看到 FB『台灣精釀啤酒俱樂部』的大家在台灣喝 Elysian 南瓜啤酒喝得很爽… 好忌妒！

今晚也來開一瓶來自加州的南瓜香酒解解饞~~ 這款不但加了南瓜、香料、和基底的乳糖黑黑酒一起釀，之後還是加了楠木片 (cedar wood) 一起去熟成的！沒甚麼南瓜啤酒經驗的我，可真被這支驚豔到了……

深色麥芽的厚實基底與南瓜香、肉桂、荳蔻、與來自楠木那種 (幾乎是檀香一般的) 異香融合的恰到好處，在味蕾上層次分明：清爽的口感前後各有深色麥甜與輕酸果香的前引、以及酒花含蓄苦質的細緻滋潤，中段充分浮現與嗅覺上如出一轍的香料和楠木豐富但輕盈的滋味，留下淡淡隱隱的微熱滑入喉中… 真的是太太享受了。

The Bruery, Provisions Series: Burly Gourd, 6.6%abv.

Coming in a 750ml brown bottle, BB date is nowhere to be found on the label/bottle, served mildly chilled in Hapkin’s short-stemmed tulip-shaped sniffer. Notes: The beer label specifies that this milk stout is brewed using fresh pumpkins, seasonal spices, aged on cedar chips.

4/5 Appearance: pitch black in colour, coming with a tight and thick dark khaki frothy head and healthy flows of carbonation.

4/5 Smell: due to the spices, pumpkin and cedar woodchips, the nose is unlike any stout I’ve ever sniffed… the mildly acidic edge of cedar woodchips comes in harmony with cinnamon, nutmeg, exotic & sharply aromatic woodiness as of “Santalum album”, while pumpkin flesh (I assume) lends a rather unique smell reminiscent of pumpkin soup actually, leaving dark chocolatey malts and savoury-spicy elements to linger in the background. Given a very good swirl, the acidity accentuates to render a lightly cider-ish and black-prune-ish fruitiness, along with aromatic hops which just had the chance to pierce through the thick veil of spices and malts. Fulsome and strangely, very nice indeed.

4.25/5 Taste: lightly sour-sweet fruity upfront, the aromatic-woody, spicy and bitter-sweet entry of dark malts and spices is immediately ensued by an interestingly neat and clean hop bitterness, spicy palate and smoothly warming alc. creeping down the throat. Pumpkin and spices seem to be integrated so well with the main body of stout that my palates fail to discern them from the other flavour elements. I don’t know what to say but rather stay quiet to appreciate this glass of unusual stout that I feel so happy to have the chance to taste… The finish is moderately bitter with random aroma of spices to linger, otherwise remaining clean and mild, without any unwanted cloying touch. Perfect.

4.25/5 Mouthfeel & 4.25/5 Overall: the mouthfeel comes utmost smooth and softly carbonated, against a full body and a complex but well-executed flavour profile which yields all the flavours while being attenuated at the perfect level. I have to say, I’m really really impressed by this beer as a newbie to the world of pumpkin-infused ales, but the complexity reached and smooth texture rendered really should be every beer lover’s “cup of tea”, I reckon. Highly recommended.

--Yau (18/10/2013)