Long Trail Pumpkin Ale! Now you’re a sight for sore eyes. I’ve been a fan of Long Trail beers since shortly after the company was founded in 1989, trying my first bottle of Long Trail Ale around 1991. When I moved from Rhode Island to Georgia in 2001, though, my source for them dried up. Long Trail doesn’t distribute to Georgia, so every time I make a trip back to New England I make it a point to bring some home with me.

Somehow, though, I had never managed to score their pumpkin ale, and since I love pumpkin beers so much, I was excited to find it at Liquor Warehouse in Warwick, Rhode Island this time around.

From the website:

When the nights grow cold and the moon hangs low, we carve out a space for Pumpkin Ale’s great return. Artfully brewed with all natural pumpkins, Pumpkin Ale features a slightly sweet finish from additions of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger that deliver a well-balanced brew reminiscent of grandma’s pumpkin pie.

Long Trail Pumpkin Ale has an alcohol content of 5.5% by volume with 22 IBUs; I paid $8.99 for a six-pack in RI. This is an unfiltered pumpkin ale.

Long Trail Pumpkin Ale pours to a dark orange amber color with a thick creamy head formation and a thick spicy clove and nutmeg nose. Taking a sip, there’s caramel malt to be found up front with squashy stringy pumpkin notes, then lots of spice: nutmeg, cinnamon and hints of ginger. The spices dry the beer in the finish and what makes this one a little different from most pumpkin ales is the grassy, herbal rather bitter hop character that mingles with the spice at the last. It leaves the beer finishing very dry indeed, and makes me want another one. So I think I will.

2015 has brought a number of new (to me) pumpkin beers, and this is one of the best of them. I can see why it gets such rave reviews, and only wish I could buy it each fall. Hear that Long Trail? What’s the chances of you selling your beer in Atlanta? Anyway, it should be noted that Long Trail also makes an Imperial Pumpkin Ale. That I’ve never tried. So if you’ll excuse me, I must be off to find some. You never can satisfy a beer hunter you know……

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

 

 



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