Last fall, right in the heart of football season, I spied a bottle of Cisco Pumple Drumkin in the cooler at my local Taco Mac here in Canton. This was odd, because although we do get beers from Nantucket, Massachusetts based Cisco here in Georgia, I hadn’t seen the Pumple Drumkin yet. Sad to say, but that bottle of Pumple Drumkin stayed right where it was-I wasn’t going to touch it for the $10 asking price for a single bottle. I was tempted, though.

Fast forward a year later, and I’m glad I didn’t, for a couple of reasons. First of all, because Pumple Drumkin showed up at Total Wine this year, and a penny less than the bottle price I saw in 2012 will get you five more bottles, too. Secondly, though, is because while this is a tasty enough pumpkin ale, it is not an exceptionally impressive one in my book. I will say that the name is pretty cool, though.

Cisco describes this beer as an “ale brewed with pumpkins and spices.” It has an alcohol content of 6% by volume. From the label:

On Nantucket a pumple named Drumkin brewed up some great ale with his pumpkins. One and all came to savor the delicious flavor, then wobbled around like bumpkins. At Cisco they thought “This is De-Lish! Let’s make some more because we wish, to please all the tourists, and locals and purists, with the best ale we can accomplish.

Cisco Pumple Drumkin pours to a reddish golden color with a thick creamy head and a subtle nose of soft malt and spice. Taking a sip, the beer has a decent toasty, slightly nutty maltiness up front. There’s a bit of pumpkin, but I get a lot more spice than gourd here. It’s a little creamy, and then spicy with the nutmeg and cinnamon coming through and drying in the finish. I’d call it well balanced but not assertive, the spices are definitely there but not in your face.

This is a fair pumpkin ale, but not a great one, and it seems to me way overpriced at $9.99 a six-pack. I didn’t get as much pumpkin as I would have liked, and got a lot of spice instead. Not a rebuy for me; for the price I’d probably buy a Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin, or Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale instead. They’re a buck or two cheaper and have more pumpkin flavor in my book.

Update 11/7/2013:   Draft sample at Taco Mac. Is this the same beer I had in the bottle? Much more body, amazing toasty malt flavors, meaty pumpkin, candied fruits, subtle pie spice in the finish. So delicious, $6.25 for the 20 ounce draft. Cannot believe it is the same beer I had in the bottle. I'm changing my rating as a result, I'll leave the beer overall at three stars but change to a rebuy based on the great experience I had with this beer on draft.



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