Elysian "Night Owl" Pumpkin Ale

This is beer 3 of... 3. I know, there are actually four in the variety pack, but the last one is some kind of coffee pumpkin beer, so I'm not even going to bother. This'll be the last of this pack, and it is the first that is a straight pumpkin ale. The others were some other kind of beer with pumpkin added, and they were fine but didn't win me over to the #PumpkinLife. Maybe this one can.

The copper beer has a slightly off-white dusting of a head left after it fizzles down. It creates a crescent of nakedness on top of the beer, and I think that lacing is the only way to improve that. The aroma is... rough. It doesn't have the sweetness that the others had that made them more like pie. I think there might be... like... the outside of the pumpkin instead of the gooey center. Maybe I'm wrong.

First sip is not good. It lacks the necessary complexity of the other Elysian pumpkin beers that I've had so far. It has the same pumpkin spice, but the pumpkin isn't being tamped down by other flavors that it really needs. Instead, it's a little dry and tart, and that doesn't do good things for the pumpkin. It might need a full swig.

Tip-in is mild carbonation with vague, dull pumpkin and spices. The middle rolls with an increase of carbonation and the flavor all but goes away. The finish is sudden sweet and spice with good pumpkin and then the dry and bitter comes to ruin what just started for the trail-off.

Bottom Line: All that pumpkin beers are.

1.5/5