![]() ![]() Above all else, this is a great, straight-forward pumpkin beer. There’s a touch of citrus zest on the finish, courtesy of Magnum hops. Despite Elysian’s use of roasted and raw pumpkin seeds, neither of those offers much flavor in lieu of 7.5 pounds of the fleshy fruit in each 30-gallon barrel. The flavor of the beer is structured, starting with a strong pumpkin flavor that pairs with a good malt backbone. In addition to pumpkin, Night Owl was brewed with nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and cloves, the latter of which gave off the most pungent smell out of all the spices. I will give Elysian this much – what they put on the label is easy to detect in the beer. That amount of fruit really allows this ale to be grounded in pumpkin, while the seeds give a slight earthy, vegetal smell. While the beer is just 5.9 percent ABV, the smell gave off a light, boozy pumpkin, courtesy of use of both pumpkin and pumpkin seeds in the brewing process. The pour of the beer elicited a perfect orange-amber hue – something I love to see from a pumpkin beer – and formed an almost two-finger head on the initial pour. Hit the jump to see how Night Owl stacks up to some of your other favorite pumpkin brews. After a rather experimental ginger-pumpkin pilsner to start off, I was in more typical pumpkin ale territory this weekend with Night Owl, a straight take on the style that currently scores 87 on Beer Advocate. So, as I make my way through Elysian’s “ Pumpkin Patch” four-pack of brews, it’s a wonderful example how one brewery can make four very distinct versions of pumpkin beer that may appeal to a wide variety of tastes. However, every brewer is able to create a unique take on the pumpkin beer style by tweaking amounts or even the base style of the beer – Elysian’s Hansel and Gretel, for example. One of the things I love most about pumpkin beers is that broadly speaking, everyone who makes a pumpkin beer is working from some amount of the same group of adjuncts – pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cloves. On RateBeer, it scores 3.47 out of 5 and is in their 92nd percentile.As of late, it should be easy to tell my adoration toward all things pumpkin. On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B+. Better than many, but definitely “commercialized.” Overall: Not as good as when I first had it. Mouthfeel: Crisp, medium-bodied but clean-filtered. ![]() Decent, but more “amber ale” than pumpkin from what I remember. ![]() Touch of cinnamon at the back of the throat. Taste: Malty amber base with caramel malts and light on the spicing. Some cooked-pumpkin aromas as well, I think, punctuated by caramel. Smell: Nice, sweet brown sugar and pumpkin pie spices. It’s still one of the best examples of pumpkin beer available.Īppearance: Orange-tinted amber and very clear thinnish light tan head. Let me clear though: this is in no way a bad beer. I suspect part of the issue is that this beer is jointly brewed with New Belgium Brewing (where they can brew larger batches), and the New Belgium brewing processes account for the “change.” I would love to try Night Owl on tap as long as it came out of the Elysian brewery in Seattle, so I could compare. Filtering a pumpkin beer strips away the essential pumpkin characteristics, which give it body and mouthfeel that help to buffer against the harsher notes that spices by themselves can lend to a beer. What I mean when I say is, the beer doesn’t have that “artisanal” character that I remember, instead seeming as though it’s gone through more commercialized industrial processes like filtration.Īnd you all know I think a pumpkin beer should never be filtered. But since then (and especially this year), I noticed there was something different-it has taken on a more filtered, “clean” quality-I want to say “commercialized” because that’s how I think of it, though there’s nothing wrong with being “commercial” with a beer. Back in 2008 when I first reviewed it, it was a pure rave: I declared that it “might well be my new favorite pumpkin beer.” Indeed, it was a first-class pumpkin beer. To be honest, I have mixed feeling about Night Owl these days. So (again, my own rules!) I’ve extended the Week long enough to include this review. NovemBy Jon Abernathy | Filed in Reviews, Theme WeekĮven though by my own rules Pumpkin Beer Week ended last week, I still had a bottle of Elysian Brewing’s Night Owl Pumpkin Ale to review. ![]()
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