of vanilla on the back. Allspice all but disappears. Raw, squashy pumpkin flavor re-energizes over the middle. Almost no aftertaste, incredibly clean. Flavor drops a bit too fast off the tongue. As it warms the spices become a touch too aggressive as the pumpkin backs off a touch.

Mouthfeel: A bit thin and underwhelming. Nice carbonation. No aftertaste.

Overall: You could do a lot worse for a pumpkin beer.

Nice overall, with some solid pumpkin influence. Falls apart as it warms, but it's still drinkable and worth checking out.

Serving type: bottle

10-04-2012 20:39:42 | More by Goblinmunkey7

Flounder57

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle was poured into a pint glass.

Appearance: The beer poured a one finger head that has reduced to a thin layer. It is a pale orange color with great clarity and signs of carbonation coming up through the glass.

Smell: Sweet pumpkins and all the spices that normally go with it. Cinnamon, ginger, clove, nutmeg, brown sugar, and all spice. Some breadiness too.

Taste: sweet and bready malts, pumpkins, and spices. Pretty crazy for 6.3, but it feels it could be more.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, low to medium carbonation, medium bodied, lingering delicious spiciness, and a pleasant beer on the palate too.

Overall: This beer reminds me a little of Southern Tiers pumpking minus the booziness and starchiness. Still a very enjoyable beer and very happy for what it is.

Serving type: bottle

10-16-2012 06:48:32 | More by Flounder57

BB1313

Ohio

2.9/5  rDev -22%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Notched best before Dec. 12oz bottle poured into a pint glass. Pours a nice hazy burnt orange that glows, small white head which fades quickly and leave nice retention and not too much lacing. The aromas are pretty typical and standard. Lots of spices up front like cinnamon and nutmeg. The ginger is there as well. The caramel malts are there. There's a touch of vanilla. The flavors match the nose, but are dialed down. The flavors almost seem watered down and fall flat. There's a decent spiciness and bitterness, but it doesn't linger. Mouthfeel is prickly, lots of carbonation, but smooth enough. I'll admit it gets better as it warms up because the graham cracker crust starts to make an appearance. Alcohol goes unnoticed. Very light. I'm guessing the ABV is somewhere in the 5% range.

This is basically just a run of the mill attempt. I'm a big fan of Ithaca, so I was really hoping they took the style to a new place, but they didn't. It's just your typical average pumpkin ale. It's not bad, but far from memorable.

Serving type: bottle

09-19-2012 00:19:15 | More by BB1313

FickleBeast

New Jersey

4.03/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass.

Pours a bright orange color with a thin wisp of foam that fizzles away quickly. Aroma is strong of pumpkin pie spice... clove, allspice, cinnamon.

First sip is medium bodied with a strong cinnamon flavor and enough sweetness to hold things together. Actually, this is quite sweet, and in turn has a few layers of flavor between the crystal malts, and various spices. Mouthfeel is viscous, but it also is a bit fizzy.

One of the better pumpkin beers I've had. Glad I took a chance and bought a 6 pack.

Serving type: bottle

10-27-2012 00:44:01 | More by FickleBeast

chefhatt

Pennsylvania

3.9/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a standard pint glass
It has a nice bright burnt orange color body with a small white head that quicly goes down to a very thin lace. The smell has a nice malt and allspice aroma with a hint of cinnamon in there also. The taste has a sweet taste up front then the spices and the pumpkin come in to play on the middle and the finish, leaving a nice like spice film on the tonuge. The mouth feel is really good and overall a good balanced pumpkin beer.

Serving type: bottle

11-30-2012 20:14:19 | More by chefhatt

CloudStrife

New York

4.2/5  rDev +12.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12oz bottle poured into a mini pilsner glass. Best by December.

A: Clear golden color with a 1 finger white head. Lots of visible carbonation. No real lacing.

S: Pretty strong pumpkin and spice aroma. The usual allspice and nutmeg.

T: Loads of spice, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice. Still a fairly full pumpkin taste. The malt background keep this thing well balanced. Loses some of its flavor as it warms.

M: Lots of carbonation. Light to medium body. Crisp finish. Very drinkable. Slightly watery.

Overall a great new pumpkin beer. Certainly worth a go-round and I will look for this again in the future.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2012 19:38:49 | More by CloudStrife

sliverX

New York

3.93/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a rich clear copper, thick white foam a good 3/4" that took a while to fade down to whisps.
Smelled of typical pumpkin beer spices with a touch of pumpkin meat.
Taste followed the noise, very balanced spice profile which was very drinkable and no where near over the top.
Mouthfeel was medium bodied, it had some weight to it but was very drinkable.
Overall a very solid entry from Ithaca, not a game changer but a perfect fall option.

Serving type: bottle

09-13-2012 23:03:53 | More by sliverX

atr2605

New York

3.5/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A-pours a copper/light amber color with a white head with average retention
S-good amount of pumpkin with spice
T-More pumpkin and spice followed by a good hop bitterness, not a huge fan of the hop selection itself though, leaves a bit of an off aftertaste
M-medium bodied
O-not a bad pumpkin ale, if it wasn't for the aftertaste I would say its a pretty solid beer. Don't regret trying it but won't make it one of my regular fall beers

Serving type: bottle

09-16-2012 17:16:07 | More by atr2605

siege06nd

Virginia

3.08/5  rDev -17.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

A. Pours a light golden orange color. Thin quarter finger of wispy white head with just a smattering of lacing.

S. Cinnamon, brown sugar, clove, a little bit of bready malt character. Not much depth, but hits most of the core notes.

T. Follows the nose with cinnamon, lots of brown sugar, some all spice. Malts are light and somewhat fruity. Spices are the most apparent flavors, with a malt and hop base that doesn't really add too much. Drinks light a very thin, light slice of cheap pumpkin bread.

M. It's pretty damn watery. Everything here is just "mild" except for the spices which are more moderate. I just like a bit more depth to my pumpkin ales and this one lacks the sweet, thick character I've come to enjoy.

O. Decidedly average. Offensively inoffensive. They need to ramp up the malt on this one and give me something to sink my teeth into. Not bad, but certainly not memorable.

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2012 23:40:18 | More by siege06nd

mattbk

New York

3.5/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Naturally carbonated, I spilled a bit of yeast into the bottle during the pour. This makes it a bit cloudy. I suppose it's possible the pumpkin is contributing to the cloudiness. The beer is only lightly carbonated. It is orange-brownish.
S: A familiar pumpkin aroma, nutmeg, clove, cinammon maybe, a bit of brown sugar. Fairly typical for a pumpkin ale. Good, not especially interesting.
T: The taste is far more beery and less spicy. Mild maltiness, some yeasty esters coming through, the spices are very faint, a bit of cinammon maybe. Not much of a pumpkin taste. A bit minty from a hoppy finish, which comes out as the beer warms (English hops? Northern Brewers maybe?). This is my favorite part of the beer, a nice finish.
M: Medium mouthfeel, not much carbonation, just enough for this beer. No head apparent on the beer by this point.
O: A slightly above average pumpkin beer. Not bad, I've had better.

Serving type: bottle

10-02-2012 00:42:28 | More by mattbk

ack210

2.88/5  rDev -22.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Poured from a bottle into a conical pint glass.

Appearance- Nice appearance, a burnt orange. Small head , about 1/2 finger, light retention, light lacing.

Smell- Spices are apparent, especially allspice and nutmeg. Pumpkin is weaved in between these spices but not as bold. I smell almost no malts, but did catch snips of alcohol.

Taste- Not at all what I was expecting. The alcohol is overpowering and completely oppresses the spices and pumpkin apparent in the aroma. A light hoppy flavor is detectable on the finish.

Mouthfeel- A little on the lighter side of carbonation. A medium body, smooth, almost creamy.

Overall- I'm not saying this is a bad beer or even that I didn't enjoy it. I just felt that for being a Pumpkin Ale, the pumpkin and spices were too overpowered.

Serving type: bottle

10-10-2012 03:11:58 | More by ack210