[Available Locally] Southern Tier Pumking

While fall isn’t quite upon us yet, the fall seasonal beers are already rolling in.  A very particular fall beer style is the pumpkin beer.  One of the most popular and widely distributed examples of this style is Southern Tier’s Pumking.  This is an imperial pumpkin beer, meaning it’s a bit bigger in alcohol and flavor than most, clocking in at 8.6% ABV.  It comes in 22oz bombers and in some areas, can be quite hard to get; I’ve seen several liquor stores completely sold out of it already.  It’s pretty widely distributed, however, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find.

Style: Imperial Pumpkin Beer

ABV: 8.6%

IBUs: Not noted, but fairly low

Availability: Fall seasonal, 22oz bombers and draft

[Quick Notes] This hazy medium golden-orange beer releases aromas of ginger, nutmeg and allspice in addition to buttery, flaky pie crust. This is bolstered by a bit of vegetal squash and pumpkin as well as some vanilla, but not much malt sweetness.  The flavor follows, with the ginger, nutmeg and buttery pie crust flavors dominating, with just a hint of sweet pumpkin underneath, very little sweetness to balance the spice character.  If you like the taste of pumpkin pie spices, this beer brings it in boatloads. 

Read on for a full review!

[Appearance] This beer, while calling itself “deep copper”, actually pours a lighter medium golden-orange color, which is moderately hazy.  The light tan head is absolutely massive but fairly quickly dissipates to a thin, patchy layer and a small ring around the edges of the glass.

[Aroma] Wow, this aroma just explodes out of the glass!  The first thing that hits the nose is super buttery, crumbly pie crust.  It’s a bit uncanny how spot on that aroma is, but something about it is a little less sweet and almost a little more savory than the real thing.  Next, the massive amount of pie spice aroma hits your nose, almost like a scented candle.  There is plenty of ginger, nutmeg and allspice, all the classic pumpkin pie spices.  The ginger is just a bit vegetal, and a small amount of pumpkin and squash adds to that vegetal character. There’s also some slight papery, cardboard sort of dryness underneath, just a hint, and not terribly noticeable.

[Taste] The taste is just as powerful as the aroma, leading hard with the crumbly, buttery pie crust flavor, also without much sweetness to it.  As in the aroma, the ginger, nutmeg, and allspice burst across the taste buds next, bringing memories of pumpkin pie quickly to mind.  I’m surprised by how little pumpkin sweetness there actually is, there is just a touch after the spices subside.  I thought the aroma might just overplay the spices compared to the flavor, but there is very little pumpkin in the flavor as well.  Most of the pumpkin flavor is implied, meaning that the crust and spice flavors make you think of pumpkin pie, while the pumpkin flavor itself is quite faint.  There is some creamy vanilla in the finish, as well as more of that buttery crust flavor, leaving a slick, buttery flavor on the tongue in the finish.  A bit of alcohol warmth comes through in the finish, which tends to make spice flavors come through even more prominently.

[Mouthfeel] The body of this beer is medium to medium full and fairly creamy, and the carbonation is actually fairly low.  It leaves a really slick, buttery feeling on the tongue, which is a common sign of high levels of diacetyl in a beer.  At first I thought this was simply from the pie crust flavor, but I began to suspect there was a bit of diacetyl.  Diacetyl is normally undesirable, but since the buttery, slick character fits with the pie crust flavor, it’s not wholly out of style.

[Overall] The first few sniffs and sips of this beer were pretty wild, uncannily like a pumpkin pie in terms of the spot-on butter pie crust and spices.  However, the more I drank, the more I realized how important the sweetness of the pumpkin filling is to the overall balance of the pie.  Without a lot of sweetness, the buttery and ginger/nutmeg flavors of this beer became a bit taxing.  This beer is quite highly rated by many people and is extremely popular, so I really it just doesn’t quite suit me personally. I think the beer needs either more caramel malt sweetness to help balance the spice and crust flavors, just as in a real pumpkin pie.  It could also have more malt bitterness, like some roasty stout characteristics to help make the spices less pronounced.  I think Pumking is simply a very particular beer that some people will love and some will not.  While I happen to fall into the second group, if you enjoy lots of pumpkin pie spices and crust, then this beer should put you firmly in the “love” category.  I'd recommend splitting a 22oz bomber with a friend or two.

With fall quickly approaching, I hope to be trying more fall seasonal releases that are available in Minnesota in order to help you all mourn the end of summer with a good autumnal beer.

Cheers!