Pumpkin Xmas 13 by Meilby Brewing, Spice/Herb/Vegetable, 5.5% ABV, 30 IBU.
It’s getting close to summer, i.e. it’s time for a christmas beer!
Meilby Brewing Pumpkin Xmas, all the gory details.
The Pumpkin Xmas makes a loud PSSST when I remove the cap, this sounds like a heavily carbonated one. It pours a very hazy, medium amber body with a large, creamy, beige head that is very long-lived. After a long time it settles as a thick layer, and impressive amounts of foam is left on the glass.
The aroma is pretty strong, and it’s spicy, sour and funky. Regarding the latter two: I clearly identify notes that to me are rather bretty, but that might also be due to the fact that all pumpkin beers I’ve ever tasted are funky stuff from Jolly Pumpkin, so what I think is wild yeast might actually simply be the pumpkin. I’d like to hear the brewer’s opinion on this! However, this is a christmas beer, and no christmas beer without some christmassy spices, in this one I mainly get anise and clove. Maybe a bit disappointing given the long and impressive ingredients list (see photo to the right).
Looking good!
The rather strong flavour is also very spicy. It’s dominated by anise, so heavily dominated that it’s a bit hard to detect the other spices, although clove and nutmeg shine through, the latter probably caused by the allspice. The wild yeasty notes (which may or may not be partially due to the pumpkin) are also a main element of the flavour profile. Finally there are some citric notes in the back. The taste is light to moderate sweet, and the long finish is moderate to light bitter.
It’s quite light and dry on the palate, with a lively carbonation, and a particularly dry finish. Christmas beer is a pretty loose style, but to me a christmas beer should be sweeter, but I will of course not hold the lack of residual sweetness against this little pup.
Conclusion: a nice and refreshing beer that will probably fit well as a break between overly sweet christmas beers. It’s loaded with christmas spices, although a bit heavy on the anise, and the pumpkin and the wildness is a nice twist.
Aroma: 6/10 Appearance: 5/5 Taste: 7/10 Palate: 3/5 Overall: 13/20 Ratebeer score: 3.4/5.0
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