Review: Heavy Seas The Greater Pumpkin

This week we are taking a look at Heavy Seas, The Greater Pumpkin. This is in the Mutiny Fleet series of ales.

I have to admit that I did a little happy dance when we spotted this beer because it’s got two of my very favorite things combined into one brew:

  • Pumpkin Ale
  • Bourbon Barrel Aged

Oh my pumpkins!

I was excited and a bit nervous to try this beer so I was putting it off and putting it off, tasting others first. Excited because barrel aged pumpkin! Nervous because what if I didn’t like it? Yikes!

Finally I put my foot down and said that we needed to taste this beer.

Smell: 3/5  :pumpkin: :pumpkin:  :pumpkin:

The smell is more concentrated in the bottle.  You get hints of spices in the background letting you know that you are about to drink a pumpkin inspired beer.  The spices are not overwhelming and are toned down a bit from the bourbon in the background.

The bourbon smell is prominent. Once you’ve had a bourbon aged beer, you can pick up that hint of sweetness at the end very quickly.  The smell alone had me ready to take a sip! The bourbon in this beer brought out a more caramel and vanilla smell that was just right. Not super sweet and you didn’t feel like it was going to be a heavy beer.

Head: 4/5 :pumpkin:  :pumpkin:  :pumpkin: :pumpkin:

When I first poured this beer, the head was minimal at best.  I originally scored this at 2/5.  However when I went back for the second pour (this was a 1pt. 6oz bottle, so roughly two glasses of beer), the head was exactly what I wanted to see.

It was thick with an off-white, very creamy color to it.  It paired nicely with the color of the brew itself.  It also lasted a decent amount of time, so the rating changed! We went from 2/5 to 4/5.

Color: 5/5 :pumpkin:  :pumpkin:  :pumpkin:  :pumpkin: :pumpkin:

Perfection! This was a great orange color that was deliciously cloudy. I loved the way this beer looked and told Scott that it was probably my favorite so far.

Taste: 4/5 :pumpkin: :pumpkin: :pumpkin: :pumpkin:

I went back and forth on this for quite some time because I actually really enjoyed this beer a great deal.  I finally decided that 4/5 would be a fair rating.

The pumpkin flavor isn’t quite as intense as I would like to see in a pumpkin ale.  The spices are also very subtle but they do linger for a while post sip.  That’s a good thing, I want to know that I’m drinking pumpkin and fall brews.

The spices don’t hit you at the front but more at the finish.  That’s okay, but I would like to see a little more cinnamon on the nose.

The bourbon aspect of this beer though is amazing.  This beer is extremely smooth drinking and not harsh in any way.  That is the first thing Scott mentioned when he had some was that it was one of the smoothest pumpkin beers we’ve ever had.

And he’s right!

It’s delightfully crisp as well, the bourbon doesn’t weight this beer down at all.

Summary:

Would I get this beer again? Most definitely! Not only would I get it again, but I would knock you over trying to get there first.

I have no shame in my game.

While it’s not a super pumpkin-y brew, it’s got great spice to it and the smoothness can’t be beat.  It’s one of the more creative pumpkin beers we’ve had and the bourbon barrel aging takes it up to a whole other level.

It’s not overly sweet and it’s not overly spicy.  It’s a great sipping beer and would be perfect for both pumpkin beer lovers and those just starting out with them.

The website lists it in super limited release, so if you see some, grab it!

We bought ours at The Anderson’s in Dublin, off Sawmill on Bent Tree BLVD.

Heavy Seas The Greater Pumpkin, check it out!

 

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