New Belgium "Voodoo Ranger - Atomic Pumpkin" Pumpkin Ale

It's that time of year. Pumpkin! Does it make a good ingredient for beer? Not really, so far. It's possible someone is going to crack this thing. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I need to be more accepting of gourds in my beers. Hey, what is a pumpkin? Is it a berry, vegetable, or fruit? Well, I think it's technically a berry. Should I use my fruit beer label? Probably not, but I'm gonna.

If anything, I would say that the color of this beer is closer to pumpkin than any pumpkin ale that I've had so far. It is a relatively pleasing, deep orange and it produces a very white head of thick bubbles that aren't sticky, but they have staying power. I'm not sure that they're going to leave any lacing, but I will enjoy them while they're here; these bubbles are particularly dense. They're so dense that I wonder if they aren't nitrogen bubbles. I didn't see anything about nitrogen on the can, but this wouldn't be the first time that a brewer has failed to include vital information on the can. The aroma is fairly light for one of these kinds of beers, but it is pumpkin and spices.

First sip is surprisingly smooth and creamy. I am even more convinced now that this is somewhat nitrogenated. That said, a closer inspection of the bubbles around the sides indicates that they are fairly large, so I could still be very wrong. Still, the spices and pumpkin are relatively muted behind this creamy exterior. I'm not sure I could say I liked the sip, but it was not immediately off putting. For a pumpkin ale, that's a step.

Tip-in is exceedingly mild spices and pumpkin with no carbonation to speak of; it is an anticlimax even after the sedate sip. The middle feels like it has a cracker malt that enters into the mix, but the calm nature of the beer continues and almost lulls me to sleep. The finish does not seem particularly flamboyant, but it's a bit more robust than the rest of the beer had been. The most curious thing is the strange, almost capsaicin nature of the trail off as it rests on the lips with a tingling reminiscent of spicy food, but it doesn't have nearly as much flavor.

Bottom Line: Mostly flavorless, and I think it might be to its benefit.

2.5/5