Everybody has to have a pumpkin beer, right? The Gate City Brewery of Roswell, Georgia is no exception. To prove that, I give you Gourd Vibrations Chocolate Pumpkin Porter, a seasonal beer released in August. I picked this up in cans recently at Total Wine; Taco Mac had it on tap but the keg kicked before I got any there.
Pumpkin beers are usually based on a golden to amber ale to best allow the spices and delicate vegetal notes to shine. They can work well on stouts and porters, though, if done right. Gourd Vibrations is an example of a well done pumpkin porter.
Gate City says on the label:
An intriguing blend of fall spices & cocoa nibs makes this pumpkin porter a perfectly drinkable fall beer.
Gourd Vibrations Chocolate Pumpkin Porter has an alcohol content of 7.8% by volume, which is the same as Gate City’s Terminus Baltic Porter. The color is similar too. The base beers seem somewhat alike, though Terminus is bottom fermented and I would not see the sense in doing that for a pumpkin beer. Then too, the alcohol content is high for a traditional porter; this could be an imperial porter if not a Baltic for the base. Gourd Vibrations runs $12.99 a 4-pack of pint cans at Total Wine, about $2 more than I think it should command.
Gourd Vibrations Chocolate Pumpkin Porter pours to a dark brownish black color with a moderate sized head of creamy tan foam and chocolate and cinnamon in the nose. Taking a sip, the beer has a smooth medium body with rich chocolate and spicy cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove notes. Some squashy vegetal pumpkin notes, then a deep roasty dry finish to round it all out.
Tasty! Four-star beer for me less a half demerit for the overpricing. Still and all, I’d buy it again. You’d have to be out of your gourd not to.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
(G)=Growler