Got Punk'd!!

Dogfish Head Brewing
Milton, DE
Punkin Ale
7% ABV

So let me start by saying this.  I LOVE Dogfish Head Brewing.  I love the story of their success, and who doesn't love Sam Calagione?  He is a handsome, charismatic, leader of a succesful craft beer company, what's not to love?  I can say these things because I know my husband doesn't read my blog.  Anyhow, despite my appreciation for what they have done for craft beer, I am not a fan of the cult following they have established, and the blind raves about every beer they brew.  It just can't ALL be THAT good.  Sorry Sam.

These feelings aside, I chose Punkin Ale as my Friday Night Pint for several reasons: 1) It was on sale at Whole Foods.  Winning! 2) It DOES seem to have that cult following I so dislike (I know, I know) so I felt left out of the cool kids club, and  3) I really want it to be fall.  I even looked for a small pumpkin to put in the picture, but I couldn't find one.  I only looked in one place, but whatever.

In general I do not like "spice" in my beer, so I really expected not to like this.  But I did.  The spice notes (cinammon, nutmeg, allspice) were pretty subdued, which is how I think it should be (Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin, NOT subdued, just in case you wondered).  It's really a pretty gorgeous copper color, perfect for the fall.  Thin, whitish head that didn't last long (ummm...that just sounds wrong, but I'm not changing it).  Sweet, but not too sweet with a nice malt backbone.  Not much hop notes to speak of, but I think that served this beer best.  Hoppy notes would have taken it in the wrong direction.  Really my only complaint is that I wanted it to have more body.  The label touts it at as  "brown ale", so I expected it to have the same body as their India Brown, which is one of my favorites.  I also would have liked to try this beer on a nice, cool fall day (preferably in New England...), but since it doesn't cool off here until somewhere around January, I figured I should try it before it was gone!  Definitely try it if you haven't, because it's a solid fall option.  I still have three left (it was 4-pack before you all start making assumptions) and I would be happy to share if you are in the Richmond area and in need of a pit stop!

Stay tuned for scenes from the Top of the Hops Festival tomorrow...

I hope your window to the weekend is WIDE open!
Cheers!
Becky