The last time we talked about Hal and Al’s I mentioned that we went for their pumpkin beer tasting.  Can you imagine how excited I was for that event!

When we were in last, I was informed that they were going to be hosting a pumpkin beer tasting the following week which would include pumpkin beers and ciders.

I may or may not have almost toppled over a parton and bartender as I eagerly inquired more about the event, embarrassing both my friend John and Scott.

Okay, not really, they both know me well enough to not get embarrassed by my antics any more.

I immedately marked the event on our calendar and off we went to the pumpkin beer tasting!

We were serious about this tasting.  I busted out the camera and my handy notebook featuring Snoopy with a pumpkin on green paper.

This was an intense tasting as well, there were 9 samples to get through.

Let me repeat, 9 samples!

Signing up for the tasting meant that we also got a sample of the pumpkin soup!  It was creamy and savory with a hint of heat on the backend that increased the more you ate.

After that it was time to dive in!

Bottoms up!

 

In order the 9 beers we had were:

1. Shock Top: Good smell and color.  It had decent pumpkin and spice tasting along with being a very light ale. It almost evaporated off your tongue at the finish.
2. Ichabod: Icky! Read our previous review. Still hold the same opinion.
3. Blue Moon: It tastes just like a regular beer to us.  Nothing really of note.
4. Woodchuck Pumpkin Cider: I’m lukewarm on ciders so I didn’t care for this.  Scott likes ciders a lot so he enjoyed this one.  This is a very limited edition cider and can be hard to find. We’ve previously purchased it at The Anderson’s but you need to get it quick because it sells fast.
5. Brooklyn Post Road: I couldn’t even finish this beer.  It was so light that to me it tasted like water.  I love Brooklyn Brewery so I was disappointed in their version of pumpkin beer.
6. Harpoon UFO: This was an unfiltered wheat pumpkin beer and we both really enjoyed this beer.  It has a pretty strong cinnamon flavor to it that gets more intense at the finish.  However the pumpkin flavor isn’t that strong.
7. Rivertown: I thought this beer had more of a cinnamon flavor than the Harpoon but Scott didn’t agree.  He said Harpoon has much more cinnamon to it.  It was alright but nothing we’d purchase again.
8. Pumpking: Read our previous review. Thoughts still the same.  Scott and I ended up switching, I gave him my Pumpking and took his Rivertown.
9. Your pick! #9 was a bonus and you could pick your favorite of the bunch.  We each got Harpoon’s UFO.

We had a great evening full of chit chat and pumpkin beer.  Hal and Al’s is the perfect place to chill and relax from your busy day or week.

We also got the best glasses at the end of this tasting!

A pint glass with a pumpkin on it?!  OH YES!  This is a huge part of the reason that I came to this tasting because I caught a glimpse of this glass on their facebook page.

That wraps up the pumpkin beer tasting for 2011!  Now it’s time to plan for next year!