Pumking - aka The Best Beer I Ever Put in My Mouth

The Mister and I went to Jake's Thursday night to enjoy a cold pint and soak up the atmosphere of another night at our favorite bar. They had completely sold out of the Sip & Grip offerings, which was Sam Adams, as well as blown through all of the free glasses well before 6:00 pm. Oh well, we always enjoy ourselves regardless.

So, I perused the 69 tap options and came across one I had never heard of before, 'Pumking.' It was under their fruit beers section, so I decided to try it. Boy was I in for a treat.

The copper color of this ale came as no surprise since it is a pumpkin beer. The smell of it alone was heavenly. My nose was caught off guard immediately. The smell of fresh baked pumpkin pie, crust and all hit my olfactory house like a one, two K-O! I felt my mouth start to water with anticipation. I took a sip and was blow away. I had to take another. Oh man, was this good. Had to take another. This was beyond divine. How had I never tried this before?! How had I never discovered it? Have I been living under a rock?! The taste was perfect. No bitterness what so ever, there is no hoppiness. The beautiful cinnamon and allspice notes are so well rounded with the vanilla and pumpkin that I have become to believe that this is the perfect fall beer. Peeeer-fect!

I have died and gone to beer heaven. I nursed it for 2 hours because I didn't want to rush it. I wanted to savor those sweet flavors. I wanted to let them linger on my tongue and enjoy every single moment with them. At the bottom of the glass, it felt like a bad break up. Over so soon? That was the best $6 I've ever spent on a beer.

My photo! From Jake's, straight from the draft!

My photo! Straight of the shelf from my local Total Wine!

Ok, so enough about my experience with the beer. Here's the low down on the brewery, which is very new to me. Pumking is the very first beer I've had from Southern Tier Brewing Company. Southern Tier is located out of Lakewood, NY and was founded in 2002. They have a number of year round beers, but based off their Facebook page, they seem to excel at their seasonal and imperial beers. Pumking falls into their seasonal imperial line. What makes it imperial? That lovely 8.6% ABV content. This beer, while being a slice of heaven, also brings to you a nice buzz. Southern Tier recommends that this brew be best served out of a goblet rather than out of a traditional pint glass or out of the bottle.

My guess is, this beer would make even Jack, the Pumpkin King, himself smile with delight. If you get a chance to try it, drink up!