Lexington Brewing Kentucky Pumpkin Barrel Ale
A barrel-aged ale brewed with Kentucky-sourced pumpkin, richly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. As the ale is aged in fresh bourbon barrels, the sweetness of caramel and vanilla are imparted upon the brew and complement its spicier base. At 10 percent alcohol by volume (ABV), this robust, limited release seasonal makes for a flavorful sipping beer to slowly warm up with as the weather cools.
3.3
177 reviews
Lexington, United States
Community reviews
Bottle. It poured a rich clear amber color with a frothy off-white head. The aroma is malty caramel and toffee with allspice, cinnamon and pumpkin notes. It is slight sweet with a smooth finish.
Bottle. Clear amber. Bready makt and winey apple aroma. String toasted malt, some cider like fruitiness. A little puckering in the finish. Ok. Just ok.
12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 7/30/2018. Pours slightly hazy golden amber/light orange color with a 1 finger fairly dense and fluffy off white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, peppercorn, caramel, brown sugar, bourbon, toasted oak, and gingerbread; with lighter notes of coconut, toffee, oaken vanilla, herbal, grass, and oak/toasted earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of pumpkin, spices, bourbon barrels, and dark/bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, peppercorn, caramel, brown sugar, bourbon, toasted oak, and gingerbread; with lighter notes of coconut, toffee, oaken vanilla, herbal, grass, and oak/toasted earthiness. Light herbal/grassy/spice bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, peppercorn, caramel, brown sugar, bourbon, toasted oak, gingerbread, light coconut/toffee/vanilla, herbal, grass, and oak/toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of pumpkin, spices, bourbon barrels, and dark/bready malt flavors; with a great malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Fairly crisp finishing. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitter/spiciness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy, and sticky/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 10%, with zero barrel booze. Overall this is a delicious imperial pumpkin ale. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of pumpkin, spices, bourbon barrels, and dark/bready malt flavors; very smooth, fairly crisp, and dangerously easy to drink for the big ABV with the mellowly bitter/spicy/tannic/drying finish. Great balanced malts, pumpkin flavors, and spices; nice overall bourbon barrel presence/integration. Not overly sweet or boozy. A very enjoyable offering, and impressive style example. Exceeded my expectations.
Dark orange color with no head. Light nutmeg and oak aroma. Very dry spice flavor. Nutmeg, cinnamon, dry oak. Light vanilla. Dry finish.
Not too bourbony and not too pumpkiny. Nice combo. Pumpkin beers can be too overpowering but this one is not. Had it at the Tapp in Tarrytown
Pours clear bronze with compact head that holds well; aromas of nutmeg and allspice and cinnamon on the nose; bourbon oak palate with vegetable in the boozy finish.
Certainly wasn’t in pumpkin mood but yardhouse never turns beer over. Orange. Boozy caramel and sugary candy. Some pumpkin.
Draft @ Liquor Express (listed as Alltech Pumpkin Barrel Ale) - Pours amber with no head. This one hides the alcohol well. I feel like it has one ingredient too many, but I’m not sure which one is the trouble maker. Maybe the vanilla? Weird.
Bottle from Limerick Bev. Pours copper with tan head. Nose is pumpkin, oak, bourbon. Tastes of pumpkin, oak, bourbon, cinnamon, lighter body, a bit discombobulated.
OK, so I had this at puff n stuff robinson. I wasn't looking for much since I have had many kentucky alltek brews. Well, on tap its a darker amber eye. Nose is sweet mellow aroma. Taste is a little boozywith a pleasant sweetness about it. Starts to mellow. Perhaps its the real pumpkie in thar. No? Not much co2. Almost flat. Finish is boozy medicinal fun. Not as difficult as many so called pumpkin beers. I get the feeling this really has pumpkin in t.
(Draught) Pours a clear copper body with a medium off-white head. Aroma of pumpkin, grain, cinnamon, nutmeg, caramel, and bourbon. Flavor of caramel, pumpkin, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and light butterscotch with a moderately dry finish.
Poured from bottle.
Aroma of oak, bourbon, spice.
Appearance is orange amber, some head..
Tasting lemon (why?), vanilla, oak, some pumpkin, spice..
Palate is somewhat sour, with barrel and citrus notes.
Overall, this seems like they took a mediocre beer and threw it in a barrel with pumpkin, hoping for the best. it didn’t work.
12oz bottle that I let age for a year based on others’ recommendations. Kind of a hybrid between a barley wine and a spicy pumpkin beer at this point. Nice overall with some sweetness to balance the cinnamon and nutmeg spice.
12 ounce bottle
Aroma:Pumpkin and spice nose. Surprisingly you don’t smell the bourbon.
Appearance:Golden pumpkin in color. Small head.
Taste: Bourbon, Pumpkin and spices, Not any overwhelming flavor. Some sourness.
Palate:Smooth, no afterbite. Light carbonation.
Overall:Nice pumpkin beer.
Wonderful sweet malty aroma just wish it was a touch stronger, taste isn’t nearly as sweet as smell...smooth and lightly sour undertones that fade away slowly finishes dry not sweet... surprising
4 oz pour on draft at Spacebar. Clear orange with off-white head. Aromas of pumpkins, light cinnamon. Tastes of pumpkin, spices, light bourbon. Medium body with a dry finish.
From bottle, the pour is cloudy and dark blind in color. A thick white head. The aroma is yeast and notes of sour. The taste is a little sour with pumpkin and a minor note of spice lingering in the back of the finish. The mouthfeel is thin to medium.
Clear , amber color . Small , white head. Aroma of pumpkin spices ( cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander) and bourbon. Malty , spicy taste with vanilla notes and moderate sweetness. Some weird acidity at the end ( spoiled bottle??) . However, drinkable enough.
Pours a murky orange golden with no head. Vanilla and oak, and a little tartness on the nose. Oak, sweet vanilla, a soured quality, faint pumpkin, and finishes with a sour vegetal component. Flavors don’t work well together. A bit of a vomit quality. Medium-bodied with faint carbonation.
Completely clear light amber and copper coloured body with a very thin off-white head that fades very fast. Aroma of bourbon, alcohol, grain and a bit of pumpkin and spice, but not too much. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong spice note up front with a lot of pumpkin and allspice flavour, but not much in the way of body. Aftertaste shows a light oak and bourbon flavour with some vanilla, but there is a bit of sugar and caramel flavour to blend with the squash and grain notes. Completely absent from the flavours altogether is alcohol, which somehow at 10% stays hidden throughout the entire beer, but it does, and it’s nice! Overall, a good beer without a ton of complexity and depth, but still, a relatively easy drink at 10% and squash-based! I sampled this 12oz snifter on draught at Whole Foods in Pentagon City (Arlington), Virginia on 12-September-2016 for US$5,00 at the end of my driveway!
Pours a nice reddish gold. Aromas of cinnamon/ginger/nutmeg. Flavor is bitter roast/chocolate with spices and a little coriander.
Habja egyáltalán nincs. A színe teljesen olyan, mint egy whiskey-é. Sőt az illata is, bár van benne valami plusz, úgy gondolom az lehet a sütőtök. Füstös, édeskés, tölgyfahordós whiskey ízű, egy kis sütőtökös mellékízzel. Persze a háttérben felfedezhető a sör alap. Utóíze a whiskey-é.
Poured into a snifter.
3.5 A: Clear copper amber color. Tow fingers of frothy off-white head. Retention isn’t great, but this is a pretty big beer. A short ring of lacing is left.
3.5 S: All the requisite pie spices are there and in ample amounts: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger. The barrel is a lot less prominent than in the original BB ale, but that’s probably due to the spices being so potent. Still, leather, apple, vanilla, and oak are easily detectable. There’s not a whole lot going on from the base beer though. Caramel and toffee with some toastiness.
3.0 T: Like the nose, the spices are the strongest component of the taste. Spices as per above. The barrel is next with wood, leather, vanilla, apple, melon. The base beer does a poor job of keeping up. Again, there’s some caramel, toastiness, and toffee, but just not enough for how big the beer is.
3.25 M: Heavier medium body. Good moderate carbonation. Light creaminess that I wish was more prominent.
3.0 D: It doesn’t taste bad, but it’s not beer-y enough. It more resembles a pumpkin flavored, watered-down bourbon.
★ 1,114 characters
DavoleBomb, Sep 11, 2015
12 oz bottle from Buy Rite, 1/8/16. Pours clear darker orange with a frothy beige-tan head. Medium-plus lacing drips down the glass. The aroma is pumpkin and cinnamon spices, bourbon, vanilla, and some wood. Bourbon and light vanilla notes dominate the flavor with a pumpkin spices coming through lightly underneath. Minimal heat and high drinkablity considering the ABV. A pretty interesting beer overall, but not something I could ever see craving. The barrel ran over the pumpkin spice. If you like barrel flavor over pumpkin spice you’ll find this enjoyable.
Nice pumpkin spice aroma. Has a very strong peppery presence of what taste like all-spice. It is a little heavier than a typical pumpkin beer. Will have to revisit this one.
Bottle; Pour is fairly clear autumn amber, with a modest off white head into this glass - retention is average / below average, with sticky lacing presence into this glass. The nose is heavy pumpkin pie spice , as expected. Muted bready malts, cinnamon spice, with the nutmeg presence revealing itself as well. The flavor profile reveals the generic malt bomb that I was expecting, I suppose. Initial bittering notes reveal that graham cracker, vanillin, nutmeg, cinnamon, caramel brew that lacks real barrel presence, heft, or anything else, really... as it fades to oblivion.
12oz bottle pours a murky, deep orange with some fluffy, white head. Nose is quite seasonal, spice, booze, brown sugar, plenty of vanilla. Flavor is the same, brown sugar, vanilla, booze, spice, nutmeg, cinnamon. Full bodied, sticky, boozy finish.
On draft at Dominion Wine and Beer. Pours a clear gold with an off white head. Pumpkin pie spice aroma. Flavors of vanilla. Smooth finish.
Pours a clear copper color with an off white head. Aromas of pumpkin spice. Taste the same with some pumpkin pie flavor and alcohol warmth at the end. Not bad flavor if you like bourbon beers.
Granslucent orange amber, pumpkin spices, oak. Slight booze burn, medium body.