Michelob Pumpkin Spice Ale: Not a Lot of Anything
Written: Oct 24 '05 (Updated Dec 14 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good effort by Anheuser- Busch
Cons: Could have been better
The Bottom Line: This is a good beer, offering a little bit of everything but not a lot of anything.
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| Bryan_Carey's Full Review: Michelob Pumpkin Spice |
Today, we draw another day closer to the end of October and the celebration of Halloween- a festive occasion generally associated with costumes, parties, and trick or treating. It is common this time of year to see the colors of orange and black adorning places of business and entertainment centers. It is also common to see neighborhood homes decorated in various Halloween garb, like fake spider webs, witches, bats, and other related items.
One other thing that is commonly associated with Halloween is pumpkins. Some people like to carve up a pumpkin or two and place it outdoors, with or without a candle, as a way of celebrating the Halloween season. Me, I prefer to eat my pumpkins in the form of pies or drink them in the form of beer. A few breweries make pumpkin spice ale this time of year and one of them happens to be brewed by the St. Louis giant, Anheuser- Busch. The product is Michelob Pumpkin Spice Ale, aka Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale, a member of the Michelob specialty line of beers.
Basic Characteristics of This Beer:
Poured from the bottle, this beer has an attractive color that combines orange, brown, and a small amount of red hue. The foam on this beer is pretty good, with small bubbles that form a soap- like head on the top of the beer that lasts a good amount of time. The aroma of this beer is cinnamon- like and pumpkin- like, and it entices one to take a sip.
Tasting this beer results in a variety of spices, such as pumpkin, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon coating the palate .There is a small amount of caramel and light, biscuity malt as well. The beer finishes with little or no bitterness, and it’s a little bit watery. The only flavors left in the aftertaste are spices, and they stick around for only a short time.
This beer is brewed using two- row barley, carapils, and caramel malts. These ingredients are combined with cinnamon, pumpkin, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, Saaz hops, and Hallertau hops for the finished product. The alcohol level of this beer is 5.5 percent by volume.
Food Compatibility:
This beer would make a natural choice of beverage for sugar cookies, gingersnaps, spice cake, pumpkin pie, nut pies, and many other dessert foods. It wouldn’t necessarily match up with fruity desserts, but most any other type of dessert would taste good with a mug of this beer to wash it down.
Final Thoughts:
Anheuser- Busch is a giant among world brewers and it’s a company with a strong base of loyal followers. Normally, I don’t expect much from A-B when I sample a new product because I know that most of what this company makes is brewed not necessarily to be great- tasting, but rather to sell. A-B tries to make its beer as non- offensive as possible. The idea is that, if beer is lighter bodied and less intense, consumers will drink more and A-B will enjoy a greater profit.
The Michelob specialty line of beers is A-B’s way of waking up and accepting the craft beer revolution. This brewer, and the other large brewing operations, have been fighting the craft brewers for years and it wasn’t until the 1990’s that someone at A-B finally decided “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”, giving birth to this specialty line of beers. And in some instances, the beer products made by Michelob’s specialty line have been respectable. Such is the case with Michelob Pumpkin Spice Ale.
This beer has a nice spicy character and a decent malt backbone that helps add to its appeal. One pleasant surprise here is that A-B doesn’t use any adjuncts in the brewing of this ale. That’s right- there is no added rice (the majority of A-B products use rice, both to lighten the taste and to make it cheaper, thus enhancing profits) in this beer and you can tell right from the start that this beer contains a greater amount of malt than other A-B products. The body bubbles actively like other A-B beers, but this one retains a small amount of foam and it even leaves legs on the glass as you drink. This is in sharp contrast to most other A-B products that bubble like crazy but lose their foam in a matter of seconds.
Two things I look for in pumpkin spice ale is a nice, malty richness and enough spice to make it distinctive without going overboard. This beer is an all- malt brew, and that is certainly a step in the right direction for a company like Anheuser- Busch. But the maltiness isn’t as solid as I would prefer, so I can only rate it average in this department. With the spice, it is fairly good and it offers a nice combination of spice flavors. But again, it is a little bit lighter than I would like and it leaves me wanting something more. I was tempted to grab a container of pumpkin spice and sprinkle some on top, just to get the spice flavor up where it belongs.
As far as the finish goes, it is, once again, a little weaker than I would like. A-B uses Saaz and Hallertau hops in this beer- two ingredients that would ordinarily combine for a satisfying close to any drinking experience. But here, the amount of hops used is minimal, so you end up with a finish that is a tad on the watery side. The spice flavor is still present after drinking, but in the absence of the spices, there wouldn’t be a whole lot left.
Anheuser- Busch is selling Pumpkin Spice Ale as a limited edition. You can only purchase it as part of an 18- pack sampler. This will probably disappoint those who would like to buy the Pumpkin Spice Ale by itself, to try it separately. You can only get it as part of the 18- pack sampler, and there are only three bottles of this beer in the pack. A-B says it’s only going to brew and sell this beer for a limited time, so there is only a short time remaining to take action if your goal is to sample this specialty beer.
So now comes the tough part: How do I rate this beer? It is certainly a notch above most of the products in the A-B portfolio. And the fact that it utilizes an all- malt brewing process free from adjuncts is certainly a step in the right direction. But compared to other pumpkin specialty beer, this one doesn’t rank among the best on the market. It isn’t a bad beer at all, but it doesn’t stack up to some of the better examples of this style.
Overall, Michelob Pumpkin Spice Ale is a respectable effort from Anheuser- Busch that falls short of being a memorable brew. This product deserves a rating of about 2.5 stars. Since it is thirst- quenching and generally pleasant, I’m going to be nice and round my rating up to 3 stars and give this beer a partial recommendation. I don’t expect A-B to scare anyone by brewing a beer with too much body and flavor. But in keeping with the spirit of the coming holiday season, it would have been nice if they had been a little more generous with the ingredients in this mildly spicy, seasonal brew.
Be sure to Click the Links Below to Read Reviews of Other Anheuser- Busch Products:
Budweiser:
Budweiser
Bud Light
Bud Ice
Bud Ice Light
Budweiser Select
Michelob Products:
Michelob
Michelob Light
Michelob Ultra
Michelob Amber Bock
Michelob Black & Tan
Michelob Honey Lager
Michelob Marzen
Michelob Pale Ale
Other Anheuser- Busch Beers:
Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale
Busch
Busch Light
Natural Light
Natural Ice
Anheuser World Select
Recommended:
Yes
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