Tis the season for Pumpkin Beer

My posts on beer now go back into the Internet dark ages (at least 6 months ago). What drags me back to posting about beer? Tis the season, the season of the true, blue American pumpkin beer. (I can almost hear my international readers say "Ewww!"). I've made it my mission this year to taste as many pumpkin beer varieties as possible, mainly so that Ed and Mike and John and I can pontificate about beer tasting when we have no clue about what a true beer connoisseur should say (Mike brought a beer to the Classic Moth midwinters that he said tasted like PEZ (a hard candy with tart bite that most often is dispensed in an odd container; have to say I agreed with him).

So far my Pumpkin beer tastings this year;

Heavy Seas Great Pumpkin Ale - Clipper City

Good tasting ale. Just the right amount of pumpkin flavor. Slight hop finish. Golden color, good head

Southern Tier Pumpking

Vanilla notes overpower the pumpkin

Smuttynose Pumkin Ale

Too hoppy. Again overpowers the pumpkin.

Dogfish Punkin Ale

Darker Malt base with pumpkin and spices coming through nicely

Saranac Pumpkin Ale

Golden color. Almost perfect blend of pumpkin and spice flavors.

Shocktop Pumkin Wheat

As you would expect from the wheat base, a lighter beer with a fizzy head but the pumpkin taste doesn't take second fiddle. Very tasty.

Blue Point Pumpkin Ale
I can taste the pumpkin, I can taste the beer; however I can't taste the connection between the two. The bottle mentions spices, maybe.... but not enough for my palette to pick them up. Update: Had this in combo with some spicy food and it complimented it nicely.

Starr Hill Boxcar Pumpkin Porter
This porter pours fizzy and the carbonation remains strong in the first taste, obscuring any flavor.

Cape Ann Brewing Company Imperial Pumpkin Stout
The stout overpowers the pumpkin here, so much so that I can't really identify the pumpkin.

Flying Dog Ales Imperial Pumpkin Ale "The Fear"
Can taste the pumpkin in this one but, for my taste buds, this ale just didn't stand out.

Fegleys Devious Imperial Pumpkin Ale
Barbara Parsons from up Philly way had me sample this. The initial carbonation was a problem but if you let the beer air out for a while it changes everything. Pumpkin taste definitely there with spices, I detected a strong vanilla tone. Top notch especially if you let the beer sit for a while after opening.

Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale
This beer has a strong reputation among pumpkin aficionados. I had one that was just transported down from Maine. Very tasty but I can't remember anything else about it.

Tastes vary widely on music and beer. So, swill down a pumpkin beer and post a comment. I'm waiting for Ed to weigh in with his choices and I'm hoping to cajole some tastings from Mike as well.