Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin

Pumpkin beer season this year has kept me unacceptably busy. The good news is I have a lot of pumpkin beer still to try (and to make pancakes out of). Today's entry is another new beer I discovered this year - Imperial Pumpkin Ale from Weyerbacher Brewing Company.

The Imperial Pumpkin Ale is a big-bodied, boozy, bouquet of a beer, clocking it at 8.0% ABV and accenting the bold pumpkin flavors with the typical cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and an addition of cardamom. I don't think I've moaned more during the making of pancakes than I did with this beer. The second you crack it open, that delicious pumpkin aroma hits you. The flavor is delightfully smooth for the alcohol content, and tastes like liquid pumpkin pie. It's wonderful. The only downside I noticed is that as the beer warmed, it did get a little boozy.

Prep/Cooking

This beer certain takes the (pan)cake when it comes to batter. I've never tasted something so delightful. I could've stopped here and been completely satisfied to just eat batter. I've never actually made pumpkin pie, but I'd imagine it'd taste something like this before it's baked. Not that there was a shortage of pumpkin flavor before, but it really comes through here. Incredible.

Results

Saying these pancakes were a bit of a disappointment seems wrong, because they were still delicious. For how amazing the beer and the batter was, though, I was expecting a little more. The pancakes lost a lot of the pumpkin flavor that made this beer so great all along, but kept the malty smoothness, and overall were still good. I just can't get over the batter.

The Decision

• Pancakes: Yes*. I put an asterisk because you're really doing this for the batter. Make that and stop there. The beer itself is pretty great too, though.
• Syrup: No. Once again, syrup just covered up any interesting flavors.

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