Lexington "Kentucky Pumpkin Barrel" Ale

For years, I didn't realize that these Kentucky beers were actually put out by Lexington Brewery. I'm not sure I would have rated any of them any differently or actually feel differently about the brewery. Well, I guess I do now think that they aren't as mean. I don't like having a Kentucky tag for a brewery that is also the one for the state. That's messy. 

The very clear, bronze beer produces a respectable head before it settles to an even, yet incomplete, layer on top of the beer. There will be no lacing, but this has significantly more head than any barrel aged beer is supposed to have. This is the second beer in a row to have head, despite being a barrel aged beer. The aroma is not pumpkin. Instead, it is wood and an almost wine-like barrel aroma. I mean - this doesn't smell of bourbon, but it does smell of wine.

First sip is pretty bad. It has the dryness of the wood with the heaviness of the alcohol and the unfathomably undesirable pumpkin gunk taste. Like, this is the stuff that you scoop out of the pumpkin in order to make a jack-o-lantern. But this is what I'm tasting, and it does not mesh well with the barrel at all. Maybe they were trying to cover up the pumpkin with the bourbon, but I don't think either of them comes off better for the mix.

Tip-in is light carbonation over pumpkin rind and wood. The middle comes across with a curious scraping at the top of the mouth while something tries to be pumpkin in the middle and wood encases the rest of it. Heavy alcohol hits for the finish and throws everything out of whack (well, the stuff that wasn't already askew) before a dry and unpleasant trail off. 

Bottom Line: It's possible pumpkin ales all suck pretty bad.

0.5/5