Photo courtesy of http://whosisbrew.com/
As winter fast approaches and another fall winds down, I find myself with my last can of Autumnation and have finally gotten around to a review. Autumnation is the latest release from Sixpoint Craft Ales out of Brooklyn, NY. This is a special release pumpkin ale, and since I was looking for a good autumn seasonal to share at HalloweinerFest, I purchased a four pack.
Here is what Sixpoint has to say about this beer:
Autumn ushers in an annual rebirth with a full harvest, longer nights, and in many cases, a new wardrobe. We’re celebrating the bounty of the season with a new beer that’s coming out in cans this week — Autumnation. Brewed with pumpkin, ginger and white pepper, and wet-hopped with just-harvested Citra hops from the oldest continually farmed hop farm in the country, it’s a burst of fresh, seasonal spices trapped in a 16-ounce can.
I found the Autumnation to have the following characteristics…
- Appearance: Clear amber with lots of foam and lacing.
- Aroma: Hoppy, citrus with a strong scent of ginger and pumpkin.
- Taste: Bitter, bitter, and oddly spiced with a bitter finish.
- ABV: 6.7%
To say that I didn’t like this ale would be a bit of an understatement. I found the flavors to be out of balance. There was no smooth transition from one flavor to another. Rather, the flavors seemed to be vying for attention, and the wet hopping just seemed to add to the confusion. You have to admire the effort of craft brewers but also recognize when one of their products misses the mark. To me, that was the case with the Autumnation.
Categories: Brew Review, Sixpoint
AMKrouse
The Alemonger
G-LO
limpd
The Wookie
The ROK
Sarah -BeautifulTangibleThings
The Astounding Prism
It's just the booze dancing... 
I’ve been meaning to try this, but have seen similarly disappointing reviews. It’s one of those in the category, “would try if it was given to me, but won’t actively seek it out.”
LikeLike
Yo Limpd!
Did I try this beer? It does sound quite awful. I’m kind of ho-hum on Pumpkin beers in general. The Southern Tier Pumking was the exception because they totally embraced the pumpkin thing and brewed up a high octane pumpkin creme brulee in liquid form (Dogfish Head Punkin Ale is pretty good too from what I remember). I guess I should be grateful that I avoided this one.
Nice review!
Cheers!
G-LO
LikeLike
G-Lo,
I believe you chose a different brew as you have not been impressed with the craftiness of Sixpoint in general and by your own admission are “ho-hum” on pumpkin. I should stick to Octoberfest and avoid these Autumn pumpkin-fest.
LikeLike
Yeah. With the exception of their Diesel, Sixpoint is not exactly inspiring me to buy their very pretty, but otherwise uninspiring nanokegs (why didn’t we come up with this???). I am curious to try their Sweet Action though. I keep hearing good things about it.
LikeLike
I don’t know why but this is the best beer I’ve ever had. I agree “There was no smooth transition from one flavor to another” but for some reason it really rang my bell. If I hadn’t read the can, I wouldn’t have known it was a pumpkin beer, which makes Autumnation my favorite pumpkin beer.
LikeLike