Pumpkin Pie Lust
by BradI've really been slacking on the pumpkin beer front so far this year. It's usually the thing I look forward to the most (hence having my own private pumpkin beer reserve), but for whatever reason I've dropped the ball. Maybe it's just here in Wisconsin, but it seems like there are way more pumpkin beers this year than in years past, so I'm basically in heaven with all of the new stuff to try. Speaking of new pumpkin beer, New Glarus just tossed their hat into the ring and released Pumpkin Pie Lust.
Pumpkin Pie Lust is self-described as a "Pumpkin Weiss" beer, being composed of Wisconsin wheat, German Munich Malt, Idaho-grown Celeia Hops, and Bavarian Weizen yeast. Say that five times fast. It's a rich, malty beer that's lightly spiced and gives you vague pumpkin notes. Certainly not bad, but not the biggest/baddest Pumpkin Beer out there. It has a very thick, very creamy head (which we'll see continues throughout the lifecycle), and a deep amber color. Aroma is crisp and sweet, again with those spice notes coming through (Nutmeg? Coriander?).
Prep/Cooking
The first thing I noticed about the batter is how much the spices came through, especially in the aroma. Well, that's a lie. The first thing I noticed is how much the beer foamed when it came into contact with the mix. The flavor had a somewhat biscuit-y twinge to it, but was nothing out of the ordinary. The deep amber color dropped off considerably, making this batter look unsettlingly typical.
Results
Given some of the other pumpkin beer I've covered here, I hate to say that this finished up pretty disappointingly. The beer is pretty good; the batter was alright; the pancakes had virtually no pumpkin or spice flavors at all. There was virtually nothing special about these pancakes. A rare miss for New Glarus.
Ternary Scale
- Pancakes: No. Buy the beer. Drink the beer. Don't waste it on pancakes.
- Syrup: No. Sometimes syrup can make or break a beer. In this case, it just masked everything. I guess it couldn't've gotten much worse, but if you wanted to actually taste the pancake, syrup on this is not the way to go.
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