I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Damn, Jim. You were going on and on about a whole bunch of pumpkin beer reviews… It’s October 5 and we ain’t seen jack!” Well, there are three six-packs in my fridge at half strength that’ll testify that I’ve been doing my research, but yeah, it’s time to get to the reviews already. So, without further ado, I’ll kick this series of pumpkin beer reviews off with an old favorite of mine: Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale.
A few years back, I tasted my first pumpkin ale. It was a rancid and almost entirely disgusting Blue Moon pumpkin beer. After a single sixer, I was ready to be done with this autumnal style of beer for life. My roommate confirmed for me that his experience with the Blue Moon was equally bad, but I should give Buffalo Bill’s a try before forsaking pumpkin ales all together.
Thankfully, I gave this genre another shot based on that recommendation and Buffalo Bill’s turned me on to the entire catalog of pumpkin beer.
The Beer: Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale
The Brewery: Buffalo Bill’s in Hayward, Calif.
Alcohol Content: 5.2%
My Local Price: $7.99 for a six-pack
Buffalo Bill’s is a delicious and light pumpkin ale. Essentially a quality beginner and stock beer in the fall category of pumpkin ales. It has an extremely pleasant orange colored cloudiness, a scent reminiscent of pumpkin pie and is a cool and refreshing beer that still warms in the brisk weather.
One of my personal favorite qualities of pumpkin beer is how its carbonation and head stings with a sweetness on my lips which are always inevitably chapped in the fall. Buffalo Bill’s delivers this simple pleasure with a quality taste, not too mention licking a bit of it out of your moustache (one of the most satisfying beer drinking experiences imaginable) is truly heavenly.
In the end, Buffalo Bill’s has a bit of complexity that won’t leave you bored, but is generally a pretty simple beer—but that’s not a bad thing. It’s fully tasty and definitely pumpkin without being overwhelming in any way. Buffalo Bill’s is a great brew to begin your journey through the land of pumpkin beer with and an always worthwhile brew to have on hand. There’s more out there to be discovered, but this one is highly recommended.
Similar Posts:
- Reviews of Pumpkin Brews: Southampton Publick House Pumpkin Ale
- Pumpkin Beer Season has begun!
- Reviews of Brews: A random sampling
Well damn, that answers my question.
The only thing I could find around here was the Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale which tastes only mildly different and distinctly worse than regular Blue Moon.
I gots to find me a specialty store and track this stuff down. Thanks for the review, Jimbo!
Glad to help! That’s why I do what I do!
WANT!
A lot of people seem to like this beer. I tired it a couple of weeks ago and didn’t think it was terrible but…
I don’t know. It just came across too ‘vegatebly’ for my liking. Like liquid pumpkin pie without any spices, just pumpkin. Kinda yucky! I really like the concept of pumpkin ales and have tried and reviewed a bunch of them, but unfortunately they tend to be let downs like the Blue Moon version you mentioned. (I didn’t like that one either!)
So far, my favorite has been the Dogfish Head Punkin’.
Scott,
If you dig the Dogfish Head Punkin, stay tuned as I’ll have reviews coming up that will point you towards some similar pumpkin ales. Already though, it sounds like your taste buds would be better suited to Southampton or the Weyerbacher (which I’ll be reviewing soon).
Also, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment, Scott!
Jim, not a problem, you have an interesting site! (and we’re practically neighbors!) Looking forward to the Weyerbacher review, I have it in my fridge too – we can compare notes and such!