Perfect for heading into the Thanksgiving holiday week—more pumpkin beer reviews! These follow up on the first batch of reviews I posted a few weeks ago, and there’s more to come.

Shades Brewing – Pumpkin Pie Cream Ale

I picked up a can of this beer without knowing much of anything about the brewery, which is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under “Refined Rebellion” on the website, the brewery says, “Our brews are unorthodox in both ingredients and experience. Our flavors are revolutionary, not the next tap down.” Here’s what Shades says about its beers:

We prefer to set the course rather than follow it. We brew because we love making great beer — delicious beer that makes drinkers realize that yeast settles but they shouldn’t have to. Our beers give customers what they didn’t know they were missing. Unexpected, disruptive, or as we like to say a refined rebellion against the repetitious, routine brew.

I’m not sure about the “rebellion” part as the beer lineup looks pretty standard for 2022, with IPAs, Belgian styles, sours, and lagers, along with a line of hard seltzers as well.

As for this Pumpkin Pie Cream Ale, there’s not much I can find about it in the way of description beyond its strength (6.5% ABV) and ingredients: Pumpkin, pumpkin spices with cinnamon, vanilla, graham cracker, and lactose.

Appearance: Hazy, light orange color, with floaties. Dense white head.

Smell: I get raw pumpkin, subtle spice, and maybe carrots? Something akin to carrot cake. There’s a whiff of sulfur at first. Graham cracker toastiness as it breathes.

Taste: Still a bit sulfury with raw squash and a bit of sharp farmhouse-y yeastiness that seems out of place, it’s a bit off-putting honestly. Flavors of graham cracker and pie spices are there, but more of a background. Fruity/estery.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with some structure from lactose. A bit fizzy.

Overall: It’s not great unfortunately, that sulfur/yeast issue detracts from it. Average at best.

Rogue Ales – Pumpkin Patch Ale

In recent years, Rogue’s Pumpkin Patch has been among my favorite pumpkin ales as a solid, drinkable, tasty example that offers up real pumpkin (yes, you can tell). Here’s the website description:

Pumpkin Patch Ale is made with whole pumpkins that we chop up and roast by hand. The hand roast allows us to caramelize the natural sugars exactly as we like, which when combined with a delicate balance of spices creates the signature flavor of our classic fall-themed brew. We know you’ll appreciate the effort when you taste the difference roasting real pumpkins makes.

The spice additions listed are orange peel, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, vanilla, ginger, and nutmeg. It’s 6.1% ABV with 25 IBUs.

Appearance: Deep amber color, almost brown, unfiltered with a red-amber glow when held to the light. Off-white head.

Smell: Malty with caramelization, touch of dark brown sugar (or even molasses), warming spices that give out ginger, allspice. Definitely a squash note, slightly vegetal, but roasted (not raw).

Taste: It’s got a roastiness with a bit of caramelized-almost-burnt sugar, and the spices are going a bit harsh—playing off the roast to almost act a bit acrid and borderline astringent. I can pick out some cloves, mace; it softens as it warms, but it’s still a bit harsh on the spices. Squash is present in flavor.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with some roast into the finish, slight woodiness from the spicing.

Overall: I’m disappointed by the handling of the spices, but everything else is fine.

Oakshire Brewing – Big Black Jack Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter

Oakshire takes pumpkin in a different direction than the standard “amber pie” template with Big Black Jack; with beers like this, on the other hand, it can be a balancing act to get the pumpkin to come through against the other big flavors. At 7.8% ABV it’s strong but not too strong (not, say, “imperial” at 9.5%!) and it’s approachable. The description:

Golden Delicious earthy and sweet pumpkin puree, organic cocoa nibs and dark chocolate buttons, and an aromatic blend of nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger, cardamom, and whole cinnamon sticks combine to create the pie character in this rich, classic fall porter.

Appearance: Dark, oily brown, impervious to light. Light brown head.

Smell: Dark chocolate, Turkish coffee, subtle spices hinting at cinnamon, maybe star anise. Cold brew, toasty malts, baking chocolate.

Taste: Slightly creamy, moderately roasty dark porter with a definite cooked pumpkin/squash character that thins it a bit. Chocolate is there but has the bitter, slightly tannic quality of cocoa tempered with a hint of bittersweet. Spices don’t seem to play much of a role in the flavor, though I’m getting some licorice.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full-bodied with a nice finishing dry roast.

Overall: It’s good and hits the marks I wanted it to.