Cape Ann Fishermans Pumpkin Stout

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

I picked up this beer at the Wine Gourmet in Roanoke, VA. I purchased it with Southern Tier's PumKing and Weyerbacher's Imperial Pumpkin. The Fisherman's offering blew the other three away in my opinion - off the table. This beer was really good. I was surprised that the gourd flavors went well with the stout/malt backbone. The other nice thing about this beer is that it isn't a sugar/spice bomb - it's a stout with pumpkin flavors, not pumpkin pie. I loved this and have passed on it for years. I won't make that mistake again.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Almost black with a rich tan-coloured foam. Solid arom aof cinnamon, cocoa-powder and dark chocolate. Medium-bodied with notes of roasted malts, cinnamon and cocoa. Rounded mouthfeel. Rather sappy medium-bitter finish of roasted malts, cinnamon, ginger and anise.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 6

Pours a nice blackish dark brown with low to no head. Decent lacing. It wants to be an Imperial, but it is not. Flavor is great, roasted with pumpkin spice. Sadly the finish is a bit watery for the style.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Bottle: Poured a clear black color stout with a standard foamy head with average retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of light pumpkin with some very weak roasted malt notes. Taste is blander then expected with light notes of pumpkin and some even lighter roasted malt notes and some light lingering sweet notes at the end. Body is too light for style with OK carbonation. A fuller body and more pumpkin presence would have improved this beer in my humble opinion.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

In my Fall 2008 quest to try every pumpkin beer I can find, this Cape Ann Fishermans Pumpkin Stout caught my attention. I had heard a couple of local stores had it in stock, but the thought of pumpkin mixed in with a stout really didn't peak my interest. I saw it on draught today at Max's Taphouse in Baltimore, MD and finally decided to breakdown and try it. Good thing I did.

This one was served up on draught and when the bartender handed it over to me, the first thing I noticed was the awesome head on the beer. This head was so great. It had this really creamy soft look to it and was around a finger and a half thick. The tan color head sat nicely on top of this dark brown, almost black stout. From the looks of things, you'd never be able to tell this was anything other than your standard stout. That is until you get a whiff of what is in the glass. There's a very nice, mild pumpkin flavor emitting from the glass that is mixed with some chocolaty sweetness and nutmeg. The aroma isn't overwhelming and spicy like some pumpkin beers, it's just a pleasant addition to the normal stout aromas.

The nice thing about Max's is that they serve their beers at the appropriate temperature. So this Pumpkin Stout was drinkable from the minute it was served. The first thing I noticed is that this thing is super smooth. We are talking about some velvety goodness in your mouth. The flavor was pretty good. One comment I had heard in the past is that the pumpkin flavors tend to be masked by the traditional stout flavors. I tend to agree with that assessment. The roasted malty chocolate flavors of the beer are not overwhelming, but tend to over shadow and mask the pumpkin flavors. I'm not saying you can't taste the pumpkin, but it definitely is a subtle flavor. Somewhere in there you can pick up on some sweetness from the pumpkin and spiciness of the nutmeg.

Overall, we are talking about a pretty good beer here. I really enjoyed it and plan on trying it again now that I know it is worthwhile of drinking. I know pumpkin and stout mixed sounds a little off center, but I think most stout lovers would like this beer.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Pours with an almost, three finger-thick, lightly browned, tan colored head that is a mix of creamy and frothy consistencies. The beer is a dark brown almost black color that is dark enough to be opaque when held up to the light, despite showing a clear, dark chocolate hue as I was pouring. The aroma is clearly pumpkin influenced as that is what is most noticeable as I am pouring this brew; not just spices either, there is a nice, fleshy pumpkin meat character to this brew. Upon deeper inspecting softly roasted, dark malt notes (light espresso, toasted grain, touch of chocolate) accent notes of cinnamon, caramelized pumpkin flesh and a touch of nutmeg. The nose of this brew has a really nice balance that I was not expecting; this is clearly a pumpkin beer, but the spice notes are quite restrained and the underlying Stout aromatics are a really nice touch.

The beer starts out dry and lightly tart, but picks up a malty, chocolate-like sweetness through the middle at which point some cinnamon notes accentuate the sweetness a bit more. The beer finishes with a flash of pumpkin pie and then a long, lingering, roasted grain character that tastes of charcoal, a light burnt acidity, a touch of blackened chalk, and a dry black coffee finish. Initially the pumpkin meat is not as noticeable in the flavor as it was in the aroma, but I think it does accent the middle of this brew and adds just a hint of squash flavors towards the finish. As the beer warms up though, the pumpkin flavors start to play a little bit bigger role here and are actually fairly noticeable. The texture of this beer is quite nice; soft, sort of creamy, with a palate coating quality to it, yet it is not overly heavy and is a the perfect drinking beer for cooler weather.

Definitely one of the best Pumpkin beers I have ever had; I would not have guessed it but the base beer style of a Stout pairs really well with the typical Pumpkin flavors and light spice notes. I definitely love well made Pumpkin brews, but they have been so hard to find commercially that I am really loving this beer. One of those beers that justs really hits the spot at this particular moment in time.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Bottle, statelineliquors.com. Pour is dark brown-black, stout-like, nice tannish colored head, steady retention, easy to magnify with a swirl too (even in one of my glasses here that doesn't help the head). Aroma was light roasted chocolate and spicey pumpkins. The flavor followed suit. In terms of flavor, either burnt pumpkin or chocolate pumpkin pie in a bottle would be an exaggeration. This was actually a pleasant and nicely balanced twist to the pumpkin brews, little pumpkin, little roast, little chocolate/stout-like character, even some molasses-like undertones. Nice stuff, Cape Ann! Mouthfeel is a full bodied stout, above average carbonation, nice zingy finish.