Pumpkin Lager Beer - Lakefront Brewery, Inc.

barleywinefiend

Washington

2.78/5  rDev -19.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured a cloudy golden-orange color, aroma of cinnamon and pumpkin. Small white head that doesn't last, not much lacing either. Pumpkin , ginger, cinnamon and butter bread flavors, Medium body body with a buttery mouthfeel, finishes pretty sweet, I had a tough time finishing the bottle.

Serving type: bottle

03-08-2008 21:10:24 | More by barleywinefiend

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

2.78/5  rDev -19.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12 oz bottle into a pint glass.

Pours a clear amber orange with 2+ fingers of poofy brite-white head. Fizzles down pretty quickly into just the thinnest coating of foam. I'm not even a 1/3 of the way through the glass and it allready looks lifeless. Nice retention there. The aroma is waaay overspiced smelling. This is literally hurting my nose as I sniff it. There's some residual sweetness and floral hops back behind all of the spice but they barely make a dent in this bouquet.

The taste comes off to me as way too sweet, tangy, and once again overspiced. There's some green pumpkin taste back there as well but man, I can't get this tanginess out of my mouth! Them mouthfeel is medium bodied with a more viscous feel and lower carbonation that does the taste profile zero favors.

Well, as you can see, this didn't work for me at all. Way too overspiced and cloying at times. Maybe if there had bit a bit of Lager like crispness, this would have gone down easier but nope. I won't be visiting this again.

Serving type: bottle

01-09-2009 17:54:22 | More by Kegatron

mynie

Indiana

2.78/5  rDev -19.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours like tea. Dark orange, minimal carbonation.

Smells like cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Aggressively spicy, and pretty generic. It's nice but not really even pumpkiny, just spicy.

Tastes like it smells. Not exactly bland, not exactly boilerplate, but not exactly well-brewed. It's all spice, only those spices are inexpertly measured and there's none of the tangy or mellow pumpkin nodes of other such brews to cut into the aggressive cinnamon and nutmeg nodes.

It's like a pumpkin pie baked by a middle school home ec class. It's edible, since it's pumpkin pie and honestly I'd eat pumpkin pie that had been dropped on the floor. But the seasoning hints towards a complete lack of experience on behalf of the people who baked it, like they just raided the spice cabinet and started pouring things in all willy nilly.

Serving type: bottle

10-17-2012 21:56:57 | More by mynie

jkendrick

Colorado

2.8/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

12oz bottle poured into pint glass

Appearance: Poured fizzy and soda-y with light head that dissipated down to almost nothing with no lacing. The color is copper to amber and very clear.

Aroma: The aroma is initially very nice with plenty of spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg. There is some pumpkin aroma, but mostly spices. The aroma fades after a while in the glass, but the first impressions are again very nice.

Mouthfeel: This a light and fizzy soda-like drink. I am not generally a lager fan, so it is difficult for me to comment on the mouthfeel vs. how it is SUPPOSED to be, but I didn't like it. It felt thin with harsh carbonation.

Taste: The pleasing aroma doesn't carry over to taste. I tasted very little to no pumpkin and minimal spice. The carbonation again was a big minus for me. It's pretty dry with a hint of sweetness, but overall kind of sour (not bitter in a hoppy way). The aftertaste doesn't linger but that is good because it is rather sour.

Overall impression: This was my first pumpkin beer (and my first attempt at drinking a beer for a review -- I joined a review group and pumpkin beer was first on the agenda)) and I will say it was interesting. The initial aroma was far and away the highlight for me and I found it less enjoyable as I went along. It is definitely more pumpkin PIE than straight pumpkin, but that may be standard for this type of brew. I am a big fan of pumpkin pie, but had never had the desire to try a pumpkin beer. While I probably won't pick this one up again, it WAS enough to get me interested in trying other pumpkin beers.

Serving type: bottle

10-29-2008 00:49:39 | More by jkendrick

botham

Illinois

2.83/5  rDev -18%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

bottle poured into an oversized wine glass. pours a lightly hazy amber-orangish color with a finger and a half of eggshell colored head that retains moderately and leaves no lacings.

aroma is spicy, with nutmeg and allspice notes, as well as a pumpkin-like base and distant notes of vanilla and some caramel. overall, quite spicy without much for malt or hop notes. a bit of caramel malt character comes out after a bit of warming, but it is overpowered by the spice.

taste is more of the same with a distinct spiced character that hinders the drinkability and palatability. the brew is heavy on the pumpkin spice and discounts the pumpkin flavors and malt notes to produce an overly-spiced brew.

mouthfeel is medium bodied with a sharp and spiced texture and a finish of residual nutmeg and light caramel malts.

drinkability is decent. any BA who loves pumpkin pie spices will like this brew, but for those looking for a balanced pumpkin beer, this is not good. pumpkin beers should be treated like ESBs, where it is all about balance. too many end up as over-spiced fall beers that are not very drinkable, and this is no exception.

Serving type: bottle

09-13-2009 16:49:44 | More by botham

joe1510

Illinois

2.85/5  rDev -17.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12oz. Bottle

Poured a hazy light orange. Small head that faded to almost nothing.Looks really watery. Some sediment floating around along with carbonation coming up from random places. After a few sips head did fall to nothing.

Smells of clove, nutmeg and it seems like a touch of cinnamon. I smell a funky yeast in there as well that I associate with an ale. Smells kind of interesting. Can't make up my mind if I like it or not.

Has the taste of a mulled cider but at the end I pick up the yeast maybe? A little twang. Not much pumpkin if any though. Which is a little disappointing considering what it is.

The mouthfeel is a on the light side of medium. Leaves my mouth a little tingly but it's just average.

I'd probably only drink one of these. It's an easy drinker but being as plain as it is and the spices present I couldn't see myself drinking more than one.

Overall this beer is about as average as you can get. I was hoping for a little more. I always get excited for the seasonals but this was a let down. For some reason this beer drinks more like a cider. Every drink I take I seem to think it needs to be heated up and a cinnamon stick thrown in it. Worth a try if you can just buy a single bottle.

Slainte!

Serving type: bottle

10-06-2006 00:55:33 | More by joe1510

jsh420

Illinois

2.88/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

pours hazy orange with a 1/2 finger head that left no lacing

smells more like xmas (allspice) very little pumpkin

taste - this beer is more anchor xmas ale than most pumpkin brews - the aftertaste is the only time the pumpkin shows up

mouthfeel is light with no carbonation

drinkability is not good since there are plenty of other good/great pumpkin beers

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2010 02:37:30 | More by jsh420

Goblinmunkey7

Massachusetts

2.88/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Appearance: Bright orange. Little to no head. A chill haze dissipated rather quickly. Lacing is nonexistent.

Smell: Nice sweet cinnamon. Some nutmeg, allspice, and the rest of the usual suspects. A touch sweet, but it's got that lovely combination of real beer with pumpkin thrown in for extra measure. A nice balance of grassy, sweet malts and pumpkin. Faint touches of real pumpkin come through as well. Particularly heavy on the cinnamon.

Taste: Sharp bit of spices. Cinnamon assaults everything, adding a spiciness that is rather unexpected. Loads of cinnamon. Nutmeg rounds out the back. After some warming, the spices take another jump up, but the malts add some sweetness, attempting to balance out the spice. It almost works, but falls short in the long run. A touch bready, almost crusty with some grassy notes in the back of it all.

Mouthfeel: A little thin with a slightly high carbonation. It definitely drinks like a nice crisp lager. A little dry, but never aggressively so.

Overall: Lager + pumpkin = interesting combination. The crisp nature coupled with the fall spices plays out like an homage to summer gone and fall coming. It's stuck somewhere in the middle of good and meh.

Serving type: bottle

09-04-2011 19:41:09 | More by Goblinmunkey7

drpimento

Wisconsin

2.9/5  rDev -15.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Having a bottle that's a couple years old so I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt. Very slight pop when opened and small tan head that quickly disappeared and no lace. Color is a hazy orange amber with a little sediment. Aroma is pumpkin pie spice with some natural pumpkin and malt. Flavor is like aroma but with some sour. Beer is turning/turned. Body is ok but carbonation is going flat. Finish is like flavor. I've had these fresh many times before and they're much better.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2010 00:45:06 | More by drpimento

aerozeppl

New York

2.93/5  rDev -15.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pumpkin lager? OK.

A: Fairly clear copper color. Poured with a finger of white head that quickly dissipated.

S: Really tight nose for a style that is supposed to be very fragrant. Nutmeg jumps ahead of the other spices though.

T: Its a weird mix of lager and pumpkin spices. The first sip was over the top but after that it toned down. Has a nice sweet finish. I don't know why a pumpkin beer has a sweet finish but it does.

M: Nothing to really add or take away from this beer.

D: Glad I only grabbed a single of this. Much better pumpkin beers out there. Not terrible just not something I would seek out again.

Serving type: bottle

10-04-2008 23:37:19 | More by aerozeppl

Dogbrick

Ohio

2.98/5  rDev -13.6%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

I was surprised to find this at Frog Bear Wild Boar, a bar/club not really known for the beer selection. Amber color with an off-white head. Aroma is almost spicy enough to make your eyes water. Ginger absolutely dominates, with a little pumpkin and malt crying for attention. This was a little hard to drink because of how robust the spicy flavor was. I would have welcomed more hops or malt to balance out the spice assault. Dry finish. An interesting attempt but not something I am going to search out again.

Serving type: bottle

02-03-2003 07:24:56 | More by Dogbrick

cbutova

Massachusetts

2.98/5  rDev -13.6%
look: 1.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours a clear orange-amber with a one finger head that dies down very fast leaving nothing behind, no blanket and no lacing at all, looks like a glass of juice after a few minutes. Smells of pumpkins, fruits and malts, maybe some nutmeg too. I get a hint of funk/kriek for some reason too. Tastes of pumpkin, malts, nutmeg, some strange citrus/fruit taste that makes the beer taste more artificial, some sweetness too. Mouthfeel is a bit light with a pretty large carbonation bite and no alcohol warming. Drinkability is alright, not the best taste, not a bad price, the taste seems to die down after a bit and go to very sweet pumpkin taste, probably wont get this one again.

Serving type: bottle

10-11-2009 07:35:48 | More by cbutova

crossovert

Wisconsin

2.98/5  rDev -13.6%
look: 4 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

12 oz bottle. Brewed not a week ago.

It pours a clear orangeish gold with a foamy off-white head htat leaves some rings of almost ghost-like lace.

The smell isn't that great in imo. It is pickly and vegetal. It is just the wrong spice/veggie combo for me.

The flavor is better. It has notes of cinnamon and spice. The pumpkin is subdued and the malt gives a crust flavor. Really tastes like Pumkin Pie, not exactly, not even close but as close as I have tasted in a pumkin beer. The added hops are nice.

I am not a fan of this beer style, it seems like it is just some novelty that grew out of proportion but this isn't bad.

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2011 03:43:04 | More by crossovert

chumba526

Oregon

3/5  rDev -13%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appears light orange in color with a small white head.

It smells slightly sour; there are hints of nutmeg and cinnamon. There are also hints of pumpkin to the beer.

It tastes initially of pumpkin. There is a smooth cinnamon and nutmeg type of a flavor. The beer ends with a bit of a sweet malt flavor. This is a basic pumpkin beer but it tastes pretty good.

There is a crisp mouthfeel with moderate carbonation.

The drinkability is ok, but is a little too sweet to drink a lot of it.

Overall a decent pumpkin beer that is enjoyable but nothing amazing.

Serving type: bottle

02-28-2011 00:08:07 | More by chumba526

tbern007

Colorado

3/5  rDev -13%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

The bottle says it was bottled on: and nothing is marked under month nor week. Who knows?
A- hazy, orange/honey color with thin white head, very little lace.
S - I can't put my nose on it. I even asked my wife. She thinks it is lavender and that it tastes like lavender. It's floral for sure but which? It's NOT pumpkin. Clove is there.
T - like the smell. No pumpkin. Sweet, clove, floral, citrus.
M- sweetens with time, easy to drink but the flavor and scent are difficult to pinpoint. Very floral but not pumpkin.

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2011 00:39:42 | More by tbern007

StonedTrippin

Colorado

3/5  rDev -13%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

bummer. my first pumpkin beer of the season was brewed in wisconsin? purchased in golden, colorado. the flavor was entirely too spiced, like pumpkin in a can, and the beer had a filling malty element to it. i cant say i hate it, because i dont at all, but i had higher hopes for the inaugural brew of the season. dont think i could do a 6pack of this, the drinkability wasnt there. at least my palate is ready to go now!

Serving type: bottle

10-07-2011 05:06:41 | More by StonedTrippin

frankiepop

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -13%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

The weakness here is we got a lager. This is better than the average lager, but the lager has weaker flavor compared to the good ale pumpkin beers. However, this would do in a pinch. I would like this beer on a hot summer day. It's very refreshing. Goes down well with summer jazz fest music like Joe Zawinul music.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2012 03:01:42 | More by frankiepop

russpowell

Oklahoma

3.03/5  rDev -12.2%
look: 2 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

This was an impromptu pick up, forgot I tried this, let's see if this fares any better:

Pours caramel with a 1" off-white head. Zero head rentention or lacing

S: Big pumpkin pie spices, cinamon, nutmeg & brown sugar up front. A little malt sweetness sneaks in, along with a little metallic taste. Finsishes sweet with some astrignency

MF: Light/medium bodied, a little low in cabonation, but skews too sweet balance-wise

Drinks okay, basically one or 2 & that's it. We're having a halloween paty, I'm sure I can foist these on some unsuspecting guests...I messed up (again)

Serving type: bottle

10-28-2006 01:38:40 | More by russpowell

brewdlyhooked13

Ohio

3.05/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Appearance - orange amber pour, thin light-tan head recedes to a sparse covering and offers no lace.

Aroma - a definite vegetal smell (which is okay), along with the spicy cinnamon and pumpkin pie I would expect and enjoy.

Taste - requisite malt, pumpkin and cinnamon flavors. After the swallow, the carbonation clears that away and leaves behind a distinct lemony flavor. Unusual but not bad. Stays lemony at the finish and between sips, dividing this a bit from the rest of the pumpkin beer pack.

Mouthfeel - the lemon flavor and high carbonation make this beer lighter, a step towards hefeweizen even for some cross-style appeal perhaps.

Drinkability - the taste and medium body are nice, but the lemon wash ultimately has me seeking something else tonight.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2005 19:44:06 | More by brewdlyhooked13

objectivemonkey

Minnesota

3.05/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours with a good head, a hazy, cloudy orangish amber, with no lacing. That pumpkin beer smell with nutmeg and cinnamon for the smell, not bad not great. Pretty good pumpkin beer with the nutmeg and cinnamon and ginger. Really isn't that extraordinary a beer, just doesn't really work out that well. Good attempt, poor execution I'd say.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2006 00:41:39 | More by objectivemonkey

ocelot2500

Arizona

3.05/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours a clear orange with a tight white head that leaves a decent amount of lacing.

Smells of spice and some malty sweetness. A little pumpkin in the nose, but not much.

Tastes of the spice mostly with the sweetness following. The spice is mostly cinnamon with some nutmeg and maybe ginger. The sweetness does have some pumpkin feel to it, but is more along the lines of caramel malt.

Mouthfeel is medium with some creaminess to it.

Serving type: bottle

09-19-2009 02:36:53 | More by ocelot2500

WillD

3.05/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

I have not seen a Lager pumpkin flavored beer before. It was pretty close to what you would think it should taste like. (Brewed with pumpkin spices)

Appearance: Beautiful clear golden color with and hint of orange to get you in the mood for "pumpkin".Head remains after a couple minutes but very low 1 mm. Extreme light to no lacing on the glass

Aroma: Cinnamon. Maybe a hint of nutmeg behind that but cinnamon is predominant.

Taste: I'm not a hug Lager guy so I'll do my best to be fair. The spices added a little extra hit of flavor after the initial not pumpkiness of this beer. Its a light and taste like college.

Mouthfeel: light, like a lager should but with a little bight from the spice to match the flavor aspect after the initial smoothness. I rather like the mouth feel and is appropriate for a flavored lager.

Overall: I feel this beer's best quality is it is visual very attractive. Great color, clarity and good head for the style. Next is mouth feel smooth with a spicy bite at the end. Not surprised of the lack of pumpkin in this beer. The rest is solid but nothing to write home about. Overall average not my favorite as far as the pumpkin category but ranks high in my lager category. I'm just not a lager guy.

Serving type: bottle

08-22-2012 00:44:46 | More by WillD

chinchill

South Carolina

3.06/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3

12 oz bottle served in a snifter.
Pours a hazy orange (pumpkin)/amber with an off-white head that soon disappears.

S: Pumpkin pie spices (mainly cinnamon and nutmeg), pumpkin puree and some biscuity malts.

T: A nice mix and balance of spicing, but too strong. It masks the pumpkin until the finish and leaves little detectable malt/grain flavor. Interesting sweet/tart mix.

M: Medium bodied, with a level of carbonation that seemed a bit aggressive.

O: yet another over-spiced pumpkin beer, and this one is of the more subtle lager variety, making the imbalance more of an issue. Nonetheless, the well-chosen mix of spices will appeal to those who like spicy pumpkin beers.

Serving type: bottle

03-12-2013 01:15:57 | More by chinchill

Winter

Wisconsin

3.08/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a hazy brownish-orange with a thin head that disappeared in a few seconds. Aroma is of sweet pumpkin pie and nutmeg. I wasn't sure what to expect of the taste, but surprisingly the spice, pumpkin flavor and mild hop taste were refreshing. Pumpkin Lager is a somewhat gimmicky beer, but nonetheless a good Fall and Thanksgiving beer to try.

Serving type: bottle

11-10-2002 18:25:10 | More by Winter

aasher

Indiana

3.08/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

This one pours a very light bodied bright copper in color with a one finger off white head. The aromas are very sweet and full of spice. It has the generic pumpkin vibe and is kind of syrupy sweet. The flavors again are all spice, a lot of cinnamon and nutmeg with a moderate amount of sweetness and a somewhat artificial pumpkin flavor. It's ok but doesn't really resemble pumpkin pie or anything like some other pumpkin beers do. It drinks very light and smooth. For being a lager I expected it to be a little more crisp. The flavor is decent but overall this one doesn't compare to other pumpkins.

Serving type: bottle

09-03-2011 02:14:54 | More by aasher